My granddaughter in Arizona is already back in school. On Saturday daughter Abbie moves into the dorm as she starts her second year at George Fox University. And a week after that the Labor Day weekend tries to pull the curtain on summer.

It’s time to ignore the fun and accomplishments of summer days and concentrate on the projects we didn’t get done and the fact that we didn’t fire up the barbeque often enough. It’s time to grow morose about shorter daylight hours. It’s time to create mental clouds to block sunny fall days and changing colors. Hardship builds character so let’s prematurely turn our back on the warmth of summer and embrace the cold, gray days of winter.