Leaves are coming down. It always seems so soon but there’s nothing special about this. Always with the first days of school come the leaves, the chill, the smell of plant cells dying days before we see any evidence. The grasshoppers take the place of the mosquitos and deer flies. We welcome them because, like us, they only seek to wring out the last of the season.

I have a few projects going this week but will be back soon with more coverage of politics, news and culture in northern Minnesota. Such trivial things, really. We’ll live through the winter, most of us anyway. Those poor bastards, the grasshoppers, have but days.