This past spring I blogged a bit about how one can track the changes in a place by monitoring the natural events occurring there. Phenology is used by all sorts of naturalists to track how climate is changing by tracking when birds start migrating south, for example.

Autumn in the Dells is no different than spring is. There are some things that happen that foreshadow the coming winter.

Drive Faster County Road A has a five-mile stretch running from my apartment to downtown Dells that I take to the gym a few times per week. All summer long this road is limited to 35 mph while for the other 9 months of the year it’s 45 mph. I guess there’s something to be said for trusting “locals” with a faster speed limit and when we’re a town full of tourists, we all have to hold back.

Tourists are gone for the most part. We’re down to just a handful of weekenders driving their SUV’s and visiting our candy and moccasin stores. Just like in the spring, tourists remind me of mosquitos. And just like the real thing, they tend to leave in the fall when the weather turns a bit cooler. The only difference is that real mosquitos don’t observe Labor Day.

Christmas is just around the corner, believe it or not. We start technical rehearsals for “Christmas in the Dells” next week and open November 1. It’s not easy to think Santa when we’re still having 70° days. The Christmas show brings back those mosquitos by the droves… by the tour bus, rather. It’s hard to liken this to anything in the “natural” world. Beavers don’t like buses.