I was standing at the kitchen window the other afternoon, when I saw it. First it was just one. No big deal, I thought.

Then two more floated softly to the earth. There was no real breeze to speak of so my concern continued to grow. It is only Aug. 12, I tell myself.

This can’t be happening. Yet, I know what I saw. Leaves were beginning to drop-off the very full trees in the backyard.

I’m not ready for fall. I’m not even close to thinking of sweaters and socks back on my summer-sandaled feet. Falling leaves are for October, not August. And then meteorologist Jeff Oechslein allayed my fears.

During his evening weather forecast, he explained that leaves are falling right now because of the lack of rainfall over the past nine days.

He said the trees were dropping a few leaves to preserve their moisture content. It is nature’s way of caring for itself. There are definitely no signs of summer leaving us this week.

OK, that was a pretty reasonable explanation for the time being.

That doesn’t mean I won’t be keeping an eye on the backyard from now on. Weather prognosticators have been wrong before.

There are undeniable signs, however, that time is moving on.

Local swimming pools are being drained for the summer season. School buses are making dry runs along their expected routes. Some schools will be in session sometime next week.

Stores are promoting back-to-school everything from shoes to laptops. I can attest to the school shopping frenzy hitting a deafening pitch after a visit to Dick’s for new shoes for the grandkids. The check-out lines have been long.

Did you know that the color pink is all the rage in shoes for both sexes? And no one bats an eye if boys are wearing pink shorts or shirts. It’s just the latest “in” thing as we old-timers would say.

It doesn’t compare to those miserable platform shoes we thought were cool to wear with our boring pleated uniform skirts in the 1970s. What were we thinking? It certainly wasn’t about comfort.

Whatever trends fill the classrooms and playgrounds this school year, I’m just glad that those hole-filled bluejeans are yesterday’s news.

Heather Ziegler can be reached via email at hziegler@theintelligencer.net.