The gray sky and sub-20 degree temperatures are all anybody really needs to tell that the summer is well over. Any serious sun we get from this point out will be cooler, and an undeserved gift, like finding that forgotten $20 bill in your pants pockets before you put them in the laundry.
But here are the real top three signs that it’s now autumn, and already heading quickly through to winter.
1) The rain hasn’t stopped dripping all day. No showers these, and the drops are chilly.
2) At cafe tables last week, everyone was wearing scarves.
3) (and most definitive) While I was sitting, shivering, sipping cold beers with visiting friends behind Tascheles late last week, the bartender began writing with white chalk on the giant steel letter that serves as a menu. She got as far as “G-L-Ãœ-H W-E” before getting distracted and moving away for a moment.
“What’s Gluhwe mean?” one my of friends asked, but I only groaned no, no, it’s too early for that…