Well, here it is, the end of September, and as recently as last week, temperatures were hitting the mid-90s. Looks like we may be headed for another Indian Summer.

It's a common occurrence in Central Oregon, where the saying goes, "If you don't like the weather, just wait five minutes." I think the concept of layering -- as in wearing a coat on top of a jean jacket on top of a cardigan sweater on top of a tank top -- was coined here -- possibly during one of our Indian summers. It definitely took a while for this Southerner to adjust to the wildly varying temperatures.

The term "Indian summer" was first documented in 1778 (it appeared in a letter written by a French-American soldier turned farmer named J. H. St. John de Crevecoeur). It's generally associated with unseasonably warm temperatures accompanied by dry and hazy conditions, primarily in October or early November.

But did you know that, at least technically speaking, we won't have experienced a true Indian Summer unless there's been a killing frost or freeze? So, in Tumalo, anyway, we aren't there yet (although I did hear that the late-night temps in La Pine dipped down into the teens last week).

P.S. In the 1830s, "Indian summer" began to be used figuratively, to refer to any late flowering after a period of decline, as in "the Indian summer of the administration" (per the American Heritage Dictionary).

About the Author:
Lisa Broadwater is a Central Oregon-based real estate professional who specializes in listing and selling homes, especially in Sisters, Tumalo, Redmond and Bend. If you'd like to learn more about Central Oregon, please visit www.CentralOregonHome4You.com.