Today was a lingering summer day. Leftover summer. Declining summer. The butt-end of summer. Nothing to do with the approach of the equinox, just that temps were summerlike warm. But as I drove, I kept the windows down, and the air conditioning off. Soon it won’t be so warm, and I wanted to feel the warm wind while it’s still out there.

I went to two grocery stores and a drug store on this summerlike September day. All of them had their autumn-Halloween displays up. One emphasized pumpkins. A lot of pumpkins. Another was all about candy. A lot of candy. Yet another was spook gear: costumes, lawn decor, and so on. How long will it be before I see the first Halloween inflatables on lawns? I hope leaves will be falling by then, at least.

How much research has been done about the retail effectiveness of stretching holidays so far forward? Christmas is the prime example, but there are others. Is it really true that a longer merchandising season means more sales, or just the same sales spread out over a longer period? Whatever the answer, it’s annoying.