Although the temperature outdoors has felt a lot like early summer, make no mistake - fall is here.
A bright green landscape has rapidly given way to falling colors of gold and brown.
The change signals a decrease in time left for the fall sports season. With each leaf that falls off the trees, another day has passed for area high school athletes.
For a lot of the smaller schools, football, volleyball and cross country will soon be over, and for the larger Class A schools boys soccer, boys tennis and girls swimming are nearly over for the year.
All will soon give way to the winter sports scene, meaning soon all activities will move indoors. No more basking in the sun, or searching for cover when a quick downpour hits or huddling up to stay warm.
Heck, the cold weather on the way will also mean Chris Bieri might have to consider wearing some socks for once (not likely though).
It's hard to believe, much like it always is, that another year is almost complete.
But let the change serve as a warning call to all the senior athletes, especially you single sport players.
Most of you have been playing your sport for many years, but now you have just a few more weeks to cement your legacy.
Just a matter of days to leave no regrets behind.
Soon you'll graduate and one day you'll be left wishing you just could back in time and do it all over again. You might have promised yourselves that you will never be that person, but trust me, it will happen.
Make the most of each play, each second you have out on that field, course or pool.
All the time put in, all the practice, all the sweat, all the trips, all the victories and defeats, have led up to these final few weeks.
This isn't the end of the world, but it will soon be the end of your time as a high school sports star.
Leave behind not regrets, but a legacy that future athletes can follow, maybe a younger relative or just some kid watching in the stands who says "man I want to do what they can do" or "I want to be just like him or her."
This is a time to shine, a time to leave it all out there, so you have nothing left behind to eat at you later in life.
What happens over the next few weeks is up to you.
Don't spend your time wishing it was all over, because soon enough it will be.
And when it is, will you look back and wish you did more?
Or will you be able to look back and be proud, knowing you gave it everything you possibly could.
It's up to you.
(T.J. Allick is a Sports Writer for the Minot Daily News. He can be reached by e-mail at tallick@minotdailynews.com.)