The California Central Valley is not kind to August and its droves of returning scholars eager for fall to begin. Summer vacation may be over, but summer is not. It is generally assumed that the beginning of the school year ushers in a new season—that the summer heat will gradually taper off and give way to more moderate temperatures. The assumption exists in our own valley, too, as a glance into any department store will show. Here, no one will think it strange that pumpkins and colored leaves decorate the shelves or that racks of sweaters are already being wheeled out, while the thermometer outside reads 100 degrees Fahrenheit. They will shrug and say, “School is starting,” and Google when Starbucks is going to start selling pumpkin spice lattes. It’s a national tradition, and it helps students romanticize the otherwise dreaded return to school. Here in the valley, the extreme heat advisories will persist well into September. The real transition into fall—the cool temperatu...