Normally, when you think of the ice cream man playing his happy tune, it’s a warm summer day. Children are running down the street to greet him with their dollar bills; a frosty treat brings a moment of relief from the summer heat.

This is not something you picture on a blustery, late fall day with temperatures in the mid 50s. Yet today I was raking leaves in the backyard to the tune of the ice cream truck camped out on the street behind us.

And Santa’s workshop opened at the mall last week.

It just seems wrong …