Golden Autumn or Indian Summer?

Oh you guys, it's actually true, golden autumn really has something to it! Such dreamy weather we're having up here in the mountains right now – I could just turn cartwheels! Buoyed by the wonderful fresh air, I trot off toward the village to go looking for some colourful autumn leaves. There I spot old Sigmund sitting comfortably on a little bench. He's clearly enjoying the wonderful views and the mountain scenery around Serfaus too.

"Hi Sigmund, isn't this just dreamy autumn weather?" "Oh hi Netti, yes, a proper lovely Indian summer" … wait, summer??? I'd only just made friends with autumn. And as far as I know, winter and spring come before summer … I'm confused! "What do you mean, Sigmund, isn't this golden autumn?" "Little Netti, don't you know about Indian summer? That's what we call the stretch of time in autumn marked by a stable high-pressure system over Central Europe. It happens so regularly that it's even described as a meteorological singularity." … "A meteoro-what-now?" my head is spinning …!!! "Ah yes, Netti, what that means is that Indian summer comes back almost every year. It can occur anywhere from late September to early November. And during that time, the weather is always lovely and warm for autumn, almost like late summer."

"But 'Indian summer'—in German it's actually called 'Altweibersommer,' which literally means 'old wives' summer'—that sounds like it's about old women, and that's not exactly a nice way to put it. 'Weiber' is practically an insult where we come from." … "Back when the term for this dreamy weather phenomenon first came about, it was still just the completely ordinary word for 'woman.' And the name comes from the fact that a certain type of spider, the money spider, spreads its threads during this time of year. The young spiders use these threads to 'sail' from one place to another. And since these spider threads gleam in the morning light like the grey hair of old women, that's how Indian summer got its name." … right, okay, but the idea of summer coming after autumn still isn't quite sinking in!

"But Sigmund, what's actually the difference between golden autumn and Indian summer???" … ha, now I've got him, old Sigmund, now he has to think! "Well, Netti, autumn is the season between summer and winter. It often comes with autumn storms, cold snaps, and around here even snow reaching down into the village. Think of it like this: winter is fighting summer for dominance. Indian summer describes a period when summer flexes its muscles one more time. It pushes an impressive, powerful bubble of fine weather over the continent, and any bad weather just bounces right off it. It can take several weeks before the fine weather starts to weaken and winter finally scores a decisive victory over summer. Personally, I think that's the best thing about Indian summer – once it arrives, you know it's here to stay, not just for a day or two, even if autumn has already struck with cold, wet weather beforehand. Indian summer brings the fine weather back, before winter eventually gains the upper hand later in autumn."

Hmm, okay, I sort of get the whole 'in-between summer and winter' thing, but why does it go autumn weather, then Indian summer, then autumn weather again … whether it's a high, a low, or whatever is sitting over the continent … do I really need to understand all that??? These two-legged creatures are properly bonkers!!! But whatever, golden autumn or Indian summer, the main thing is fantastic weather in the Tyrolean mountains, and that's exactly what we've got right now … !!!