Our thoughts begin to prepare for winter.

October 15.

The first snow is falling in large flakes, filling the air and obscuring the distant woods and houses, as if the inhabitants above were emptying their pillow-cases. The ground begins to whiten, and our thoughts begin to prepare for winter. 

H. D. Thoreau, Journal, October 15, 1852

See October 27, 1851 ("This morning I wake and find it snowing and the ground covered with snow, quite unexpectedly, . . . The birds fly about as if seeking shelter. The cold numbs my fingers. Winter, with its inwardness, is upon us. A man is constrained to sit down, and to think."); October 20, 1857 ("There is a very strong northwest wind, Novemberish and cool, raising waves on the river and admonishing to prepare for winter.")