Carole Caines of Pasadena heard of an old saying about the "dog day" cicadas, the annual variety that start singing in the hottest days of July or August. When they pipe up, she says, "count (X) days, and that will be your first frost." But she forgot how long to count. I've heard 45 days, or six weeks, which might work for the Midwest, or Garrett County. Not here. Six weeks gets us to mid-September. East of the mountains, average first frosts are in October.