3299: Summer

Summer

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Title text: You should probably get back to shore before spring hits.

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Explanation

Comics and videos often splice footage of the same action during different seasons to show the passage of time. It is also a common trope for people to comment on how fast the season felt after summer ends. The first two panels imply each panel is a separate instance of Cueball swinging to jump in the lake, stitched together for artistic reasons. The third and fourth panels subvert this, since most people wouldn't deliberately jump onto the frozen lake with high momentum during winter. The dialogue reveals all the panels were truly one continuous action, and the seasons just changed in the few seconds required for Cueball to swing on a rope swing over the water.

When Cueball starts his swing, it is apparently summer, because the tree has green leaves. By the time he reaches the middle of the swing, the leaf colors have turned to brown, indicating that it is now autumn. When he reaches the end of the swing and lets go, there are no leaves on the tree, and the ground and branches are covered with snow, indicating that winter has arrived. Unfortunately, the water also freezes due to the temperature, causing Cueball to hit the lake instead of dipping into it, as it is now solidly iced over. The lake needn't be frozen solid, but if not, the ice layer is thick enough that Cueball's impact on it doesn't appear to have even cracked it. The formation of so much ice requires the loss of a great deal of heat, which usually takes a long time even in an environment that's extremely cold (by the standards of normal human experience).

Megan observes this while at the shore and exchanges small talk with Cueball on how abruptly summer has ended. Both their demeanors convey disappointment, when the expectation would be that they would be surprised or shocked by the unusual fact of summer ending faster than a person swinging on a rope. Cueball's response of summer ending "extra quick" this time could refer to the claim that is sometimes made that time always speeds up ever so slightly. This is usually a matter of the person's experience, as one's age increasing can cause them to perceive time as speeding up.

Technically, Cueball's motion relative to his environment, tied to the acceleration he experiences, would make external events occur more quickly from his point of view because of relativistic effects, but this time dilation factor would be extremely small. If he swung at nearly the speed of light or near a black hole, then less time would pass for him than for the lake and the tree, but this explanation would imply that the seasonal change occurs in even less time than a standard-speed single swing on a rope.

The title text elaborates on the scenario, confirming that the entire cycle of seasons has been sped up and that Cueball must hurry back onto land before spring comes, the ice melts, and he plunges into the ice-cold water. Worse, if an only temporary pre-spring thaw were to happen before resuming winter-like temperatures, or the whole year cycles around with winter arriving again before he reached land, Cueball could become frozen in and experience more problems than merely getting wet.

Transcript

[Cueball, holding a rope swing tied to a tree branch, jumps off the shore of a lake. The tree's leaves are dark green and the grass is green.]

[Cueball is still holding the rope in mid-swing, but now the tree's leaves are orange and the grass is grayish-tan.]

[Cueball lets go of the rope as it swings, but now the tree has no leaves and its branches are covered in snow, and the ground and rocks is also covered in snow. The lake is now covered in ice.]

[The same scene is just beyond the prior scene, as the edges of the same tree's branches can be seen. Megan is standing on the shore of the lake. Cueball is seated on the ice, with marks indicating that he slid a few yards from where he originally landed.]

Megan: Summer over already, huh?

Cueball: It seemed extra quick this year.

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Discussion

This is the first colored strip I've caught at the release!Radish ^{[citation needed]} 21:29, 16 September 2026 (UTC)

I feel like this is the first comic I've seen (without looking back through comics with color category) that is fully Illustrative color - not just a little splash or highlight 64.203.66.182 13:30, 17 September 2026 (UTC)

I love how colored panels are so rare, they make such a pleasing impact when they do show up. 2601:642:4C01:164D:7E7B:2AD:7B93:630B 15:45, 17 September 2026 (UTC)

1024: Error Code was a previous (though not the first?) 'illustratively coloured comic' that comes to mind. Or even 34: Flowers (mild cheat: I had to look up the comic name and number, and had forgot that it was quite so early...).

But it's definitely not a problem that you maybe hadn't seen these already. It's an opportunity to discover something new! :) 78.151.45.228 21:11, 17 September 2026 (UTC)

If three seasons passed in the time it took to swing, could he possibly get off the ice before the spring melt? Not to mention that lakes don't always stay frozen for the entire winter, there are often days when it thaws (I live on the shore of a pond). Barmar (talk) 21:59, 16 September 2026 (UTC)

you could calculate based on the time it takes to make the swing, and use his position in the panels as a guide to the timing of the season changes, then calculate the time to crawl across the ice, but I don't feel like math right now. NotBob (talk) 22:04, 16 September 2026 (UTC)

Well, the answer is simple. You take some numbers, do some bullshit, and if you keep doing bullshit, your answer will eventually converge to 4. So the answer would be yes, but only if 4 makes sense in the context (hey, don't ask me to calculate context. Just because my meta-jokes are bullshit doesn't mean i can do magic shit). So yesn't. Or maybe i calculated wrong. (...was my tangent too long?) 108.227.177.69 02:21, 18 September 2026 (UTC)

Depends on where it is, since seasons aren't uniform in length. Can't make any assumptions on the length of winter based on the given data. The joke could well be that winter is just the rest of the year, since summers that pass in the blink of an eye is a common joke in parts of the world with a long and cold winter. In those areas it would also be pretty unusual or unheard of for a frozen lake to not stay frozen all winter. 46.59.69.150 12:42, 17 September 2026 (UTC)

Technically, only one season has passed: fall. For all we know, the strip could be showing just last day of summer, entire fall, and first day of winter. 185.70.139.63 (talk) 09:38, 17 September 2026 (UTC) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

Technically, one might be able to define any given moment as the difference between one state of play and another state of play.

This is not typically exactly the same moment for every leaf on the tree to change from full-green to full-autumnal, but certainly "is this particular leaf autumnal" is probably a single point in time if you slice the progression of the thing finely enough with a very definite objective external measurement with complete consistency.

So, yes, you could be mid-swing when a very specific seasonal threshold is passed.

Even more so, with winter, if that's "the pond is sufficiently iced over" or "there is now a layer of snow" (even more akin to the 'sand-grain pile' problem). Accepting that it might momentarily rethaw again (to the same technical level) even as you swing back again, but that might be handled by some hysteresis to the measured quality. 78.151.45.228 21:22, 17 September 2026 (UTC)

I pondered writing how this comic might be influenced by the autumnal equinox looming (at least for those of us in the northern temperate regions), but it's still six days away, and meteorological autumn/fall was at the beginning of the month. So perhaps it isn't that sort of inspiration for the timing. But in places that have suffered heatwaves this summer, the trees have reacted to the dry and heat stress of much of the last few months by entering their autumnal stages relatively early and maybe, for Randall's latitude and recent spate of weather, the changing of the trees has just started to happen in earnest. Someone who's a bit closer to MA than myself (I'm a good 10-15 degrees more northerly and over 70 degrees east) might be able to comment on what's going on in his vicinity. A quick check suggest that 'fall foliage' should be late September to mid October, for him, but maybe it's a bit early? 78.151.45.228 00:28, 17 September 2026 (UTC)

"'Someone who's a bit closer to MA..'" That could be me, 200 miles NE of Boston metro. Two weeks ago we were running air conditioning every night, to sleep, and also to deter mold. One week ago the heat comes on every night, and it was as cold outside as in the frozen-food aisle in the market. --PRR (talk) 01:02, 17 September 2026 (UTC)

I live in the next town over from from Randall, it was in the upper 70's today, dropping down to the 60's next week. So it fall is on the way, but it doesn't feel "extra quick". Barmar (talk) 20:58, 17 September 2026 (UTC)

It's probably just a coincidence but this comic was released in the middle of the week in which ExplainXKCD is featuring 395:Morning in its "Explanation for Improvement" weekly project. In that comic, the title text suggested speeding up the day and night cycle. Inquirer (talk) 01:40, 17 September 2026 (UTC)

Seasons can be a metaphor for aging. we are a lot like those trees. Student Driver (talk) 04:02, 17 September 2026 (UTC)

Cueball wouldn't purposefully jump onto the frozen lake with high momentum during winter

He absolutely would. And then be surprised that it didn't work out well. It's Cueball, after all. 82.13.184.33 08:33, 17 September 2026 (UTC)

I did NOT expect vibrant colors when I opened up explainxkcd today. Reads like a C&H strip and I love it. --DollarStoreBa'al^Converse 13:56, 17 September 2026 (UTC)

This sure reminds me of Calvin and Hobbes, I wonder if it is a reference at all. 24.11.22.152 13:57, 17 September 2026 (UTC)

I thought this exact same thing too! I could see Watterson making a sunday strip in the 90s with this exact joke. --DollarStoreBa'al^Converse 13:58, 17 September 2026 (UTC)

Maybe they are on some planet from the Interstellar movie? --85.159.196.173 15:55, 17 September 2026 (UTC)

I don't know why, but this comic makes me chuckle as a resident of Arizona; I feel like summer couldn't be gone soon enough, and probably most of the US and much of the world feels the same way with the current heat wave. I was just glad when the high finally dropped from the 100s and into the low 90s yesterday. Dexcube (talk) 16:55, 17 September 2026 (UTC)

This could indeed happen in Wisconsin or northern Minnesota! RAGBRAIvet (talk) 21:03, 17 September 2026 (UTC)

Holy shit this flash banged me with color 2601:640:8D00:C190:B399:551:5F19:7F9B 13:40, 18 September 2026 (UTC)

This reminds me of a classic Estonian joke:

• What did you do last summer?
• Oh, that day I was working

--85.159.196.174 14:38, 20 September 2026 (UTC)

In Maryland (USA) this past winter, we experienced a shift from 80°F to snowfall in 24 hours. Followed shortly after by "Snowcrete": 6-12 inches of wet snow that froze solid overnight. Due to ~30 consecutive days of sub-freezing temperatures, whatever could be dislodged and collected ended up still piled 10 feet high a month later. These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For (talk) 23:41, 20 September 2026 (UTC)

This comic alludes directly to Bridge to Terabithia. The third panel is almost a copy of the Puffin UK cover of the book, and the color palette is far too close to be a coincidence. Note that it goes from spring to summer and then abruptly to winter when Cueball is struggling to land on the rock. The happy reading would say that because of climate change, Cueball was caught by the frozen water – the alt text alludes to the danger of swinging across in spring (when the ice would melt). If you haven’t read Bridge to Terabithia or seen the movie version, (Randall disclosed familiarity with both in 633: Blockbuster Mining’s alt text) this may not have as much emotional resonance. But an abrupt shift to winter is a common metaphor for death, especially when the opposite-gendered person shows up (standing in for Leslie from the book, who may be talking with Cueball in the afterlife), well. I don’t need to paint you a picture. Randall already did. [Comment by Stubbins, moved from main explanation.] 82.13.184.33 09:22, 22 September 2026 (UTC)

Firstly, it doesn't look like a copy of the book cover to me. Secondly, while it might be referencing it, this isn't directly explaining the comic - at most it probably ought to be a "The comic may be referencing..." para at the end of the explanation, not the lead para. Thirdly, as it stands, it's far too conversational and needs rewriting in a style to suit an explanation. 82.13.184.33 09:22, 22 September 2026 (UTC)

Will provide updated version which is less conversational and more explanation-y. I searched for images related to the book/movie first, found a similar image on one book cover version, and noticed after the fact that said image has a color palette which is an almost exact match to panel 2, with the inner part matching panels 3 and 4. It's a mirror image, and without the other person, but "If Cueball tried the Bridge to Terabithia swing right now, it would have become winter overnight and the water would be frozen so *he* wouldn't have died on the rock like Leslie," is a lot closer to Randall's modus operandi than simply "weather change quickly lol." The emotional effect of the color matches this explanation, up to and including the possible ambiguity of 'is it really winter or is it the afterlife.' Bridge to Terabithia (Newberry award-winning, commonly assigned in schools, with a movie which came out in 2007) was part of the zeitgeist for a certain segment of Randall's generation of which he was certainly a part - again, see his explicit mention of it in 633: Blockbuster Mining's alt text. As far as the image, I could have linked to the specific book cover for Puffin UK's version at https://www.penguin.co.uk/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.penguin.co.uk%2Fdam-assets%2Fbooks%2F9780141359786%2F9780141359786-jacket-large.jpg&w=819&q=100 - this isn't the first which comes up in search. The rock is the fateful rock where the main character Leslie, who had created a magical world on the other side with the protagonist, hits her head and dies. It's burned into our brains for people who read the book (didn't see the movie myself). But will clean up formatting and style. Stubbins (talk) 14:26, 22 September 2026 (UTC)

That makes a lot of sense to me, but one doubt remains .... would Randall have seen that cover growing up in the United States? The covers with the small dark child figures against the colorful background seem to be new reprint editions. It could be a coincidence ... but it does make perfect sense, yes. It raises another question ... was Cueball swinging to jump in the lake, as we currently say, or was he planning to land on dry ground somewhere off-panel? After all, if he was just trying to jump in the lake, why would landing in the lake after the ice melts be such a bad thing? Student Driver (talk) 00:39, 28 September 2026 (UTC)

Well, there's the difference between landing in presumably refreshing water on a nice summer's day and ending up in water that has 'only just' thawed enough not to have a walkable ice-surface. The former has its own dangers, as you are experiencing a nice warm day but the water can actually be as low as ~4°C (39ish°F?) at depth and not much warmer even near the surface. The latter likely has water that maybe increases to 4°C at the bottom, given that it's still freezing at the surface (of otherwise fairly undisturbed waters) and the density/temperature gradient has reversed.

It'll be bad enough that the Cueball that was swinging in Summer probably isn't dressed well for open-air winter/early-spring temperatures, even, especially if expecting to get wet. The mind boggles what dress-code could handle that variation. Wearing a dry-suit 'just in case' might deal with the issue of dampness, but would one necessarily wear suitable winterwear insulating underclothes beneath it in a summer-season day? Or is that why Cueball decided to jump into relatively cooler water?

Either way, he's already surprised by landing on the ice, and falling through the ice is very probably not something he's fully prepared for. 92.23.1.216 18:40, 28 September 2026 (UTC)
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