We had the first hard frost here last night, up until just a few days ago we were still picking and eating fresh tomatoes from our garden. My husband cut the remaining useable fruits and put them on the bench in the garage.
I enjoyed reading this very much, especially since my wife and I spend our summers in Paradise Valley a few miles south of town.
In our case, we pack up our things and leave MT for our home in PA sometime around the first of October, returning to the Livingston area each year in mid-May.
I’d love to stay in MT year round and experience the winter there, but my wife…well, you know…she doesn’t fish…and doesn’t like the cold like I do…and wouldn’t appreciate the solitude of floating on the river when it’s just you, big streamers on sinking tip lines, and hungry brown trout.
There are worse places to winter than Tucson! 
You’re lucky, we can’t afford to leave in the summer! Don in Tucson