Despite what the calendar may say, summer officially ended yesterday. Many of our summer people head home at the end of August, especially those with children in school, but others stay through Columbus Day. The last of them rumbled across the swing bridge to the mainland yesterday, leaving a silence that was palpable this morning. Gone are most of the morning joggers and walkers in their designer
outfits, leaving only us year-rounders briskly navigating the island in our sweats and sturdy LLBean hiking boots. The weather is unusually mild and the foliage currently is at its peak, so all in all it has been a lovely day and time to get down to the business of late autumn. It’s a good time of year to get some work done, both in the house and yard and in the office.
From my office window, I’m looking out at the water where just a few lobster boats bob on their moorings, along with a few pleasure boats belonging to year-rounders here on the island. The latter will soon be hauled in, but many of the lobster fishermen will set and haul their traps throughout the winter. As the weather and water turns colder, they have to go farther and farther out to sea, so I admire their fortitude. But I also know how much they love their work and that most of them would be unhappy doing anything else for a living.
We’ll begin a quick segue now into the fall and winter holidays….Halloween soon, followed by Thanksgiving. Pumpkins are everywhere, along with witches and goblins decorating lawns, and before long we’ll all be thinking about family celebrations and turkey dinners. And from there it seems like just minutes until Christmas. For now, though, I’ll enjoy these unexpected warm days and the glint of sunlight on orange maple leaves.