Signs of summer’s end
All in all, this has been a pretty good summer. The weather has been as close to perfect as we could expect for summer activities. The mornings along our coastline have been pleasantly placid for those of us who row on the ocean — we belong to a rowing club on the South Shore that ventures up and down the coast and as far out as Minots Light — while the breezes typically have been picking up in the afternoon for the sailors.
Our vegetable and flower gardens — which are entirely contained in large pots on the patio of our condo — once again have been superb. We’ve had more tomatoes than we know what to do — and nothing beats the pop in our mouths of freshly-picked tomatoes in the summer (as opposed to those tasteless tomatoes that we have to settle for in grocery stores in the winter months).
However, all good things must come to an end, and so too it is with summer. The days now are noticeably shorter. With the sunset inching southward each day, the shadows cast in the late afternoon and early evening are far different than they were in June and July.
The blooming purple loosestrife — though it is an invasive species, we have to admit it is quite striking with its spiky purple flowers — is another harbinger that we have reached the back nine of summer. So too, are the tips of the marsh grass; a few weeks ago they were a verdant green, but now they are turning a golden yellow, yet another indication of the inevitable downward trajectory of the summer of 2026.
With parents and children gearing up for the start of the 2026-27 school year in just a few weeks, yet another summer season is sadly winding down.
Our long-time publisher, Andrew P. Quigley, who lived an extraordinary life, used to say, “When you look back on your life, you realize that all you really have are your memories.”
What summertime means to us — whether it be the time we spend with our families and friends or long walks by ourselves on a summer evening — reinforces the notion that the best things in life are free.
It also is a truism that while life itself is short, summer seems to pass in the blink of an eye. All of us will be saying both to ourselves and to each other on the Tuesday after Labor Day: “Where did the summer go?”
So let’s make the most of what is left of the summer of 2026. It never is too late to make memories that will last a lifetime.