The chipmunks still scamper and chip from the stone wall. But the orioles are gone, and perhaps the hummingbirds as well. In any case, their amazing journey will soon begin. The waterfowl on the great flyway are gathering and moving. Sumacs and woodbine are turning red, and there is just a hint of color on the maples. The birds around the feeders seem happy and contented, children mostly out and on their own and discovering the ways of the wild world.

There is fog in the evening and dew in the morning, and the moon of the past week seemed bigger and brighter than ever before. The occasionally violent storms of summer are a thing of the past, as everything settles into the comfortable and gentle weeks of early fall. It will last a while, with scarlets and yellows painting the landscape in the weeks ahead. Things will change soon enough. But this morning there is time to simply sit on the deck with an extra cup of coffee, to listen to our gossiping chickadee friends, and say so long to summer. Wherever you say hello to a day, and goodbye to a season, we wish you Good Sabbath.