Signs that summer is coming to an end:

Milkweed pods have burst in meadows and at marshy edges around the Island, scattering their seed-strewn silky puffs.

Tiny wild purple and white asters have begun to bloom.

The light has changed, casting shadows at different angles now late in the afternoon.

Bluefish are running again off Cape Pogue.

Cool mornings demand a light sweater.

Parking spaces are suddenly available in down-Island towns.

Labor Day weekend has arrived; the national holiday is Monday, September third, and the Vineyard is a place full of comings and goings as it is each year during this change in season and daily rhythms.

For summer people it’s time to pack the car, kids, dog and summer memories and head to their workaday lives on the mainland. For Islanders it’s time to get the kids ready for back to school, reestablish bedtime routines for young children and readjust to a daily life that is a little less hectic with a little more time.

Time to kayak, fish, practice yoga, weed and water the garden that went neglected in August, pay the bills, go to the grocery store and post office during ordinary business hours, have coffee or lunch with a friend.

In short, to live normally again, at a little slower pace and breathe the clean September air.

The first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, September fifth, 1882, in New York city, planned by the Central Labor Union. That year a Labor Day parade of about ten thousand workers took unpaid leave and marched through the city, ending with a concert, speeches and a picnic. In 1894 an act of Congress declared the first Monday in September a national holiday.

So what do we celebrate besides the end of summer and the beginning of a new school year? The contributions and achievements of some one hundred and fifty-five million men and women who are in the U.S. workforce.

On the Vineyard there are an estimated fifteen thousand people in the workforce, including seasonal workers, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Many of those seasonal workers are leaving now, and more than a few Island business owners may be hard-pressed to meet their staffing needs during the autumn months when there are still plenty of shoulder season visitors around and fewer workers to keep shops and restaurants humming. So be kind to that person behind the counter — it may well be the weary business owner manning her own cash register in the weeks and months ahead.

The Gazette sends out warm wishes on Labor Day to all our readers near and far.

The newspaper staff will take their own first break of the summer on Monday, when the Gazette office will be closed in observance of the national holiday. The office will reopen Tuesday morning.