Dawn broke on the first day of fall Thursday with rain and a hard wind. Intrepid windsurfers raced through whitecaps on Sengie, framed on the barrier beach saltmarsh that swayed and danced with every gust. Further inland the swamp maples have begun to turn, dropping scarlet leaves onto moss carpets. In the meadows and along the hillsides, goldenrod has emerged in great waves of lemon and ochre.

Autumn begins, with a promise that there is still plenty of summer weather left to come.