The northeast wind stopped by early this week just to remind me that she’d be back later to rattle my windows and sandblast my shingles. Thanks, northeast.

The skunks and geese have returned as well, and won’t be leaving any time soon. The skunks arrive green side at my golf course to enjoy a ripe crop of grubs rustling just below the surface. The geese are content just to hang out, poop on stuff, chit-chat, and stumble about (like my nephews). I’d call them lazy but I understand that they fly quite a bit and maybe deserve a rest.

We thoroughly enjoyed the warmth of the weather over the past week. However, by Wednesday morning it was nearly freezing. Fireplaces are already burning the remnants of last year’s woodpile, summer clothing is heading for winter storage, parking spaces are more abundant, lines in the stores are less long, and you finally have time to actually have a conversation with your family and friends whom you have missed over the summer. The goldenrod is abundant, beach plums were nonexistent this year, yet there will still be a few good beach days left to enjoy.

This Sunday, Sept. 22, its Kid’s Day at the Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby. This means children of all shapes and sizes get to fish from the Oak Bluffs Steamship Wharf from 6 to 8 a.m. In days of yore, most everyone fished from this wharf, but that was a long time ago, when the Island was still a lawless backwater.

The New County Road, between Edgartown and Holmes Hole, is in a good state of forwardness; that portion lying within the Tisbury boundary, we believe, is entirely completed.

We recently held our seventh annual evening of music on the Lagoon at our home in Oak Bluffs. In the past the proceeds from donations from these musical evenings have benefitted the Lagoon Pond Association, the Steeple Fund Capital Campaign of the Federated Church, and the ongoing music ministry/organ program at the Federated Church.

Before I leave the Island for the long winter, I would like to thank the Chilmarkers for all their services that make our summers so pleasant — the Chilmark selectmen who provide a ball field for our Sunday games; the entrepreneurs, Joel at the Chilmark Store, Jenna at the Tavern and the Larsen sisters, who let me get fresh fish early in the morning.

Two Vineyard teams picked up decisive league wins at home on Tuesday afternoon, with field hockey earning a 4-2 victory over Eastern Athletic Conference rival Bishop Stang and boys’ soccer shutting out EAC opponent Somerset-Berkley 5-0.

“Bishop Stang is a tough team — it was a hard-fought win,” head coach Lisa Kinght said. Field hockey is now 3-1 on the season.

Why don’t more women play golf? According to the National Golf Foundation, the number of U.S. women playing golf declined from seven million in 2005 to 5.4 million in 2010 to 5.1 million in 2011. There are no figures from 2012 yet. According to a 2010 golf foundation survey, only 20 per cent of players in 2009 were women and girls from the age of six up, and they accounted for just 17 per cent of the rounds played. The foundation’s 2007 golf consumer profile reported that 60 per cent of women were embarrassed that they didn’t play better or know more about golf, and a majority were “intimidated by other players, by the staff or by the environment in general.”

Cape Air has discontinued off-season flights between Hyannis and the Island due to low demand, the Hyannis-based airline announced Monday.

The change is effective Oct. 22.

“The passenger numbers just aren’t there to sustain a business,” said Michelle Haynes, spokesperson for Cape Air. “For us to continue offering the service that the passengers were just simply not signing up to fly . . . didn’t make good business sense.

In light of the coverage of Oak Bluffs' commercial district, I believe attention needs to be paid to the Friends of Oak Bluffs. This grassroots organization has done outstanding work improving the appearance of the town and making it a hospitable destination.