I know, I know. The equinox isn’t for another couple of weeks but local schools started yesterday and as any ten year-old boy will tell you, when school starts, summer is over. (I know this because I have a ten year-old boy.)

The temperatures are still hovering up in the summer numbers, however, and we haven’t seen a drop of rain in months. As of this writing, there are wildfires all over the western states and Washington alone has ten major fires burning on public lands. So all that still seems like summer.

I’m heading to the San Juans this weekend for a 5-day trip in the northern tier: Clark, Sucia, Patos and the rest. It’s funny… the weather in September is often some of the nicest of the year and the summer crowds that would have been swarming in a place like Sucia Island will be gone. I doubt we’ll have the place entirely to ourselves but it may feel like we do. Still, the days are getting noticeably shorter, and it won’t be too long before there’s a chill in the evening air again.

Because summer is over.