I didn’t take notes from Biddeford, South Berwick,  Ogunquit,  Portland, Waterville, or York  – all great Maine day trips I enjoyed this summer but I cannot help recall the Portland and the Colby Art Museums always offering something new and fascinating. The fabulous beaches  of York and Ogunquit are the best to go walking, exploring, and even swimming, though the Atlantic Ocean doesn’t often cooperate. The sea’s bone-chilling cold temperatures are fine for the children, but I would rather hunt for shells and interesting flotsam and jetsam rather than bear the cold. If I tire of sand  I’ll walk the Marginal Way for it never grows stale.

This summer suited us just fine, but now, the impending autumn carries other delights: an abundance of fruits and vegetables, cool nights and bright days. The fruit this year is amazing – I’ve already baked a half-dozen pies and a few quarts of sauce from the apples in my back yard. Our old twisted tree has never been sprayed so the fruit is dotted with spots and worm holes, but they are easily cut away and there are many more apples to pick.

September is the best travel month as almost anywhere in the USA is lovely.  I expect good weather so I’ll be off to Seattle, and while I’m there I’ll invite my friends from the Pacific side to take a run to the East for the burnt orange horizons of fall. Then October’s chill will begin to prepare me for the hibernation of November, the writing and reading time I enjoy that dark month. Don’t forget November is National Novel Writing Month. Well with that… your assignment this month is to make a list of all the reasons you love the seasons in New England. A page for each season and then make each page into a poem.