Anne Dooley pretty much wrote the “farewell to summer” column last week. So there is no choice but to look ahead this week … to fall.

The population of Juniper Point is of course massively reduced by the first week of September. Accordingly, in the space of just a couple of weeks, the Point has a big gearshift — summer speed to fall amble. For those who stay, the mantra is that the weather is at its crispest and sunniest of the year (Andy Matthews points out that September has longer stretches of great weather than any other month), and the quiet after the whirlwind of summer is luxurious. It seems that everyone has a batch of cool “winter friends” who were crowded out during summer but with whom to reconnect now. There are lots of riffs on these themes and some lesser known delights.

Betty Repa: It’s time to hit the water in kayaks (and paddle boards) as the big drop in motor boat traffic calms the wakes we contend with in the summer. The Repas move into a schedule of duplicate bridge, indoor tennis at the Y and courses at the Congregational Church. Last but not least is the Stanford football season (well OK, it’s on TV, but still—Go Cards!).

Lee Corbin: We can start thinking about going out for dinner in town again (with all those cool winter friends), drive through Wiscasset without waiting an unpredictable amount of time, and walk double file on McKown Point Road without having to dodge traffic. The water in our “salt water pool” is warm; swimming is a September highlight.

As for me: It’s all about asters and sumac. Those scrubby, indeterminate-looking green plants on the side of the road throughout the summer — they put on a show just after the summer crowds vanish and before the leaf-gawkers arrive. And then there are the apple orchards. Horticultural paradise in Maine!

So those who’ve left can think of us fall folks brushing the cobwebs off the kayaks, finding u-pick apple orchards, packing a picnic, calling a friend we haven’t seen since May and finishing the days off with a warm swim. This is all code for “Maine—the way life should be” and no time is more the way it should be than the slow month of September.

Back to the real world with one point of business: JPVIS is updating the website over the winter to make it more attractive and useful. We need visual materials that illustrate all the things people love about our community. If you have any photographs, maps, clipart or other illustrations that we can use on the website, free of copyright, please send them to josemccomiskey@comcast.net. The sooner, the better.