The Day After

All Photos of Early September by Muffy Aldrich

I always think of the quote below this time of year.   Rarely, if ever, especially along the New England coast,  does the feel of a place change so dramatically.   There is such a precipitous drop in activity, literally from one day to the next.  I am talking about Labor Day and the day after.  The quiet and the hum set in as everything slows down.  Some places even shutter their doors.  This was glaringly apparent yesterday as we were driving along from one harbor to another, and flushing a grouse in the process, and encountering hardly another vehicle.  

Although we did see a UPS truck.  Always a feel good moment. 

The year actually begins sometime after Labor Day when the summer people have left and the kids are back in school. It is then the New England community pulls itself together for a new year. Town organizations become active again, the church makes plans for various regular activities, cultural events such as the Boston Symphony commence – in short, year-round life in New England begins in the early fall. And ends in June. July and August are more or less a pleasant never-never land. 

- Judson Hale, Inside New England