Homeward Bound

In Oysterville, seasons often morph from one to another without much notice – maybe because rain is commonplace all year long and we just drip from Autumn to Winter and right on through Spring into Summer and Autumn again.  Sometimes, the only obvious difference is the warming or cooling of the temperature.

Yesterday, though, when I saw Tucker hauling the last Laser home from the bay, I knew for sure that summer was over.  Time to return the last of the boats to his boathouse and batten down the hatches until next year.  Summer 2017 is officially over in Oysterville!

On Territory Road

We’ve had a few days of sunny and (relatively) dry weather.  Maybe it’s Oysterville’s version of Indian Summer, even though it hasn’t lasted very long.  Plus, it certainly didn’t come after ‘a killing frost’ which some say are typical of Indian Summers.  Even so, it’s been glorious out.  Tucker says it will all change on Tuesday.  Then, apparently, the rains of Autumn will begin in earnest.

Headed for the Boathouse

Tucker watches those things.  I think it’s genetic.  Even though he didn’t come to Oysterville full-time until he retired, he is more tuned in to the weather and all its nuances than most of the rest of us.  I think it goes back to his great-grandfather Meinert who ran off to sea in his youth.  That was in the days of sailing ships and survival often depended on how you read the weather.

I don’t think our Oysterville survival is especially weather dependent these days.  But the little fourteen-foot lasers – the mainstay of the Oysterville Regatta Fleet – would be vulnerable to a righteous storm, and a big blow could happen anytime now.  So, seeing Tucker haul the last boat up from the Bayshore is a sure sign!  The bright colored pumpkins scattered along Territory Road seem to mark his way home.  Autumn is here!   It’s official!