We always say, "Where did the summer go?"

Well, by the next issue, summer 2015 will be history and we will be one day into fall, according to the calendar.

As a lifelong resident of this region, my observations of this "past" summer were that it was about a "7" on a scale of 1 to 10, in regards to weather, tourist traffic and personal enjoyment. The weather has a lot to do with the latter two subjects and the summer of 2015 wasn't half bad. In fact, after suffering through the winter of 2014/2015, we would have been happy with rain!

By the calendar, summer 2015 began on June 21. But the good weather began weeks before, as most of the snow piles were gone by mid-April. We had a great Memorial Day, our Lobster Boat Races in mid-June were run under sunny skies, and for the most part, Windjammer Days finished out the month under sunny skies.

We had T-shirt weather for the Fourth of July and people waiting in line at Red's Eats and Bet's Fish Fry most of the month shaded their eyes from the sun. There weren't many days in July that we saw umbrellas bouncing down Townsend Avenue in Boothbay Harbor or Main Street in Wiscasset.

It got even warmer in August, although the Rotary Club got nearly perfect weather on Aug. 1 for its annual auction ... not hot and humid like past years.

The harbors were busy with swimmers and boaters throughout the month and the parking spaces were filled by noontime on most days. Hopefully the businesses did well this summer.

I took a week off in mid-August and was able to finish my fall 2014 yard work. And a trip to "Funtown" in Saco with the grandgirls during the week was spectacular — not hot and humid like past years.

This month has been hot and humid, but I am not complaining. I will never forget the past winter. I know soon enough, the coat will go on, the rakes will come out of the storage building and I will soon be purchasing a snow scoop.

It's been a "very good" summer from our observations and we hope yours was as well.

Enjoy the fall. Pick some apples, take a hayride, carve a pumpkin and get your Halloween costume ready. In case you haven't noticed, there's already a good selection of those on the shelves in the stores.