Took a week off. Here’s what you missed: autumn/fall began at 10:21 a.m. on Sept. 22. The temperature was hovering near 80 that day and by the weekend it was in the 60s.

Life here in Jefferson happens this time of year with the glory of the season. There is such a full array of color and beauty as October marches in. Amid the procession of red, orange, and gold leaves, the evergreens stand tall. Autumn brings a thankfulness for pine, balsam, and cedar trees – how bereft we would be without them.

All current members of the Bristol Area Library, located at 619 Old County Road in Pemaquid, are invited to the library’s annual meeting at 6 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 12. Annual reports will be presented and refreshments will be served.

Columbus weekend is upon us and if the colder temps and shorter days are not enough of an indication that fall is here, the dwindling boats in the harbor and the dark, closed-up summer homes leave us without a doubt that we are heading into the long winter.

Oct. 7, 8, 9, and 10 is the fall work weekend at the WW& F Railway. That means folks will pick up, paint, repair, and clean up. Bet they wouldn’t refuse any help you might want to give.

Hey folks, anyone tired of all the politics yet? How they’re all going to save us from ourselves? Oh my God, the sky is falling! Enough already! If these hopefuls would, as coach Belichick would say, “do your job,” we probably wouldn’t have half the issues we have and we probably would have a much higher caliber of people to pick from to run our great country!

The portion of beautiful forest land that became known as the white pine belt bordered the sea from Nova Scotia to New Hampshire. So we can plainly see that Maine was truly in the heart and middle of the belt of tall white pine trees that grew to a butt size of 38 inches and a length of over 100 feet. It was no wonder that the King of England laid claim to all white pine 20 inches and over at the butt and 100 feet tall for the Royal Navy.

Early morning begins with looking out the bedroom window to see what sort of day awaits; to drink in the resin scent of evergreens, the nut-like essence of hardwoods; and to marvel at this forest so deep and vast, the clean purity of it, the comfort in its loneliness.

Be alert and thankful, friends and neighbors! Last week, on Monday at 11:43 a.m., the Westport Fire Department was called to investigate smoke at the southern end of the island on Main Road. Inspection revealed a woods fire and, with the assistance of firefighters from both Wiscasset and Edgecomb, the fire was brought under control. In addition, the Alna Fire Department covered Wiscasset for water-supply purposes in case of another emergency.

I’d like to start off this week’s column wishing Andraya Elena Roque and Phoenix Throckmorton-Hansford happy birthday! Andraya celebrates her sweet 16 this week, and Phoenix turns 19.

In case you may not have noticed, we have a new scale for weighing brush and construction debris. In order to protect the scale from damage, users must follow some rules. You must enter and exit the scale very slowly. Also, do not stop or start abruptly. Following these rules will increase the longevity of the scale.

The minute I sat down at Ye Olde Compoot to get this column out, the power went away for 45 minutes. A lot has been happening in Edgecomb, I’m sure more than I know about, but here’s what I’ve got: