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Behest of the West: September brings us back together

We put our all into their summer, let’s do the same for our fall.
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The sun hasn’t stopped shining on our Coast. (Photo - Andrew Bailey)

Inspired by our Prime Minister, I’ve been on vacation and, like him, I chose the West Coast as the spot to balance work out with some life.

Taking the time to take in these surroundings Trudeau loves so much, rather than hustling through them, is paramount whenever summer’s bustle makes us forget we live in paradise.

I unwittingly timed my time off with the launch of commerce’s ‘Back to School’ promotions, reminding me that I’ve never buried the hatchet of horror that seems impossible to pry from the hands of summer’s end.

The years between me and high school are racking up, but back to school sales still terrify me.

They creep without a cause.

Anticipation’s fear often, if not always, outweighs reality’s outcome and Monday morning’s alarm clock rings softer than Sunday night’s dread suggests.

We all recently sweated through a heat wave, but our fickle sun didn’t get stuck in the moment. Needed rain has come down and darkness has presented itself on our horizon.

Spring brings us a figurative calm before the storm, autumn brings us a literal one.

Don’t let fall fill you with a sense of foreboding. There’s a magic in the fog that offers our summered-out-selves with fresh air. Breathe it in.

This Coast’s dark is as impressive as its light. Pay attention to its beauty and engage in its embrace.

September is an altogether wonderful time around here. There’s about a month of warmish weather and scattered blue skies left to live in and we get to enjoy the season’s end with our neighbours while watching lineups get shorter and parking loosen up.

Familiar faces begin outnumbering visiting ones and our beaches become ours again. All the reasons we hustle so hard to make our visit to this Coast as permanent as we can are blossoming this month.

Summer’s efforts yielded a bountiful crop of tourist dollars to celebrate. Our heads have been down, and our noses pressed up against the grind, for the past few months; we’ve earned some time to unwind, but lost our excuse to be absent.

Our societies, organizations and non-profits need our help and fall is the perfect time to better ourselves and our Coast by investing in our surroundings.

There are fundraisers to organize, ecosystems to preserve, beaches to clean, teams to coach and class trips to chaperone.

The livability of our communities deserves just as much focus as our visibility to tourists.

We put our all into their summer, let’s do the same for our fall.



Andrew Bailey

About the Author: Andrew Bailey

I arrived at the Westerly News as a reporter and photographer in January 2012.
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