Summer is vanishing. Sunny days grow perceptibly shorter, nights cooler and longer, outdoor chores clamor for attention, school days begin. Rain and fog breathe autumn.

By the second week of August, changes became apparent early morning and late afternoon. My desk needed light at 6 a.m., something I could forgo during the short summertime when I took early morning brightness for granted.

Mountainsides teemed with monsoon- inspired mushrooms this August.

Now, as we near the end of meteorological sum...