A Week on the Sound in Early Fall

The fog came in Sunday night and stayed until Wednesday morning. It was thick enough in some stretches that you could not see the other end of the dock, which is a hundred and twenty feet, give or take. Three guests checked in during the fog and said it was the exact weather they had hoped for.

Joan found the last of the raspberries on the hill behind Low & Slow on Tuesday — a small crop, later than usual, tart in a way that is only worth it in a pie. Nell made two. One went to the cabins, one went to us, and there was nothing left by Wednesday night.

A seal showed up at the dock Thursday morning and stayed most of the day. Peter thought it was injured but Joan thought it was just tired, and Joan turned out to be right — it was gone by Friday. Guests in The Gull named it Harold. We have since seen what might be the same seal twice more, but we cannot prove anything.

The sunsets this week were the kind that make people stop mid-sentence. Saturday night's ran from about 6:47 to 7:15 and cycled through colors we do not have names for. We are told there is a scientific reason for fall sunsets being particularly vivid on this coast. We have not looked it up.