Life after Labor Day; it’s the best sailing time in New England. Harbors are emptying, waters are reasonably warm and light northerly winds give us crisp, clear horizons.

I’m back at my desk in Manhattan now, wiggling my left index finger in my ear, hunting and pecking on my keyboard with my right. Overall, very little “work” is going on.

Summer days are over and another school year begins. There’s a spirit of hopefulness.

This is a sad day for a lot of people that got to meet the most beautiful Rhode Island Red rooster known. I rescued him four and a half years ago.

On Sept. 11, 2001, in the early morning hours I could hear the stirring of my fiancée, Bobbi, a flight attendant for American Airlines, standing at the dresser in our bedroom.