When the sun is still strong, but everything is infused with the melancholy of fall about to deploy in full. The seagulls still go about their business in blue skys. Lonely, tough pensioners have replaced the fun-seeking summer crowds at the beach. Sand and sunscreen, yes, but only as afterthoughts, sideshows. The enormous lifeguard tower isn’t manned anymore. If you take stupid risks, no one’s riding to the rescue. Ice cream parlors have been closed only recently, and instead of gulping down chill sweetness, you revel in the slight disappointment of denial, of the flimsy architecture & decoration not meant to be used all year. You want to linger, but you won’t, because your t-shirt and your shorts are no match for the evening fog wafting in. Back at your temporary home you see the house flies are finally dying.