Although we’re only roughly half way through astronomical summer, there already are ample signs of the turning of the seasons — everything from shortening days to ripening blackberries.

For one thing, the mugwumps are back.

I first heard the word from one of my former neighbors in the Wahkiakum village of Altoona. She was a direct descendant of the great Chief Comcomly, so of course I assumed “mugwumps” was a venerable Chinook term, probably spiritually significant.

With a good-natured cackle that I smile to recall, she told me that mugwumps are the great flocks of generic blackbirds that dart in shimmering unison through late-summer and autumn skies. When they sit on telephone lines, their “mugs” hang over one side and their “wumps” hang over the other.

Last week I heard a noisy gathering of geese hunkered down for the night on Baker Bay, hundreds congregating on otherwise quiet waters. It’s still nothing like it will be in another month or two, when they’ll crowd in with migrating ducks like frenzied tourists looking for colorful coastal artifacts at Labor Day yard sales.

The trees, too, are already showing the first signs of fall. (Of course vine maples, eternal pessimists, start turning bright red not long after Independence Day.) Alders have begun shedding their leaves and it’s one of the only disappointments of living in the Pacific Northwest that this dominant deciduous tree doesn’t put on more of a fall show — instead of first turning vivid orange and yellow, alder leaves mostly just shrivel up and drop off, putting on a drab display about as exciting as watching a tall, skinny man going bald.

Looking ahead to our coming edition, it’ll have a good selection of kite festival photos. Despite some drizzle here and there and nearly calm conditions Sunday morning, it seems to have been a well-enjoyed event. (Let me take this opportunity to mention that like virtually every local happening we cover, there will be many more photos available to look at online at www.chinookobserver.com than we ever have room for in print.)

I sure enjoy sharing this beautiful area with all of you — aren’t we lucky? I appreciate your support for the Chinook Observer — a community project if ever there was one. May your mugs and wumps stay warm on our coming misty autumn days.