Busy summer winds down

Whew. There goes the Labor Day weekend, climax of summer.

Already it’s time to brace for winter — with luck a busy, white, epic one.

First, of course, we have the school year beginning with all its excitement for
kindergartners, dread for middle-schoolers and a just­budding realization for high school sen­iors that something larger looms just beyond next May.

Time to start eyeing those skis, boards, bindings, boots, pants, jackets and assorted gear. The swaps are just around the corner, right after the gold flees the aspen, the air starts to bite, the windshield needs scraping more mornings.

Employers barely have time to catch their breath before obsessing on making sure they have enough workers to man the store, or restaurant, or ... when the snow starts fly­ing. Such is the ever-tightening labor pool.

Meantime, the silly season gets in high gear now. The endless presidential campaign finally hits the stretch, and voters just start paying attention to the councils and com­missions that matter so much to everyday life.

What “off” season?