On Sunday morning, I woke up wrapped in a nice warm wool blanket. It was so comfy, that I almost stayed in bed.

After a moment, I realized a chilly breeze was blowing in the bedside window. For some reason, our regular overnight dose of hot air had vanished.

Was Mother Nature trying to tell us something? Are we nearing the time when she turns the seasonal clock?

For weeks we have been in vacation mode, focused on summer tasks caught up with summer jobs, picking berries, grilling swordfish on the grill, hosting friends and relatives, and enjoying the sunset from the porch while sharing an adult beverage.

As the national political merry-go-round twirled around, some of our neighbors and friends back home were twisted into a swivet. Here on the peninsula, we were insulated from that train wreck as we focused on the simple pleasures of a Maine coast summer. You know what I mean, enjoying a picturesque lighthouse, a graceful schooner, or a moon rise. We experienced real things, not just tiny electronic images dancing on a flickering screen.

It is a time when our summer visitors walk through the streets peering into shop windows, admiring our local art, and buying a souvenir or three. Then, after riding on a tour boat and seeing a seal and maybe a whale, they sat down to a relaxing, fresh, not flash frozen, seafood meal.

Like coastal visitors for thousands of years, they had the rare chance to enjoy fresh lobsters, clams, local oysters, and mussels plucked from the ocean, not muscles aching from hours sitting at a computer or strained in the gym.

Last week, I had a chance to visit with friends from away. It began on Friday as we closed Robinson’s Wharf while chatting about old pals and events. The following day, I sailed to Squirrel Island for a leisurely evening with former colleagues laughing and joking about good times and old friends.

In both cases, no one stopped to grab a buzzing cell phone. No one googled about on an iPad. Best of all, no one mentioned the word politics.

And, for a change, our lawn mower has not been cranked up in a month or so.

Soon, the smiling college-age youngsters who wait on tables, change sheets and wash the dishes will put in their two-week notices.

Teachers working summer jobs are starting to think about readying their classrooms as parents and students get ready to switch gears. Volunteers are gathering materials to pass out at my favorite community event, the Set for Success festival on Aug. 31, at Boothbay Region Elementary School. Unless you live in the deep woods, this is when volunteers ask teachers what items each student might need to be ready on the first day of school. Volunteers round up these items, throw in a new backpack and give them to each pupil.

Wiscasset held a similar event last Sunday.

A pat on the back to all the volunteers for these events.

The increasing number of TV political ads is another sign our summer cocoon is unraveling.

Special interest groups have opened their TV ad checkbooks trumpeting their agenda while viewers complain the expensive ads are interrupting their regular evening visits with “Jeopardy” and the Red Sox.

A visit to the TV news programs will introduce you to a gaggle of very excited folks on all sides reacting to the day's top news stories.

I know the November congressional elections are only about a dozen weeks away, so it is almost time to kick off the biennial political silly season.

Soon, the putrid political parasites of all stripes will flood your computer devices with pitches for money. They will warn you that the world will end if you fail to send them your life savings. Beware of them.

If you want to support a candidate, I suggest you avoid their hair-on-fire style pitches. Instead, if you decide to donate, support the candidate directly or send a check to an established political party.

All the “experts” tell us we face a political season like no other in history. But, despite all their charts and diagrams, statistical analysis, and computer analogs, not one of them will predict the outcome.

Their best guess is a third of the electorate is wedded to the right. One-third is bound to the left. The election will be decided by the remaining folks in the middle.

So, make sure you are registered to vote, ask your friends to do the same, and fasten your seat belt. It is going to be a bumpy ride.