Another round of outdoor events in the past week and a first week of full-time school accomplished, Wiscasset is forging through the change of seasons and, where it can, moving nearer to normal amid the pandemic.

The good weather is helping gatherings stay outdoors for added safety, especially since eating is involved, and you cannot do that through a mask or I would have tried by now. I was a little surprised Damariscotta Pumpkinfest cut out most of its festival for this year, but maybe I should not have been. The festival draws big numbers, really big, and why risk a super spreader. So let’s enjoy the pumpkin artwork along Main Street there and be satisfied with that. For me, that is the best part of Pumpkinfest anyway.

People who put on other fall events may also have hard calls to make, walking that tightrope of waiting long enough to see which way the winds of the pandemic are blowing, without canceling or changing the event so last minute that it ticks off volunteers, tourists or other ticket-buyers or would be event-goers. But I think people get it, the COVID situation remains fluid and people are doing their best. If someone gets grumpy (do people still say that?), let them, and remember all the reasoning you put into whichever call you made.

Keep looking forward, Wiscasset! And we’ll get there safely, together.

Week’s positive parting thought: Thanks, outgoing First Congregational Church of Wiscasset Pastor Josh Fitterling, for making fun local events more fun with your “Where’s Waldo” costume and other efforts, and for helping the church and other area residents through strange times, including with your always quick and thoughtful answers to Wiscasset Newspaper’s questions on local and national matters on local minds. You have been a class act.