September by Liz Doucette �September is the best month in Newport.� Many who live here agree. That�s not to say we don�t love July and August � summer!! � in all its crowded, event-filled glory. Of course we love summer. And we love our visitors, each and every one, traffic included. Okay, I�m exaggerating (and I can�t speak for anyone but myself). Let�s just say Newport relies on summer. Newport works hard in summer. Busy is good. Then, ahhhh, September. It�s still summer, weather-wise. The water is warm for swimming. It�s clear and breezy for sailing. Fish are biting. I might even find a parking space. Doesn�t everyone, everywhere, love September? Except perhaps the kids heading back to school? Something ends, but something else begins. Don�t we all, at every age, regard September as time to get back to � something? This year, my husband and I sent our younger child to college. We�ve just joined that very lonely-sounding demographic: Empty Nesters. But it�s not so empty. Sure, we miss the kids, but they�re doing fine � thank goodness � and there are definite upsides. We�re managing two schedules, not four; so there�s more time to do what we want. More time means more bike rides. And September afternoons, whose warm orange light lingers �til 7pm, are ideal. My husband and I go in different directions, as we go at different paces, then meet back home for dinner. Around Ocean Drive is my usual route: bumpy in spots, but less traffic in September. So, one afternoon verging on evening a few weeks back, I rode my bike out that way, and when I got to Brenton Point, it was just so darn beautiful that I stopped, parked my bike, wandered out onto the stone jetty, and watched: water, a few boats, imminent sunset. As I turned to go, a couple approached over the rocks, slippery in spots. And I heard myself say, like the mother I�ll always be: �Be careful.� Glancing back as I hopped on my bike � to make sure they were safe, I suppose � I s