Rainy, cold weather in June raised havoc with ruffed-grouse production in mid-coast and central Maine, so partridge hunting in these regions should prove fair to poor this fall, and I’m betting on the latter.

In my youth, old timers claimed that gardeners could expect frost in a specific area six weeks after goldenrods first blossomed there. For instance, an old friend swears that if goldenrods bloom in his fields on Aug. 17, frost will hit his garden by Sept. 28 exactly 42 days later.