How can we tell when fall has arrived? Southern Californians know that with heat and Santa Ana winds, September usually brings some of the year's brightest sunsets and clearest views. Off Laguna's coastline, Catalina Island reappears from its summer shroud of haze and fog, its white cliffs etched against fiery skies. Despite the sun's intensity in September, daylight hours start declining in August. By the time the autumnal equinox rolls around, meteorologists have been charting fall statistics for almost a month. Their method of tracking seasons in three-month increments, with fall running from September 1-November 30, agrees with our instinctual understanding of seasons not as sudden occurrences but as gradual passages from one extreme to the other, year after year. As every ranger will tell you, fall is also our most dangerous fire season.  So, while you enjoy Indian summer outside, stay alert and help us KEEP IT WILD!