The umbrellas come down in the first week of September. Then the Italians arrive.
Warmer now than it was in June
The sea absorbs heat all summer and gives it back slowly, so it peaks weeks after the air does.
Above 20°C through September
Closer to 24°C around Sicily and Sardinia. The grid of umbrellas thins, and the one o'clock table opens up.
Not the temperature. The wind.
By late September the breeze comes up off the water mid-afternoon and does not sit back down.
Longer and heavier, not shorter
Weight at the hem keeps a dress where gravity put it. Pleats open and close instead of billowing.
Nothing to hold
You notice it first in your hands, which are finally doing nothing at all.