“Who would have thought it possible that a tiny little flower could preoccupy a person so completely that there simply wasn’t room for any other thought?”

This quote was attributed to Sophie Scholl, a German woman whose public resistance to the Nazi occupation cost her life. The ability to focus on flowers during such a desperate time speaks volumes of the power of nature’s beauty to distract and provide pleasure in even the most dire situations.

It was not a group of lemmings that were observed at the Gay Head Cliffs last Sunday.

Pleiades are the seven sisters of the sky. Since they are together forever in the heavens, there is no place for sibling rivalry in their relationships. Let’s hope that they get along — eternity is a long time.

On a visit to Martha’s Vineyard, Cinderella would do well to leave her glass slippers at home.

There is absolutely no need for that type of fancy footwear here — very few balls or parties swanky enough to warrant their wear. We tend to be a little more laid-back on-Island. Likely these delicate slippers would get ruined if she brought them here, with our limited number of sidewalks and many dirt trails.

In this day and age, true equality is still elusive.

Even on the most equal day of the year, parity will not be found. Equal opportunity for light and dark will not exist tomorrow. Spring arrives on Saturday, March 20 this year, but this first day of spring, the vernal equinox, may not be as equal as we thought.

Stop thief!

On the beach last weekend, it wasn’t a purse snatcher that had me worried. It was a robber of another sort, a beach bandit that makes off with more than just money and jewels. It steals habitat, health and shellfish wealth.