Commentary
It has finally happened. The old-fashioned bridge over the Mill River Ford in North Tisbury is no longer an old-fashioned bridge. Until three weeks ago, it was as close in character as the Island ever has had to a covered bridge. It’s not covered of course, but through the years it has retained wooden railings to keep cars crossing from falling into the brook below.
Fans of both classic gumshoe detective novels and recent crime fiction will appreciate Jim Kohlberg’s new mystery novel The Golden Gate is Red. In this engaging book, the author gives readers a murder mystery set amid the atmospheric fog and steep hills of San Francisco. But unlike most crime fiction, Mr. Kohlberg focuses on the psychological toll paid by his main characters; the unraveling of whodunit takes a back seat to the emotional journeys.
The other morning I ambled down Main street into the town center of Vineyard Haven with my noble yellow lab Floyd. We stopped at his usual oasis, the generously filled water bowl outside The Green Room, and the lapping commenced. He usually doesn’t stop drinking until his bladder assumes the proportion of water associated with that of the Earth’s surface.
Editor’s Note: What brings a group of Italian flyfishermen and one American friend together? Lobsterville Beach in Aquinnah and Coop’s Bait and Tackle in Edgartown. Arturo Kenney, an avid flyfisherman and former basketball pro who uses his six-foot-eight-inch height to advantage when wading on saltwater flats, began coming to the Vineyard with The Fly Angling Club of Milano two years ago in late summer to pursue their passion.
It was to be the 40th summer in our Mattaksett home.
After healing knee replacement for her
The summer season ferry reservation was secured.
It is now safe to speak openly about beach plums. Here on the Vineyard they are almost all gone, picked by the fanatics or eaten by the birds. Yet on a recent Sunday morning I managed to cadge a perfect six cups worth in a heretofore-unknown-to-me location. They have been cooked down and are currently dripping through the jelly bag (to ensure clear jelly I must not squeeze the bag).