Commentary
It’s hard to say which was more shocking, witnessing the near drowning of an elderly man and a young boy or the refusal of a couple on a nearby motorboat to help rescue them. Either way, it was an afternoon to remember.
School’s Out, Safety’s In
The kids are all out! Special artworks that adorned school hallways were carried home to take new pride of place. Those old worksheets stuffed in the backpacks are now crumpled under beach towels, all freshly smudged with sunscreen. And, best of all, the bike helmets are at the ready, for students with free time to be freewheeling on two wheels.
They’re the unsung heroes of the Vineyard, the volunteers and staff of The Trustees of Reservations who work tirelessly through the winter and spring to ensure the Island’s beaches, properties and other attractions are primed and ready for the enjoyment of visitors and residents during the summer. Significantly, their mission includes actively managing the lands for the care and protection of our wildlife habitat.
As a cyclist, I am sadly accustomed to abuse, including ignorant and aggressive drivers (thankfully rare on the Vineyard), so-called bike paths that are substandard in design and upkeep, and the overall attitude (despite law to the contrary) that I’m a second-class road user. Even here in Edgartown, the town has put up illegal stop signs on the bike paths (and ignored pleas to remove them), and illegally tries to exclude cyclists from a section of Pease’s Point Way (a ham-fisted response to a fatality some years back).
Ode to Quansoo
From Joseph Chase Allen:
Smoother than prairie land, wearing a summer coloring of greens and browns, Quenames, named originally for the Indians’ eel-fishing-place, lies much as the settlers found it three centuries ago. The acres which comprise the original tract lie empty save for the half dozen buildings which mark the home sites of the ancients and their descendants. The woods form a distant screen against the northerly winds of winter. The place has a quietness that can be sensed from miles distant.
Affordable Housing’s Gordian Knot