In the night skies over the Vineyard, one can see the moon and planets move through the Milky Way. On one night, a man turns his telescope and scans beyond the Milky Way to a sister galaxy. He is Andrew A. Heyward, an avid amateur astronomer, but he is also a well-respected children’s cartoon writer, editor and top executive for an animation company in Hollywood.

An Atlantic common dolphin washed up on Lucy Vincent Beach Monday. Tony LaCasse, spokesman for the New England Aquarium, said the recently-deceased mammal showed no signs of external injuries. He estimated the dolphin measured 7 feet, 4 inches and weighed 250 pounds. The local marine mammal stranding team and New England Aquarium were notified of the incident. Following the advice of an expert, the animal was buried on the beach. The dolphin was not among a group recently stranded off the outer Cape and later released, Mr. LaCasse said.

Last Wednesday, under bright sunny skies and light seas, Dan Farren completed his 1,500th crossing of Nantucket Sound for the Falmouth-Edgartown ferry service. Captain Farren, 63, began working the run in 2001. For the crew and many passengers on the ferry Sanderling, it was a routine trip. But for the captain, it was a special notation in a little notebook he carries in his shirt pocket.

Sleeping is wonderful when there is a chill in the air. So is going to the post office and not being stuck in stop-and-go traffic. The weather is also a wake-up call to birders on the Island. Northerly winds bring birds from their nesting grounds toward their winter haunts. This is an exciting time for birders known as fall migration!