The Nature Conservancy is seeking volunteers for a seed-cleaning project. All are welcome to join the conservancy’s Massachusetts Islands Program staff and intern with separating and sorting seeds from the native plant nursery. Seeds harvested throughout the season and stored in the Hoft Farm field station need the final step of cleaning by being taken out of their pods or scraped off their stems in order to be ready for eventual propagation.

Temperature: Precip.

Day Max. Min. Inches.

Fº Fº

Oct. 10 70 55 .02

Oct. 11 71 52 .00

Oct. 12 67 49 .00

Oct. 13 65 50 .00

Oct. 14 67 54 .00

Oct. 15 63 55 .00

Oct. 16 63 49 .00

Water temperature in Edgartown harbor: 65º F.

The last quarter moon will interfere with observing the Orionid meteor shower on Tuesday morning, but there may be a few to be seen before moonrise. Meteors, often referred to as shooting stars, will appear to come from the rising constellation Orion, which is low in the southeast late at night.

Friday, Oct. 10: Sunny and warm. Lawnmowers sing out in downtown Edgartown. Yellow bittersweet leaves decorate tall trees on Clevelandtown Road. Red poison ivy leaves decorate the edge of a path.

Along with penguins, polar bears, and baobab trees, there are some topics that I always assumed would never be the subject of this column. Dennis falls into that category.

The Grateful Dead were definitely not thinking of him when they sang, “What a long, strange trip it’s been,” but after recent events, it could have been this animal’s theme song.