Jessica Mason’s life hinges on a magic number. It’s the number she gets after a team of medical professionals run a series of tests on her overall health and kidney function.

The storms have rung alarm bells about potential environmental hazards, both from the continual undermining of the south shore’s barrier beaches that protect these ponds and from the longer-term effects of more salt water breaching the fresh water environment.

Jo Douglas spends much of her summer behind the wheel of her pickup truck as part of her Fork to Pork operation. In the off-season, though, she can be seen behind a much different wheel: the Zamboni at the Martha’s Vineyard Ice Arena.

There are no adoptions to report this week, but we are wondering why Astra and Ursa are still here.

The ferry line booked more than 25,000 vehicle reservations Wednesday and did not run into any of the technical issues that have plagued opening day for the general public in the past.