Opinion
Watching my three daughters Wendy, Jennifer and Ali, cook together in the barn-like kitchen behind my eldest daughter Wendy’s house has been one of the great joys of my life. Even before they thought seriously about writing a cookbook, they had their title: Three Sisters Cook And Their Mother Couldn’t Boil Water. Although the kitchen is silent now, food is what binds our family together.
Each September the yellow school buses roll, and well-scrubbed, optimistic young children climb on board, carrying them with them the ambitions, hopes and fears of their families. For 13 years this process continues, and then suddenly, almost unexpectedly, school days are over. There is a song that I have often sung in Ireland, and known in Scotland, Wales and the Appalachians: “School Days Over, come on then John, time you were putting my pit boots on, on with your coat and your moleskin trousers you start at the pit today.
As I drove up to Pennywise Preserve last Saturday, I expected to see several other Island hikers waiting to join the pack. What I saw instead was an older man, sitting on a rock, legs crossed, no car, no bike . . . just by himself.
“Are you here for the cross-Island hike?” I asked. He smiled warmly and said, “Yes.” I informed him that I just heard the group was 45 minutes behind schedule, then worked on getting my backpack organized.
“Have you ever done a hike of this length? Are you able to do it?” he asked me.
Editor’s Note: What follows is the text of the commencement address delivered by West Tisbury resident Dan Waters to the 2012 graduating class at the Martha’s Vineyard Public Charter School last Sunday.
By DAN WATERS
Welcome to one of the scariest moments you’ll ever live through.
The day you were born was probably scary, but at least you didn’t see it coming. Your wedding day will be scary, but at least it’s voluntary — and people back out of marriages all the time, as we know.
Recently my wife and I drove to Edgartown to meet friends for an age-appropriate movie, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. It was the 4:15 p.m. screening, so considering the movie, which we liked and now refer to as Slumdog Pensioners, the theatre was packed. After the movie we had an early supper at an Edgartown restaurant and drove home.
From past editions of the Vineyard Gazette:
The natural formation of the Island of Martha’s Vineyard is such that nature seems to have prepared an excellent route along the north shore, where a railroad can be constructed at a very small comparative expense. The highest land on the Island is an elevation, 100 to 300 feet high, extending along the sound nearly the whole distance.