It was a curious year at the Island Food Pantry. One day we had 12 visits; another day we had 89 visits. We had eight per cent fewer families, yet with 2,740 visits for the year — the same number of visits as last year. The pantry posted a record income of $98, 075 and record expenditures of $95,345.

As the moon ascends into the night sky it appears to shrink. Astronomers and scientists tell us this is not so and that its size remains exactly the same as when it first appears on the horizon. Rather, they say, it is the moon’s contrast to surface landmarks, such as trees and buildings, that makes it appear so large while low in the sky. It is an optical illusion.

The last votes have been tallied and the results are clear: Vineyard voters do not want a roundabout in the middle of the Island.

The Vineyard’s annual appointment with spring, more often than not a fleeting affair, has stretched on endlessly this year, or so it seems. It began with extra warm weather in March — almost unheard of on an Island surrounded by frigid ocean water — that teased the daffodils into bloom earlier than at any time in recent memory. Islanders who were lucky enough to make mid-winter escapes returned to early spring flowers gone by and mayflowers already in bloom.