A Walk in the Park

Budding

In our neighborhood the Russian Olive

Is first to extrude its buds.

Along its slender branches, and at their tips,

Ten thousand tiny commas and apostrophes

Suddenly appear in March.

Within them,

Deep down,

Are ten thousand unborn berries

That burst out in tart profusion

For me to gather on a September stroll,

To make my lips pucker in delight.

Smartly Equipped

From Gazette editions of September, 1934:

VANDALS AT WORK

Editors, Vineyard Gazette:

You know who you are and shame on you!

The recent request from the New Bedford fast ferry operator to eliminate winter operations makes this an appropriate time to review the SSA’s actions in establishing the New Bedford service.

Contrary to the opinion expressed in a recent editorial in the Martha’s Vineyard Times, Islanders are fortunate that the SSA decided not to get into the business of actually operating this service, as this would have resulted in higher fares for all of us.

It’s a late summer evening and I’m playing cards with my friend Heidi at the kitchen table as breezes waft through our rented farmhouse. It’s one of my favorite things about summer: how the wind fills the house like a welcome tide. Lie down near an open window and it drifts across your body in waves like gentle surf.

The air is warm, heavy and humid, and for me it’s like breathing cream. It makes the old house feel like a tent or open-air tabernacle. An animal snorts — a deer? Or is it Binty, the mare who pastures nearby?