The Christmas baskets have become a habit.

On Christmas Eve, as always, St. Nick was in the sky, And looking down on land and sea with his most practiced eye, To search for landing venues for his reindeer and their sleigh.

In the face of a global environmental crisis, last Friday the Martha’s Vineyard Commission adopted emergency climate resolutions after Phil Duffy, executive director of the Woods Hole Research Center, delivered a stark warning on global change and human suffering.

Salt marshes are superheroes. Our coastal wetlands store flood water, absorb carbon dioxide and filter pollutants.

If you could pick a single place that stands for the heart and soul of a small town, surely that place would be a park.