I began this essay one evening while sitting on the porch. It was dark and cool, and the feel of the season hit me with its full force. I was taken back in time.

Isn’t there a sacredness around family moments exempt from multi-tasking?

A space where children, along with their caregivers, dance the tango and beat drums with total passion?

Welcome to Music Together.

“When I was a boy,” said Napoleon B. Madison, acting cranberry agent in Leonard F. Vanderhoop’s stead, “the first Tuesday of October was always Cranberry Day and there was no postponement for anything."

Shirley Mayhew’s affectionate recollections of West Tisbury chronicle the years from 1947, when she arrived as a bride to a community of 239 residents, to 2013, when the book was written.

Autumn is settling over the Island like so many fallen leaves and for the many people who work long hours in summer, this is a time to pause and savor the quiet season.