Opinion
Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend and the ferry Martha’s Vineyard was temporarily out of service. Crews were working to repair the problem. Meanwhile, with some trips cancelled, standby lines for cars began to grow in both Woods Hole and Vineyard Haven. The Steamship Authority handled the overflow with practiced efficiency. Lift decks on the ferry Island Home were used to take extra cars. The freight ferry Katama shuttled back and forth alongside the Island Home like a sturdy lieutenant, her open decks also packed with cars.
Like the Wizard of Oz
She’s the Ferry Godmother
Magically making
Boats to appear
Reserving and serving
All of the Island
Healing and dealing
With standby line fears
Like the Queen of the Celts
She’s a powerful presence
Not that she towers
She’s rather quite short
But like her namesake
She swings a long broadsword
Cleaving the channels
Between the two ports
I’d like to toast
Our Bridget Tobin
Mistress of magic
What do you do? This is the question we have been asked by family, friends and strangers alike for the past year ever since we became full-time Islanders or, rather, washashores.
I got a call last week from a friend who has been successfully battling cancer. She told me: “Marijuana tea and candy are the only things that helped my appetite. My weight had gone down to 98 pounds. I am now 112 pounds. And it let me sleep. I don’t think that I would be alive today without it.”
I have lived on Lake Street in Vineyard Haven for 25 years.
The following letter was sent to the Martha’s Vineyard Commission: