I certainly share Heidi Schultz’s terror at the possibility of being knocked off the historic but narrow Mill Brook bridge at North Tisbury, but I mourn the loss of the nice old black-and-white wood-and-iron guardrails. Of course, dear Brutus, the fault is not in our stars, but in our cars.

I voted for Mitt Romney because I thought he did a solid job as governor of Massachusetts and because his skills as a manager of complex things struck me as being sterling (to borrow a word used by Bill Clinton earlier this year when asked to describe Romney’s resume).

Last week the Gazette published a story about Island Entertainment moving across the street to save on rent. Other than this nod to the current difficult climate for video stores, the business looks to be in good health.

This summer the Bunch of Grapes Bookstore moved across the street for similar reasons and reported an increase in sales of twice the previous summer. Edgartown Books, which nearly closed down last year, was resurrected at the last minute.

Just when a nasty election campaign threatens to fracture us all into percentage points, a good northeaster blows in to remind us of what binds us together. When the second storm battered the Northeast last week, neighbors and strangers responded as they often do with acts of heroism and kindness, large and small. Though the Island was spared the worst of the storm’s anger, there was plenty of cleanup to be done.

Listen

I demand that you listen

my words will find you because you need to hear them

today a friend of mine was shot through the heart.

today a friend of mine passed over much too soon

My friend had four paws

his fur was silver and gray with dapples of black and streaks of

tawny caramel

one eye blue and one eye gold his gaze was gentle and filled with

light

Yes

Chi was a dog

the best kind, the always-loving-bounding-and-wriggling-with-joy

kind of dog

In 2012 women were discovered and many experts stepped forward to discuss them. Electoral candidate Todd Akin was able to enlighten us all when he decided that a woman could not become pregnant if she was “legitimately” raped. There was another expert on the same topic, candidate Richard Mourdock, who also seemed to be incredibly well informed about women and rape. There was a summer-long discussion about how women will vote, and what matters to them. Women were everywhere we looked, except that no woman seemed to have spoken on the topic.