Island Light: Gray Days
Jesse Gehrke spends some quality time with a Farm Institute resident.
Jesse Gehrke spends some quality time with a Farm Institute resident.
Cell phone cameras are out to document end of day at Katama.
Cell phone cameras are out to document end of day at Katama.
One of the few times raindrops were not dappling the water near the drawbridge this week.
One of the few times raindrops were not dappling the water near the drawbridge this week.
Bare trees before the Charlotte Inn in Edgartown.
Bare trees before the Charlotte Inn in Edgartown.
Edgartown Yacht Club reflections on a calm harbor.
Edgartown Yacht Club reflections on a calm harbor.
Shellfisherman's boat and all the gear ready to be used on a better day.
Shellfisherman's boat and all the gear ready to be used on a better day.
January gray colors the dunes at South Beach.
January gray colors the dunes at South Beach.
Menemsha scallop with nature's decorations.
Menemsha scallop with nature's decorations.
High winds and seas add to the waves at Squibnocket.
High winds and seas add to the waves at Squibnocket.
A peek of blue sky ... very briefly ... shows above the Whaling Church in Edgargtown.
A peek of blue sky ... very briefly ... shows above the Whaling Church in Edgargtown.
On a walk through the trails on East Chop, we found summer's palette of greens almost entirely displaced by browns and grays. Our eyes were drawn, hungry for signs of life, to the hardy greens of cedars and to patches of lichens along the path. Now the path of the new year leads us into February, another month that has its whole being in the season of winter. But unlike our lives, winter is a story whose ending we already know. Each gray day of February will be bearable because we know it carries us closer to the advent of spring.