Island Light: Joy of Life
Quietude in Vineyard Haven harbor.
Quietude in Vineyard Haven harbor.
Endless waves reach the shore of Katama.
Endless waves reach the shore of Katama.
Under the Oak Bluffs Fish Pier, with a view.
Under the Oak Bluffs Fish Pier, with a view.
Osprey returns to its nest and family.
Osprey returns to its nest and family.
Alabama crew rows out to the schooner.
Alabama crew rows out to the schooner.
Water bugs skitter across the surface of Duarte's Pond.
Water bugs skitter across the surface of Duarte's Pond.
Checking devices in the lee of the Bandstand.
Checking devices in the lee of the Bandstand.
Clouds scud above the wading fountains in Ocean Park.
Clouds scud above the wading fountains in Ocean Park.
School children leap for joy from the Shenandoah.
School children leap for joy from the Shenandoah.
Queen Anne's lace in a West Tisbury meadow.
Queen Anne's lace in a West Tisbury meadow.
Garrison Vieira volunteers at the Ag Hall before the fair.
Garrison Vieira volunteers at the Ag Hall before the fair.
Rides arrived on-Island earlier this week.
Rides arrived on-Island earlier this week.
It takes a skilled team to put together the midway.
It takes a skilled team to put together the midway.
Venus de Hooplah with her hula hoops.
Venus de Hooplah with her hula hoops.
Overnight stay in Vineyard Haven harbor.
Overnight stay in Vineyard Haven harbor.
The photographer in the Polly Hill Far Barn.
The photographer in the Polly Hill Far Barn.
The challenge August poses on the Vineyard revolves around the question of contentment. “Joy of life,” the American farmer-philosopher David Grayson wrote, “seems to me to arise from a sense of being where one belongs … of being foursquare with the life we have chosen.”
Each one of us has, in one sense or another, chosen this piece of land in the sea that lies beyond the land. Making peace with that choice, especially in this sometimes hectic month of contradictions, involves connecting deeply with the things that drew us to the Vineyard in the first place.
Now as the days grow visibly shorter and as the climactic events of summer rush past — the road race, Illumination Night, the fireworks and the fair — our great challenge is to slow down even in this sprint to summer’s finish, to savor this fleeting season’s sweetness and try to make it last.