Island Light: Sitting Still
Monarch caterpillar settles in for a munch.
Monarch caterpillar settles in for a munch.
Mallows wave in the wind along the shore of Chilmark Pond.
Mallows wave in the wind along the shore of Chilmark Pond.
Shaped by the elements, and weathered by seasons of salt spray.
Shaped by the elements, and weathered by seasons of salt spray.
Kate Stamell brings Alex and Benjamin to cool off in Seth's Pond.
Kate Stamell brings Alex and Benjamin to cool off in Seth's Pond.
Viewing tube shows love for the partial eclipse this week.
Viewing tube shows love for the partial eclipse this week.
Under the boardwalk, boardwalk, in Oak Bluffs.
Under the boardwalk, boardwalk, in Oak Bluffs.
Snail and milkweed leaf illuminated by the sun.
Snail and milkweed leaf illuminated by the sun.
Any day is a good day for a row in Tashmoo.
Any day is a good day for a row in Tashmoo.
Glen Pachico and son Mitchell prepare their boat for the next day's trip.
Glen Pachico and son Mitchell prepare their boat for the next day's trip.
Sun goes down on another perfect August week.
Sun goes down on another perfect August week.
There is something timeless – and therefore reassuring – in a crowded Vineyard beach on a sunny August day. Out among the blankets and the beach chairs, placed at just enough distance from each other to respect the privacy of those nearby there is a feeling that nothing else in the world matters at just this moment. "I just loved sitting still," the narrator of Barbara Kingsolver's book, The Bean Tree, says at one point; and that's the way it is at the beach. With the swirl of others around you, sitting still at a crowded beach is a powerful restorative; one leaves regretfully, but renewed.