Scenes from Martha's Vineyard: August 2018
Carpet of purple Joe-Pye weed contrasts with old time mailboxes.
Carpet of purple Joe-Pye weed contrasts with old time mailboxes.
Beating the heat with an assisted launch into cooler waters.
Beating the heat with an assisted launch into cooler waters.
Crossing the Sound topside on the Island Home.
Crossing the Sound topside on the Island Home.
A community grows on Katama Bay for day-long beach time.
A community grows on Katama Bay for day-long beach time.
Working boats in the fishing port of Menemsha.
Working boats in the fishing port of Menemsha.
Time to pull out the book while the drawbridge is up.
Time to pull out the book while the drawbridge is up.
Sunset over West Tisbury's Grange Hall.
Sunset over West Tisbury's Grange Hall.
Newlyweds travel in style on their way to reception.
Newlyweds travel in style on their way to reception.
Sunflowers nod their heads in August sunshine.
Sunflowers nod their heads in August sunshine.
Sun rising in the east over Chappaquiddick.
Sun rising in the east over Chappaquiddick.
You never know when a unicorn will come to your rescue.
You never know when a unicorn will come to your rescue.
Seasonal scares at Ghost Island Farm.
Seasonal scares at Ghost Island Farm.
Warm donuts from the back door is a summer tradition.
Warm donuts from the back door is a summer tradition.
Morning breaks over the fish pier in Oak Bluffs.
Morning breaks over the fish pier in Oak Bluffs.
Camp Ground is always worth a stroll.
Camp Ground is always worth a stroll.
Nothing could be finer to end the day than cocktails on the Seafood Shanty's deck.
Nothing could be finer to end the day than cocktails on the Seafood Shanty's deck.
Roadside beauty courtesy of a flower stand.
Roadside beauty courtesy of a flower stand.
A day at the beach stretches into the late afternoon, when the sun drops low in the sky and the wind backs off in perfect synchrony with a falling tide. Coastal ponds around the Island are full of quahaugs and blue claw crabs. Striped bass and summer flounder swim in the deeper waters in Nantucket Sound. In the harbors, osprey fish for their dinner. Some days, out on the barrier beaches at around dusk a stillness falls over the landscape, a profound quiet broken only by the occasional voice of a tern or an oystercatcher. It's August on the Vineyard and the natural beauty of our surroundings shows itself off around every turn.