I smelled adventure. To me, the scent of pine needles warming in the sun is the smell of adventure awaiting.

Invisible to me, but not to Bill Austin, surveyor, who spies each little rill, And ridge and ditch and remnants of a fence

“Have you ever lived on an island?” I poured the rum, dealt the cards and pondered the question.

Is summer the Island's true season or is it winter? A meditation on winter, formed during the recent blizzard.

By the numberless thousands they descend. The birds arrive as a great host, flying from the northeast, following a sinuous path on invisible, atmospheric currents. The flock appears as a river of birds, curving through the air, with birds pouring forth in a flow that seems unceasing.

The great flocks of migrating tree swallows have arrived upon the plains of Quansoo and elsewhere on the shores of Martha’s Vineyard.

Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation is the local land trust for the Island of Martha’s Vineyard. Our mission is to conserve the natural, beautiful, rural landscape and character of Martha’s Vineyard for present and future generations. We are governed by a board of directors which represents the year-round and seasonal communities of the Island. We own 2,000 acres of conservation land across the Island, including land in each of the six Island towns. We protect another 850 acres of land with conservation restrictions.