Commentary
With sea level rise at our doorstep and storms chomping away at the shoreline it’s time to rethink an economy based largely on seasonal, coastal recreation. Why? Because as Ginny Jones, a lifelong Islander from a farming family muses so succinctly, “We can’t eat tourists.”
Recently I wrote an article about Angel Flight Northeast that will be published next month in Avalon Magazine. Angel Flight Northeast is an organization of volunteer pilots providing free flights (in very small planes!) to those requiring medical care.
Nowhere is the proverb “It takes a village to raise a child” more relevant than on our Island where everyone knows everyone and there’s a strong sense of community that makes you feel that we are all looking out for one another.
CLEAR THE AIR
Editors, Vineyard Gazette:
West Tisbury selectman Richard Knabel’s piece in the Vineyard Gazette entitled Those Who Deny Science Are Unfit to Lead [Vineyard Gazette Sept. 2, 2011] seems to have the support of an environmental law firm (nonprofit) in their recent issue of Earthjustice magazine.
Right now as I drive around the Vineyard, I suddenly feel disoriented and for a moment not sure where I am. I experience this unexpected disorientation despite my having belonged to Dukes County Search and Rescue, the U.S. Army, and still a Boy Scout. Sure, I am aging. However, all appears okay with me. Much of what was a familiar landscape appears to be different from what I am accustomed to. After some reflection, I realize that it is the environment around me that has changed. Some leaves have dropped and, in some cases, leaves changed color.
Chasing Liberty
From Gazette editions of September, 1986: