Commentary
Heeding the Call
From Gazette editions of March, 1936:
After five weeks’ delay, the schooner Alice Wentworth, Cap’n Zeb Tilton, sailed for Nantucket with two large tanks for the Island Service Co. Ice that blockaded Nantucket and made the passage between the Islands hazardous for sailing craft, was responsible for the long wait. It was a tug that finally succeeded in setting the schooner on her way, but not by towing.
Elegy for Swans
The Sound of Shared Purpose
Last week’s Gazette carried a story about marine scientist Jesse Ausubel. Near the end of the piece there was a reference to a project Mr. Ausubel is about to undertake: An international effort to halt all forms of man-made noise in the ocean for a few hours.
Perhaps we landlubbers would do well to attempt a similar period of silence.
Dandelion Gone to Seed
A sphere of silvery transparency,
at the top of a silvery stem.
Perfect in its static death.
But the next wind will blow it into seedlings,
will sing every tiny seed of it into a cloud
that drifts to earth,
to make another flower,
in another spring.
— Margaret Freydberg
It’s called the MV 20 Miler and it was started 14 years ago by Bill Brown as an opportunity for runners to tune up for marathons and — no less important — to raise funds for Martha’s Vineyard charities. It’s also a huge boost for Vineyard businesses. “We get people from all over the country, Ohio, California, Florida,” says organizer Kathy O’Sullivan. “We filled the Vineyard this weekend. It’s February — are you kidding me?
I had to get my hair done. After six months on the Vineyard, serious hair repair was going to be necessary to get my flaxen mane back on track. Unlike on the Island, where I go to a simple establishment with an equally simple price tag, in Palm Beach the more high-end professional job is paramount — and about $200 more expensive.