Commentary
Beacons of History
They stand tall and straight on the horizon, an enduring symbol of the Island’s long and rich maritime history. Viewed from a distance, the Edgartown and East Chop lighthouses convey a sense of strength and of purpose.
Until recently, however, closer looks would have inspired less appreciation.
In the nineteen eighties, the Coast Guard stopped funding the maintenance of the lighthouses. Soon time and weather took their toll on the old cast-iron structures.
Still On Time
The Chappaquiddick Ferry, that tidy, profitable and often forgotten enterprise which plies the tideswept entrance to the Edgartown harbor and is the lifeline for a hundred-odd families who call the outpost of Chappaquiddick home, is due for a change in ownership soon.
Anglers and Their Fish
By Red Smith, Pulitzer Prize-winning sports columnist for the New York Times and a Chilmark seasonal visitor for nearly three decades. From the October, 1982 files of the Vineyard Gazette, originally appearing in the September 23, 1974 edition of the New York Times.
My father in law Bernie Cournoyer died two weeks ago. A few days before his death, he asked about his garden, wished us well and shook hands. It was sad to see him go, but his body gave out on him. Not his mind.
The Lash House is for sale. For a small group of people, that single sentence carries paragraphs if not pages of meaning.
Here is a sobering fact: we live on an Island and the sea is rising.
The consensus among coastal scientists is that our children or grandchildren will see a sea level rise of about one metre in this century, an estimate that does not even take into account the rapid rate of melting glaciers. The New York Times reported last week that “the arctic ice cap melted this summer at a shocking pace, disappearing at a far higher rate than predicted even by the most pessimistic experts in global warming.”