Summer White House 2010

Under the Roof

Perhaps encouraged by the hot sunny weather, this is the summer of the houseguest. Hard-working Islanders know the script, which goes something like this:

Guest: Oh, we’d love to come for just a night. Would that be any trouble? I know you are working.

Behind the Summer Soirees

A keen observer noted that anything that isn’t ridiculously expensive on Martha’s Vineyard is ridiculously cheap. Boutique or Dumptique. One-off or secondhand. Big ticket or barter.

Menemsha Blues

As if the July twelfth fire in Menemsha wasn’t bad enough, now the town is beginning to confront the difficult task of rebuilding what was lost in the fire. Which is substantial.

Stacks of Freedom

The eighty-five per cent of West Tisbury residents who have a town library card know well that researchers can do some seriously satisfying Googling there. But they also know that some of the best finds come not from any search engine directing them — to the most popular or most likely, or the Wiki — but from tripping along and noticing a book they otherwise would not have sought. That surprise in the stacks.

Two weekends ago, the notorious Blue Beard, my 13-foot long vintage Edgartown beachboat, got a safe mooring in the nick of time in Tisbury Great Pond, thanks to the kindness of a near-stranger.

And my fairly notorious 1996 Toyota Camry that had suffered a flat tire between Edgartown and Vineyard Haven was able to take to the road again, thanks to the efforts of a total stranger.

Such scenarios are the better part of a Martha’s Vineyard summer.