The House the Houghs Built

Has the importance of history and the preservation of old architecture in the Island community fallen down a rabbit hole?

It would certainly seem so, and the scant public outrage over the proposed demolition of the Hough house on Pierce Lane in Edgartown is just the latest example.

Thinking Outside the Lunchbox

Apparently fifty-six million students are expected to go to school across the country this fall. They may have spent seven-plus billion dollars in family clothing stores and more than two billion in bookstores to get ready for the day. They may carry an apple in their lunchbox, or, if anyone still does it, one for the teacher; those would be some of the nation’s nearly ten billion pounds of the shiny fruit produced annually in America.

Labor Day 2009

The national holiday on Monday is a singular celebration of American workers, and it stands apart from most other holidays in its lack of ritual — there is no music, no traditional meal and no parade that accompanies Labor Day.

Tuesdays Will be Different

Labor Day is next week and now the season begins to change. This is the season of decrescendo, when the swamp maples turn red, wild grapes and beach plums ripen and bluefish begin to run again near the shore.

First Family Footprints

Edward M. Kennedy: 1932-2009