Tuesdays Will be Different

The fall equinox arrived last week; today September ends. The weather has been changeable with buckets of rain and intermittent sun. The warmth of summer lingers. Tropical storms from the south have brushed across the Island with their remnants, bringing heavy seas and plenty of seaweed to put on the garden for next year.

Capt. David D. Willey: 1947-2008

He was the favorite pilot, the one we all knew. Truthfully we only knew him by his first name — Dave. But he was the one we hoped would be in the cockpit whenever we climbed aboard one of those little nine-seater Cape Air planes. When he was there, we would instinctively relax in his presence. He was confident, smiling and somehow familiar even though we couldn’t tell you why.

Asters to Call Our Own

They come out just when the summer people go home, as if on cue for the Islanders who stop working so much and are out and about for fall walks and swims in the still-warm ocean.

They are the New England asters, sturdy, long-blooming and marked by more varieties than can be listed in this space. At least five or six varieties are in bloom right now, including stiff and showy asters. Their colors range from deep purple to pale periwinkle, and they look gorgeous in arrangements with goldenrod and rustic native grasses.

Caught Speeding

Something to Celebrate

As well-resourced men and women from Washington and Wall Street jockeyed this week for a multi-billion-dollar bailout, a band of earthy Vineyarders was busy preparing a festival about living local. This ironic juxtoposition is an accident of timing, of course; still, the broader economic crisis does concentrate the mind on those aspects of living that Islanders can and should control.

One Cottage, So Much History

The Oak Bluffs historical commission is right to speak out frankly in the matter of the Harmon cottage demolition in the Camp Ground. The chain of events that led to what the town building inspector is calling a progressive demolition are a little unclear, as are the lines of authority. The historical commission, the town and the Martha’s Vineyard Camp Meeting Association, which owns and controls the Camp Ground, all are involved in piecing together the facts in the case.