There will be a lunar eclipse at dawn on Wednesday morning.

People and pets around the Island may have found themselves enjoying an evening hike or backyard barbecue a little more than usual this summer. Without much rainfall, there were hardly any mosquitoes on the Vineyard.

Sengekontacket Pond is closed to shellfishing for five days because of heavy rainfall received Oct. 1.

Bay scallop season opened Wednesday in Edgartown for family permit holders, and Oak Bluffs will be quick to follow with a season that begins on Oct. 18. Commercial season opens later in October.

How about a lunar eclipse? That periodic feat of nature is headed our way next week, and it brings curiosity, beauty and wonder yet again. If they came every night, I would still be fascinated.

A spirit of collaboration prevailed Monday evening at a forum that begins a yearlong study of the Mill Brook watershed. The 3,700-acre watershed includes the historic, much-discussed Mill Pond near the center of town.