This season has been a tough one for anyone with hay fever, and for everyone who is tired of being covered with that potent yellow (and sometimes green, white, red, orange, blue or purple) powder.

Pollen has been plentiful this year, and allergy sufferers have reason to grumble (and sneeze and sniffle). A confluence of conditions could be the cause of our complaints. 

I will tell you about our trip to an island in the Pacific Ocean that is the shape, and almost the same size, as the Vineyard. Easter Island.

Cats, both feral and domestic, pose a threat to the Island’s fragile piping plover population, biologists say. But an effort to humanely trap the cats has raised concern among members of an Island group that finds homes for unwanted cats.

A hurricane outlook released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association says the region will be seeing hurricane activity at normal or less than normal levels. The Atlantic hurricane season began June 1 and runs through Nov. 30.

Funding was announced Friday for three key projects: the restoration initiative at Squibnocket Beach in Chilmark; a pilot by the Martha’s Vineyard Shellfish Group to sow marshlands with ribbed mussels; and a project at Barges Beach on Cuttyhunk.

There are three visible planets in our evening sky, and a fourth under our feet.