Nature & Science
The clear dry air that covers New England and is giving the Vineyard excellent sunny days is also giving us near perfect stargazing nights. Visibility is excellent. The stars are bright and numerous. The Milky Way is easy to see overhead, and the stars of autumn are rising in the east.
For those who are up late, the bright planet Jupiter rises in the East around midnight. The planet is in the zodiacal constellation Taurus, a constellation we associate with cold winter nights. If you wait later, the constellation Orion rises. Orion, the hunter, is a winter constellation. Orion rises in the east at 1 a.m.
West Tisbury library trustees asked the town selectmen this week for permission to cut down nearly 10 trees to make way for construction of the new library late this fall. The library also needs the money to take the trees down.On Wednesday trustee Linda Hearn asked the selectmen to put an article on the Nov. 13 special town meeting warrant asking for $6,000 for the tree removal. There are four large trees adjacent to the parking lot, two at the rear of Howes House, several small trees around the property and a large maple at the entrance to the parking lot, which Polly Hill Arboretum executive director Tim Boland called “diseased and dangerous,” according to Mrs. Hearn.
Turn over any rock, wander down a new
hiking path, take a closer look at a shell. Nature is full of surprises and the pages of the book Moraine to Marsh reveal just that. This field guide to Martha’s Vineyard is often tucked away on many Island bookshelves, maybe caked with mud or dust, a cherished and often-turned-to friend. But 25 years after its publication, the book is no longer in print, and just a few treasured copies remain.
Island Grown Schools coordinator Kaila Binney is especially excited about January.
“I have this crazy idea,” she said. “I want to get conch in the schools. It’s the biggest export on the Vineyard and nobody eats it.”
Ms. Binney, along with IGS director Noli Taylor, is launching a new program called Harvest of the Month designed to introduce Vineyard students to a new locally-grown crop each month.
There is nothing I appreciate more than hearing from folks with inquiries, observations and article ideas. Susan Gomez and I ran into each other in the grocery store, where she told me that she had an idea for an article, but couldn’t remember what it was. She followed up with an email, not only remembering her topic idea, but also with a flurry of great questions about hornworms. Susan got more than she bargained for.
Those who are outdoors late tonight and for the next two nights may want to take a moment to look for the moon rising in the east. The last quarter moon is in the zodiacal constellation Taurus and not far from the brilliant planet Jupiter.
The best time to see these two celestial objects is well after midnight, when both have some altitude in the east. Both can be observed through the weekend.
Almanac
A comprehensive guide to weather and tides on the Island.
Vineyard Gardener
I guess this past week weather-wise is called a January thaw. We did not really experience it the last several years as December was unseasonably warm.
Farm & Field
Beige and brown and tan and black, with horns spiraled or semicircular or in undulating waves, a legion of goats marched up the hill toward us, bleating in anticipation of fresh grass and leaves.