Nature & Science
Tomorrow night’s full moon, the Holly Moon, rises in the east at about sunset and commands attention all night long. The moon is in the zodiacal constellation Taurus. Early Sunday morning, the moon sets in the west at about the time that the sun rises in the east.
The final Massachusetts Estuaries Project report on the health of Lagoon Pond was unveiled this week in Oak Bluffs, and the blunt diagnosis was summed up in two words: “significantly impaired.”
Dr. Brian Howes, technical director for the project, a joint venture of the state Department of Environmental Protection and the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, said that almost all of the 89 estuaries in southeastern Massachusetts are impaired. Lagoon Pond is no exception.
American author and critic Pamela Hansford Johnson could have been inspired by a Vineyard sunset when she enthused, “The sky broke like an egg into full sunset and the water caught fire.”
Mahatma Gandhi was also clearly convinced of the divine nature of sunsets, observing that “When I admire the wonder of a sunset or the beauty of the moon, my soul expands in the worship of the Creator.”
The time is quickly approaching for the annual Christmas Bird Count. The Vineyard’s CBC, as it is abbreviated, is slated for Jan. 2, 2012, rain or shine. Rob Culbert is again the compiler for this event. I give him encouragement and help as the cocompiler.
To some, they’re a boon to the construction industry; to others, a blight on the landscape. When talk turns to whether the Martha’s Vineyard Commission should regulate so-called mega-mansions on the Island, there’s rarely middle ground, and there’s usually a crowd.
A large gibbous moon and brilliant Jupiter appear together as a pair, a spectacle high in the eastern sky on Tuesday night. Both are in the small zodiacal constellation Aries.
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.