The Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank has signed a contract to purchase 41.1 acres on Chappaquiddick, including some 900 feet of shoreline on Cape Pogue Bay.

The acquisition will be added to its existing Three Ponds Reservation, bringing the total contiguous land area to 357.7 acres.

In an announcement on Monday, the land bank said the land, at the end of Jeffers Lane, would cost $4.95 million. The sellers are Judith Self Murphy, E. Baldwin Self Jr. and Karen Self Osler.

The morning crescent moon appears amid constellations we normally associate with autumn like Aquarius and Capricornus. Hard to imagine that, while this is the first week of spring, the stars at dawn are so far ahead in the year. The moon is in Sagittarius, the southernmost zodiacal constellation this weekend. The moon appears farther eastward.

Temperature: Precip.

Day Max. Min. Inches.

Fº Fº

March 18 56 41 .00

March 19 57 40 .00

March 20 50 28 .00

March 21 47 28 .00

March 22 43 33 .31

March 23 47 34 .00

March 24 43 30 .21*

*Melted precipitation

The sky didn’t fall, the floods didn’t come, nor did other catastrophes befall the world last Saturday night. 

Pessimists, naysayers and end-of-the-world prophets can go home and recalculate their doomsday predictions for another date (2012 springs to mind). The so-called supermoon that we had on Saturday night, while spectacular, caused no calamities. It did cause many ohhs and ahhs for those of us that observed it. 

Lauren Thomas of Edgartown won a free green heat contest from Harman Stoves and WoodPellets.com.

The prize, valued at $5,500, includes a Harman Accentra pellet stove and a year’s worth of wood pellets. Nearly 7,000 people entered the online contest.

After woodpellets.com delivered the three tons of pellets to the Thomas’s home in January, Harman shipped the stove to Pyewackets in Vineyard Haven, who worked with Nelson Mechanical to have the stove installed.

Central America is a fascinating area to visit. It is a relatively short plane ride and boasts an excellent variety of habitats. Recently we visited both El Salvador and Nicaragua. I could write a book about the 18-day journey, but will spare you. The Nicaragua leg of the trip was marvelous although not as birdy as I had hoped.