By LYNNE IRONS

I have never been fond of mayonnaise but I like egg salad in the summer. It is so convenient for lunches. I use cottage cheese with a bit of Italian dressing mixed with the chopped eggs. It is a high protein food for children as well. The other evening I was too tired to make a proper supper and added some chopped cabbage to the mixture. It may turn into a new favorite.

I am no night owl. Late night and early morning I prefer to be communing with the sleep fairies. Occasionally though, I lose the battle for the zzzz’s and find myself awake in the darkness. Luckily in these occasional moments of sleeplessness, I am not alone. Screech owls, referred to as “a sluggish loathsome bird” in Roman mythology keep those of us with insomnia company.

Leprechauns couldn’t have had a better opportunity to sit on a mushroom this summer on the Vineyard. Mushrooms have appeared all over the Island, from Chappaquiddick to Aquinnah.

The phenomenon is tied to the weather, specifically rainfall. Tristan Israel, a Tisbury selectman and a landscaper, said he has not seen a summer with so many mushrooms in 30 years outdoors managing and mowing properties.

Whilst August yet wears her golden crown,

Ripening fields lush — bright with promise;

Summer waxes long, then wanes, quietly passing

Her fading green glory on to riotous Autumn.

— Michelle L. Thieme, August’s Crown