Erica Price and her dog, Lucy, were waiting outside at the Woods Hole Steamship Authority terminal on Wednesday, Dec. 24, radiating patience and the spirit of Christmas joy amid a stressful afternoon.

The SSA had cancelled two morning boats. The wind was howling. Anxious Islanders, visitors and family members in vehicles, all hoping to board a ferry for Martha’s Vineyard, filled the staging area the day before Christmas.

My wife Norma and I were parked in front of the Island Home. She’d been docked since a morning cancellation. I watched for a stir of activity on the boat deck, something, anything that would give us hope that she’d sail soon and take us with her.

I decided to walk to a nearby French bakery to shop for a treat. Even when there’s not a boat in sight, being at the mercy of the SSA makes it hard to relax. What if they shift vehicles? What if the station agent forgets I’m here? Or there’s a tidal wave?

Seeing Erica waiting calmly, Lucy dressed for the holiday, and a wagon full of Christmas presents in tow, brightened my day and made me smile.

Erica, a native Vermonter, lives in Boston and was on her way to visit her boyfriend and his family in West Tisbury.

I asked her why she wasn’t sitting out of the wind in the terminal building.

“Growing up in Vermont, this isn’t so bad,” she said.

And you know what, dealing with a weather delay because the wind was gusting, knowing that eventually the hard-working folks at the terminals and who sail the boats will eventually get us home, well, that isn’t so bad either.

Happy holidays.

Nelson Sigelman lives in Vineyard Haven.