She was just a cute teenager in a sundress, sitting in a diner with her family and some family friends. Until her mother Deborah and Deborah’s partner, Todd Follansbee, settled the bill, and then suddenly Katie Ann Mayhew was on her way across the street to prepare to sing in Symphony Hall.

As surely every Islander knows by now, Katie was in Boston Tuesday night to sing in the finals of the Boston Pops High School Sing-off. One of three finalists, she would be singing her original audition song, Being Alive, from Stephen Sondheim’s musical Company.

The automobile has long been an integral part of American life; there are 40 million more registered motor vehicles in this country than licensed drivers.

Yet on Vineyard sidewalks and bike paths this week, people cruised along on bicycles with no worries about traffic and congestion. The parking lots for the Tisbury and Edgartown park and ride programs were jammed full, while bus stops for the Martha’s Vineyard Transit Authority were packed with people waiting to be picked up at all hours of the day.

It wasn’t long ago that the price of a gallon of gasoline on the Vineyard reached the $2 mark for the first time, sending shock waves from Menemsha Texaco to the Edgartown Mobil station and prompting fears about the effects of higher fuel costs on the summer tourist industry and year-round economy.

That was six years ago. Now with gas selling for an average of $4.75 a gallon for regular and premium selling for over $5 a gallon, the idea of $2-per-gallon gas on the Vineyard seems outdated and nostalgic.

On the Fourth of July a couple of centuries back, the United States was founded on compromise, taking the good with the not so good.

It’s appropriate that today on the Vineyard, the fireworks, parades, flags and cookouts are served up along with traffic, crowds and chance of rain.

And for those involved with safety, service or transportation, it’s a day of continuous motion.

Rising sea level changes, together with changing geology, may be preventing the breach at Norton Point Beach from closing, according to a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration oceanographer.

Todd Ehret, an oceanographer with the National Ocean Service in Maryland, said he is aware of Edgartown’s problem. He said there is no assurance that the opening at Norton Point Beach will close, though history suggests it.

When it comes to sandy beaches, barrier beaches and inlets, Mr. Ehret said changes are under way around the country.

The real estate bust has cut sharply into the revenue of the Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank for a second successive year, with land bank income more than 25 per cent lower than it was in 2006, the last of the good years for property sales.

For fiscal year 2008, which just ended, the land bank took in $9.56 million. This was down 14 per cent from the $11.12 million of 2007, which was in turn 14 per cent below the $12.94 million of 2006.