Ode to Quansoo

From Joseph Chase Allen:

Smoother than prairie land, wearing a summer coloring of greens and browns, Quenames, named originally for the Indians’ eel-fishing-place, lies much as the settlers found it three centuries ago. The acres which comprise the original tract lie empty save for the half dozen buildings which mark the home sites of the ancients and their descendants. The woods form a distant screen against the northerly winds of winter. The place has a quietness that can be sensed from miles distant.

They’re the unsung heroes of the Vineyard, the volunteers and staff of The Trustees of Reservations who work tirelessly through the winter and spring to ensure the Island’s beaches, properties and other attractions are primed and ready for the enjoyment of visitors and residents during the summer. Significantly, their mission includes actively managing the lands for the care and protection of our wildlife habitat.

WAKE UP TIME

Editors, Vineyard Gazette:

Liz Durkee has done our Island community a huge service with her informative and well-researched articles in the Gazette on global warming and climate change. Her passion is to get us thinking on how to prepare for this inevitable future. If you have missed them, check them out on the Gazette Web site. They serve as an important wake-up call.

From Gazette post office files:

What splashes of color RFD mailboxes add to the landscape today. There are red mailboxes, blue, lion-yellow. There are mailboxes with whale’s tails painted whimsically on them, with lobster decorations, adorned with a smiling sun. There are mailboxes painted to resemble houses, striped mailboxes and mailboxes that look like the American flag.