Opinion
Signs that summer is coming to an end:
Milkweed pods have burst in meadows and at marshy edges around the Island, scattering their seed-strewn silky puffs.
Tiny wild purple and white asters have begun to bloom.
The light has changed, casting shadows at different angles now late in the afternoon.
Bluefish are running again off Cape Pogue.
Cool mornings demand a light sweater.
Parking spaces are suddenly available in down-Island towns.
At a moment when the gulf separating our two dominant political parties seems never to have been wider, we are particularly saddened by the death of longtime West Tisbury seasonal resident Roger D. Fisher.
Even people who have never heard of the distinguished Harvard Law professor will nonetheless recognize the name of his popular book, Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In. The perennial best-seller, co-authored with William Ury in 1981, became the bible of constructive negotiation for a generation.
Last month The Moth landed on Martha’s Vineyard offering a night of stories in Union Chapel. And as Sam Low’s letter to the editor and Paul Karasik’s cartoon have shown, if you missed the Island’s own Cynthia Riggs, you missed a story of inspiration and love for any age. I moved to Martha’s Vineyard seven years ago and Cynthia was one of the first people I had a chance to meet.
I have doubts about my dog’s truthfulness. Or should I say his sincerity? Or maybe both.
Rudy (he’s named after the diminutive, underdog Notre Dame football player) has been partially paralyzed for about a half dozen years.
Or so he claims.
Every teacher knows the value of summer. It’s a time when children build shelters on the beach, create grandiose castles, sell lemonade and, as they get older, gather golf clubs, sell ice cream, bus tables or direct summer traffic. All those months of sitting at a desk suddenly translate into hands-on activity, putting into practice abstract skills that have been learned. They learn math from checking their pay slips (and mistakes carry a very different penalty — they don’t give detention for work not done in the real world).
The last of the four children have taken their wives, husbands and darling offspring home off-Island until next summer. It took the usual two days to get the house straightened up before any real cleaning could be done. Miraculously it does not look like anyone left something important behind this year that would require a trip to the post office by this tired grandmother of five.