Opinion
It was too good to be true. Until last week, all seven cygnets — the offspring of the West Tisbury Mill Pond swans named Bob and Bobette — were happily swimming about with their parents. None had been struck by a car when they left the pond and dutifully followed their parents across the Edgartown-West Tisbury Road and then State Road.
Human nature cannot be studied in cities except at a disadvantage — a village is the place. There you can know your man inside and out — in a city you but know his crust; and his crust is usually a lie.” So wrote Mark Twain more than a century ago.
After living in the village of Vineyard Haven full-time for the past 15 months, I see signs of cracking in my crust. Whole pieces are falling off. Life is looser here. Truth pads around on little fur feet, lapping up the crust dust. And where Truth lurks, karma is just around the corner.
The Island is a unique place to raise children, who are exposed to incredible opportunities for learning skills, earning income at an early age and gaining independence through these experiences. This acquired independence presents challenging and unique opportunities for our children. While we may not have malls or mountains for skiing or bowling allies, our kids have limitless opportunities to keep themselves active and drug and alcohol-free.
Fifty-two years ago my parents bought a house overlooking Quitsa Pond in Chilmark. The land had been owned by the Huntingtons and before that by the Pooles, who arrived at this spot some 200 years before. In short course Dad and Mom more than doubled the size of the small cottage, and I guess it may have seemed large to the neighbors when they were done. How strange to think that what was so grand then seems relatively plain now. In all the years we lived there, little changed from the day we moved in.
From Gazette editions of July, 1935:
A familiar word has already entered into the conversation of the cities — humidity; indeed, it is not altogether unknown in the polite verbal exchanges of the Vineyard.
Jawsfest: The Tribute has received numerous questions regarding our Summer for the Sharks conservation initiative, with people wondering if we are against the Boston Big Game Monster Shark Tournament that begins this week. The answer to this question is no; however, we would like to see that tournament convert to a catch-and-release event, as is happening with many such tournaments today. As a local business owner, who also runs TicketsMV.com, I fully appreciate the revenue derived by local businesses from events. I also appreciate that select shark populations have declined by a frightening 90 per cent in the last 40 years.