Island Light: Summer’s Far Shore
Towels hang to dry in Menemsha.
Towels hang to dry in Menemsha.
Trying his luck netting crabs on the dock.
Trying his luck netting crabs on the dock.
Minnows in the shallows of Menemsha harbor.
Minnows in the shallows of Menemsha harbor.
Anne McGhee paints at her easel.
Anne McGhee paints at her easel.
Menemsha Texaco anchors the fishing port year-round.
Menemsha Texaco anchors the fishing port year-round.
Last week for ice cream at the Galley.
Last week for ice cream at the Galley.
Gay Head Cliffs tower over Vineyard Sound at westernmost end of Island.
Gay Head Cliffs tower over Vineyard Sound at westernmost end of Island.
Horses graze in pastures at Bittersweet Farm in Edgartown.
Horses graze in pastures at Bittersweet Farm in Edgartown.
Land bank utilizes goats to keep invasive plants under control at Tisbury Meadow Preserve.
Land bank utilizes goats to keep invasive plants under control at Tisbury Meadow Preserve.
Tackless in Lagoon Pond.
Tackless in Lagoon Pond.
Milkweed seeds take to the wind.
Milkweed seeds take to the wind.
Christiantown.
Christiantown.
As August turns to September, we find ourselves looking both forward and back. Behind us is the season which seems to pass with a speed more dizzying each year; ahead is the month whose crisp days have already been presaged by the lovely weather of this final week of departing August.
No public events or parades mark the Labor Day holiday on the Vineyard, unless you count as parades the long lines that form at the Steamship Authority wharves in Vineyard Haven and Oak Bluffs. This weekend brings a holiday whose intended meaning is largely swept away by the tide of the Island's changing seasons. If Labor Day means anything particular on the Vineyard, it is all about squeezing a few more sweet hours on the beach.