The wind blows hard as Mark Crossland and his crew assemble the last of 18 Christmas trees in Ocean Park. Mr. Crossland and Alisson Brasil tie a rope in a knot at the end of a pole, mount the pole in the ground, cable the rope down, and start wrapping Christmas lights around the six-foot tree.

The guys zip-tie the string to the ropes, and splice each light to prevent burn-out. It takes the crew about a week to fill Ocean Park with the trees, which for now look a bit naked in the sunlight.

But at night?

Editor's Note: Each year, editor Phyllis Meras creates a Christmas poem for the Vineyard.

West Tisbury’s Mill Pond was all white;
The snow on the cattails a pretty sight.
The mallards were swimming up and down.

At the Animal Shelter of MV
The dogs were barking with great glee,
And the cats were purring to beat the band,

In Tisbury town on Church street,
the traffic all was stuck
So those who’d gone on shopping sprees
were clearly out of luck.