The Martha’s Vineyard Preservation Society may think it owns the Flying Horses. And of course we’re glad the living history group is under that impression. Who among us wants to start our day with, “Honey, the Wurlitzer is broken, can you spray it with WD-40 and bang the pipes?” But yes, we do individually own the 125-plus-year-old carousel. It nestles in our memories and is tucked into our hearts.

And now it’s spring again and the merry-go-round is open on weekends. Over Easter it cranked out its first ride and organ standard.

For a weekday in late March on Island, it was a book launch of exceptional glamour: 46 avid fans showed up. The author lectured, read and fielded questions in a turret room flanked by a small amphitheater of seats. Even paparazzi were on hand, if you count the duo from the Gazette. The reception to the reading was rousing. The questions were intelligent and penetrating. The event ended with a round of applause and a platter of cupcakes.

If there’s such a thing as a literary Rocky, in other words, a writer with a solid professional record, yet missing that big knockout punch that lands him or her the championship, then our Island’s own Susan Wilson is that phenomenon.

Studies have shown, and plenty of them, that pets of the canine variety are so good for our health, happiness and longevity that if medical science could have seen it coming, they would have found a way for doctors to prescribe dogs.

C hristmastime is predictable: swirls of white lights; favorite carols that young kids first learn as Chet’s Nuts Roasting on an Open Fire and Hark the Harold Angels Sing; dustings of snow, real in the East, fake in the West; and the viewing of classic Christmas movies such as It’s a Wonderful Life, directed by Frank Capra and starring Jimmy Stewart. For the past two Christmases, the Vineyard Playhouse in Vineyard Haven has mounted a delightful production of It’s a Wonderful Life, The Radio Play (written by Philip Grecian).