At last month’s dedication of the 9/11 memorial and museum in New York city, President Obama paid special tribute to “the man with the red bandana,” who rescued at least 12 people from the burning and collapsing South Tower of the World Trade Center before being killed himself. Twenty-four-year-old Welles Crowther, the son of Jefferson and Allison Crowther, had spent early childhood summers at the Chilmark seasonal home of his late grandparents, Bosley and Florence Crowther. His grandfather was the longtime movie critic of the New York Times.

I like to wake up by walking somewhere each morning in any season. I have favorite walks. In West Tisbury, one takes me through the woods past Glimmerglass Pond, another across a Whiting field.

Chilmark has its scenic moors, West Tisbury its tree-shaded Middle Road. Edgartown has Chappaquiddick’s North Neck, Tisbury has the headland at the West Chop light and Aquinnah has the Gay Head cliffs (even if rain and sea have washed away the colorful clay that gave them their name). What a pity it would have been if the most scenic natural attraction in Oak Bluffs had simply been allowed to crumble and wash away.

At last, despite frost some mornings, spring seems to be in the air. On Easter Sunday and one day before, it was announcing its presence with enthusiasm.

Anita Botti of West Tisbury was honored last month by the Washington, D.C., chapter of the National Organization of Italian American Women as one of that organization’s three Women of the Year. Ms. Botti recently retired from being chief of staff and principal deputy in former Secretary of State Hilary Clinton’s Office of Global Women’s Issues. During those four years, she worked with Secretary Clinton promoting the rights of women globally and recently completed the transition work for the Women’s Issues office for Secretary of State John Kerry. This is Ms.

Longtime Island resident Jane Farrow has written an Island cookbook. It is filled with recipes for the sophisticated dishes that Jane and her late husband, Ted, used to serve at their Chilmark dinner parties.