With snow still here and there in West Tisbury, I went walking on Wednesday along the Mill Pond. Main roads, of course, have been swept clean, but in woods and fields there remains snow to crunch through — a favorite winter pastime of mine. And it crossed my mind that there was likely to still be untrammeled snow beside the Mill Pond where the Allen M. Look memorial bench sits, honoring that late selectman who served his town from 1969 until his death in 1977.

I am just back from Viet Nam where I watched water buffalo in rice paddies and sailed in a junk among the curious rock formations of Halong Bay. But more importantly, I visited the War Remnants Museum, formerly the Museum of Chinese and American War Crimes. I spoke with Vietnamese veterans of that impossible war in which America wreaked havoc on a countryside and people with Agent Orange and napalm. It was an interesting but trying trip. So I was delighted to return home to the Vineyard in time to find fall at its finest.

The Edgartown house where the American classic Country Editor was written and where the Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation was conceived, is now set for demolition.