Editors, Vineyard Gazette:

I had to write and let you know what getting older must feel like. I’m standing at my kitchen sink, looking out the window on Manchester avenue, when the Oak Bluffs sweeper machine was going by. The birds were chirping at their bird feeders and the little blue flowers were all coming up blooming and then came our Oak Bluffs cleaner-uppers, which put the light on everything.

Pauline-Polly Gregory, Oak Bluffs