Stray Blooms

The leaves are down, and across the Island the bare branches of trees are a silhouette against the November sky. But the trees have been stripped more by rain than frost this fall and in many places errant flowers are still in bloom. A solitary pale yellow rose winds around a white picket fence in downtown Edgartown. Hydrangeas are still producing blue blossoms in Vineyard Haven dooryards. Pink petunias are flowering in forgotten window boxes of summer homes now shuttered for the season. On a beach path along the north shore white yarrow is oblivious to the calendar. Coddled by still-warm ocean air, these stray blooms are a delight to encounter on walks around town and in the woods; it is as if they are saying: “Surprise — it’s not quite winter yet.”