A seal was the lone occupant at Lighthouse Beach in Edgartown the other day, soaking up a small bit of late winter warmth as a few rays of sun slanted through gray clouds. Out of the lee, the wind off the water had a sharp bite. Engraved cobblestones around the base of the lighthouse that serve as a memorial to children who have died were strewn with shells and sand.

There was something permanent and yet fleeting about the tableau.

Winter on the Island has its own particular rhythms and this year is no different. The weather has been changeable. Bitterly cold temperatures in January brought out skaters and ice sailors, while indoors the heat was on high with roaring fires, sputtering wood stoves and endless cups of hot tea. That was followed by an up-and-down cycle of temperatures that left driveways and dirt roads a sea of mud. Was this north country or the Vineyard? Islanders were left to wonder as they mopped entryways and kitchen floors and could no longer recognize their own cars.

More recently a deluge of rain turned paved roads into lakes, fields into swamps and freshwater streams into rivers.

There have been a handful of snow squalls but no real blizzards — at least not the kind that cancels school, forces all but the most hardy indoors and keeps the plow drivers and utility crews up all night.

Instead this month Islanders have been out scalloping, tramping woodland trails and sandy shorelines on weekends and after work. The secret is out: Sunsets in Menemsha are just as stunning in February as in August — but minus the crowds and requiring extra layers. Like the seal, you might be the only one there. And that’s just fine.

Gardeners have already taken note that meteorological winter is in fact over — with more than ten hours of daylight, it’s enough for plants to begin to grow in greenhouses and on windowsills. Time then to plant some seeds, perhaps some herbs for the spot over the kitchen sink where last summer’s beach stones still sit in a pile, waiting for their return to their rightful home by the sea next summer.

Islanders occupy themselves with concerts and other cultural events at town libraries and community centers, and government meetings that sometimes run into the evening hours. Only a handful of restaurants and shops are open, but those that do stay open are often busy, especially at lunchtime and on weekends.

This is the season of deep quiet, and yet the Vineyard never really stands still. Like the runners who have been quietly training to compete in this weekend’s annual 20-miler on Saturday, things are happening just out of sight. In the mornings, construction workers converge on coffee shops before scattering to job sites where the annual cycle of home repairs and improvements is under way. Seasonal friends appear on weekends, checking on their properties or testing the dream of retiring here against the reality of months of gray, cold weather. Boards of organizations are meeting to plan their summer activities. Business negotiations are under way that promise to alter the Island’s economic landscape in various ways.

Already, several major transactions have been announced. The Harbor View Hotel, Alchemy restaurant and Back Door Donuts have been acquired by different Boston businessmen, each with ties to the Island. The former Down Island restaurant in Oak Bluffs will reopen as The Cardboard Box, under the direction of Red Cat owner, chef Ben deForest.

More will come as seeds planted last fall begin to germinate.

Back at the lighthouse, the seal inched awkwardly across the sand, and slipped into the icy cold, clear green water of the outer harbor. Suddenly it was gone. But like the water, the message was clear: Spring is just around the corner.