The shortest day has passed and although there will be ups and downs in the weather—­it’s winter in New England, after all—the days are noticeably getting longer. It may just be minute by minute that the daylight extends, but now that it’s been a couple of weeks the delayed onset of twilight offers so many opportunities. How do you spend your winter evenings? I’m open to new ideas so do share.

Ty Sinnett was home for the holidays to catch up with family and friends. It was nice to see her before she adventured her way back to Bali before returning in the spring. Have you seen her gorgeous luxury handbags? Look up Tybout if you wanted to be wowed by her talent.

Caitlin Cook has started up the next session of Body Snack. Find her ready to help you stretch, move, shimmy, shake and make your body a little better each Monday and Thursday morning from now through Feb. 13 at the West Tisbury church parish hall. Ten classes is $150, or drop in from 9 a.m. to 10:15 a.m. for $17 a pop. Bring a towel, some hydration and a yoga mat if you’ve got one.

Annette and Annalee Hoy are tucked back in to their Menemsha home after visiting family in Las Vegas. While in the land of deserts, fountains and neon, Annalee celebrated her 15th birthday. Happy, happy decade and a half to you.

Jessica and Mariah Campbell were both home for Christmas, much to their family’s delight. Jessica is in her second year of graduate school in Denver and Mariah is working and palling around with college friends on the North Shore. Grandmother Fran Flanders, who had a little work done on her heart recently, was, I am sure, happy to have them bring smiles and laughter to her home along with her four additional grandchildren, Bella Thorpe and Brad, Bill and David Fielder.

Genc Brinja and Tim Carroll have returned from a two week getaway to Costa Rica. Monkeys, zip lines, whitewater rafting and much more were accomplished, with stories to tell and sun-kissed skin a bonus.

Matti Fisher, granddaughter to Margaret Maida, traveled to town for the holidays and brought love and laughter with her. She doesn’t have an opportunity to visit quite as often as she did as a child, so when she’s able her company is most treasured.

Linae and Bob Schroeder, longtime summer visitors—most notably with their blond kiddos Sam and Geoff on their boat Thin Ice in the 80s and 90s— had the opportunity to gather with children and grandchildren for a ski holiday in Colorado. Geoff, bride Cara and daughters Sena and Cleo call Colorado home while Sam, husband Luther and their three children traveled from South Africa for the occasion. I can only imagine how glorious it was for all to be together.

I received an email, out of the blue, from Russell Cleary of F/V Skipjack. He shared a few snapshots from the older (not old) days. They promoted a few “I remember when” moments of the more recent Menemsha working waterfront. Conversations of the Carole L, Quitsa Strider, Unicorn, Patricia & Kathie aka Pat Kat, and more along with stories of their captains and crew including Skip Harris and Gregory Mayhew ensued, and of course, a lot of belly-aching laughter was in the mix.

Along with chilly temperatures and shorter days comes one thing: Town budget season is upon us. All boards, committees and departments have submitted their FY2021 budgets and the Finance Advisory Committee, in joint hearings with the Board of Selectmen, will review each before they are set in stone for the upcoming fiscal year. This year’s committee includes Marshall Carroll, Vicki Divoll, Eric Glasgow, Bruce Golden, Robert Hannemann, Donald Leopold and Susan Murphy.