It is dawn here on Chappy. Night dark is giving way to the soft golds and velvet blues of a clear morning. Yesterday’s rain (and the threat of tornadoes) has moved out, leaving a few puddles and wind-tossed leaves in its wake. The rooster, who begins his first good morning calls well before daybreak, is now in full song. The kitten is batting at the window to be let out, the old dog has not yet lifted his dreaming head to say hello. My family — father and daughter — are still curled around each other in our bed, the girl having found her way there mid-night.

In a few minutes, I will tiptoe upstairs again to pull on my running clothes and slip quietly out the door, pausing first to let the chickens and ducks out of their coops. I have been running regularly these past few weeks. With the bulk of farm work behind me and my days filled with all-things-three-year-old, I am finding I need the movement of energy and mind and the time to myself. I do not listen to music or podcasts, preferring instead to let my mind wander on any meditation, looping on any pattern.

My runs have been bringing me down to Quommox regularly. I like these near-daily check-ins with the water. It is always shifting with wind and weather and tide. The view from the top of the field, sweeping down over grasses, past a few cedars, and out onto flat water, is one of my favorites on Chappy. It never fails to impress.

I wish I could know this land through all its ages. This Thanksgiving week, I am reminded of the people who belong here, those who are rooted in this place, whose ancestors watched the tides, hunted the fields, and slept on this ground. This land, Chappy, is Chappaquiddick Wampanoag territory. It is land that was slowly stolen, over generations, from the people who call it home. The tribe is still here. Perhaps for Thanksgiving this year, those of us who are interlopers, who are benefiting from this stolen land, will consider making a donation to the tribe. Donations can be made at chappaquiddickwampanoag.org.

On Tuesday, Dec. 3 from 5 to 6:30 p.m., the Chappy Environmental Committee will host a fourth and final session in their series on climate change and Chappy. This session is titled Global Warming: How We Can Help Mitigate It. It will include a discussion of the ecological impacts of global warming and how this affects our food and water supply. What can each of us do in our homes and lives to help curb climate change? Speakers include myself, scientists from the Woodwell Research Center in Woods Hole, and participants in the ongoing Chappy aquifer study.