August is upon us so let’s all take a moment to revel in those words by Molière, “Trees that are slow to grow bear the best fruit.” This can easily translate to driving, dining out, adventuring and more. There is nowhere you need to get to 30 seconds sooner, so please don’t pass that child cyclist on a blind corner, blow through that stop sign or pass in a double yellow. Please have patience for your waitstaff, fuel attendants, dock help, grocery checkout clerk and more. There’s no need to yell, honk, or come to blows. If you find yourself waiting in a long line or at a venue that’s a little slower to get the food to you than you’d hoped, well, take the time to enjoy your surroundings, your companions or just some good thoughts quietly circling around in your head amidst a few slow deep breaths. Patience. Kindness. Savor a slower pace.

Zoe and Simon Thompson, along with their girls Nell and Mae, traveled to Maine for some fun and frolic with the Thompson clan. Lincolnville was the destination. The girls had an opportunity to eat ice cream, be silly, get tossed around by uncles and meet a new cousin. Finn Thompson was born to Iona Hagl and Patrick on June 4 in Portland. The girls thoroughly enjoyed their baby snuggles.

Zoe will once again, be fundraising for Maine’s Lifeflight. Cross for Lifeflight has been slightly reinvented and allows swimmers the opportunity to do a 5K swim in places other than Maine’s Isleboro Crossing in Penobscot Bay. Zoe will take to Menemsha Pond, just as she did last year, to get her strokes in. If you’d like to support her efforts, you can cheer her on and make monetary contributions here: https://lifeflight.donordrive.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=donate.participan...

Rising MVRHS senior Graham Stearns found his name perfectly placed on The Boston Globe’s All-Scholastic Lacrosse list. It’s quite an accomplishment. Go Graham. Between lacrosse practices, you can find Graham aboard the Tomahawk as Captain Buddy Vanderhoop’s first mate.

Billy Dillon shared the excitement of Lucia Dillon and Chase Marcella making him a grandfather. Little Agnes was born at the end of May and is already smiling gleefully for photographs. It truly seems like just the other day that Lucia and her sister Augusta were strapped into car seats, giggling over peekaboo from the back seat of the car as they patiently waited for the gas tank to fill.

Landon Steere made an appearance in town with his lovely companion Maggie Sowder. The pair traveled from their home in Colorado to pass some time with grandparents Heather Somers, Ed Sussman and Dana Nunes and West Tisbury’s David and Bonnie Steere. They managed to overlap their trip with Landon’s mom, Lila (Sussman) Ryan and siblings Rowan, Nevia, June and Emmett, and of course toddling niece Eliana. While in town, a special moment was planned--since something like this is rarely spontaneous--and Landon got down in one knee and asked sweet Maggie to be his bride. She, of course, said yes and now has a lovely ring on her finger and an extended family that welcomes her. Congratulations to all.

Genc Brinja recently returned from a 10-day trip to Albania to visit his parents, Pranvera and Zamir. His visit coincided with that of his brother Eno who now calls Vienna, Austria home. The visit was a family reunion of sorts since, due to the pandemic, the opportunity to travel had proven quite challenging. Although temperatures were over 100 each day, Genc made the most of his travels and enjoyed the opportunity to not only reconnect with family, but also some of his favorite beaches and childhood stomping grounds in the coastal towns around his home base of Sarandë, nestled in along the northern border of Greece and the Ionian Sea. Once the sun sank low into the sky, they enjoyed cooler temperatures and strolled the promenade, dined out and called it a night before the midnight Covid curfew still in place.

There’s been a cyanobacteria bloom in Squibnocket Pond in the area of the kayak launch, so a red warning sign has been placed in the area. There are some concerning levels in Chilmark Pond that, at the time of my writing, prompted an orange warning sign. The Chilmark board of health’s assistant, Marina Lent, has been working closely with Emily Reddington of the Great Pond Foundation to take water samples, test and notify. Please peruse the information at http://www.greatpondfoundation.org/ for more details.