Have you noticed the Queen Anne’s lace along the roadsides? Does it always lay so thickly across the fields in August, or is it having a banner year?

Less happily, ticks seem to be having a banner year as well. We just keep finding them, ever smaller and more difficult to see. A nurse said to me that tick-borne illnesses are much more of a problem here than Covid-19, and it certainly seems to be so.

Does anybody know what is up with the stuffed animals along the path to Lambert’s Cove beach? Last year, there was a whole menagerie in the trees at the beach end of the path. Yesterday we spotted a lemur in a tree near the parking lot, so someone is beginning it again. It looks pretty terrible, honestly, especially as the sun and rain do their work on the polyester fur. But if there is some sweet story behind this custom, I’d like to hear it. The beach attendant professed ignorance on the subject.

West Tisbury sixth graders are on board the Shenandoah this week and we spotted the ship in the Vineyard Haven harbor on Tuesday morning. What an amazing opportunity that is! I am so jealous.

The Field Gallery celebrated its 50th birthday on Sunday, August 8. Eileen Maley reported a happy crowd, lemonade, and sandwiches. Fifty years! Local artists, including Kenneth Vincent, Daniel VanLandingham and Max Decker, are showing work at the Field and Granary galleries right now.

Last chance to sign up for Fair shifts. Go to the Agricultural Society’s website for the link. It looks as though the virus is not done thrashing us, so we’ll probably need to wear masks. Let’s hope for a cool, dry stretch of days.

Friday night is usually Islander night at the Fair because everyone else is at the fireworks in Oak Bluffs. But with the fireworks canceled, Friday might just be another night. We will see, I guess.

Happy birthday this week to Jonah Maidoff, Nettie Kent Ruel and Chloe Maley!