As the anniversary of Hurricane Bob approached and Henri seemed to be making its way to our shores, there were a number of words and phrases in our day-to-day vocabulary as we both reminisced and prepared. Words like haul, secure, stow, fuel and chainsaw were said in unison with swell, surf, rip current and more.

After it was all said and done, unlike Bob, Henri spared us and it was yet another exercise in preparedness.

Sam Feldman is home and out and about after an eight-day stint at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. He and Marilyn stopped by the Texaco to share his rave reviews of the care he received from the doctors and nurses, along with the five-star food service staff. He’s feeling good as gold and thoroughly enjoying the ability to wander about, taking in the sights and sounds that mid-August has to offer.

Amidst our conversation about health care, food and personal well-being, Sam shared that his 18-year old granddaughter, Vera Kelly, is off to Cornell after a stellar summer at the Chilmark Community Center. She was a play school counselor working with the youngest campers, who kept her on her toes five mornings a week. Sam also claims the community center has been a place where Vera has made lifelong friends.

The Bernhard family’s summer in Chilmark has come to an end. Ted, Jill, Lily, Charlotte and Kat headed off on the 7 a.m. boat on Tuesday morning, bound for London via Logan Airport.

Lily made the most of her last day, boating and fishing with friend Andrew Lee. She even reeled in a fish under the Gay Head Cliffs. This is not something in her typical day-to-day doings, so it was especially exciting.

Charlotte spent a good part of her final moments on the Vineyard by baking multiple variations of the classic chip cookie: chocolate chip, white chocolate chip, chocolate chunk and chocolate peanut butter chip. We’ve been enjoying her cookies all summer and the thought was we could freeze these and they’d last until she returns at Christmastime. It was a nice idea but the cookies didn’t last long enough to make it to the freezer.

Andrew Lee celebrated his 18th birthday last week. After a summer spent as a Menemsha traffic officer, he will head off to his freshman year at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. It seems with him and brother Daniel out of the house, parents Jim and Caroline just may be empty nesters.

Todd Christy teamed up with Sunrise Orchards to make his Chilmark Coffee available in Vermont. Chris (Neill) and Barney Hodges along with their kids Malia, Sam and Sophie call Sunrise Orchards in Cornwall home, but call Todd, Jennifer (Neill), Dashiell, Eloise and Adrienne family. It’s a good partnership.

I’d like to send a little love and light to Stanley and Lanette Larsen and their team at Menemsha Fish Market. Positive test results have forced them to close temporarily, but they’ll return once everyone is back to 100%. Their presence in the basin has been missed.