The big news, of course, is the storm now known as Wanda. It had winds of 93 mile an hour here in Edgartown. Like many people, I was awake from 1:30 a.m. until at least 4 a.m. At one point, I thought my chimney was going to leave the house.

We lost some beautiful trees and some big limbs came down. There were power outages all over the island, but we are all safe and that is the most important thing. A big thank you to the electricians and the Eversource team as they worked endlessly until the whole island was back in service. Of course, with them were police officers on detail to ensure safety. Thank you all.

Happy Birthday to those who celebrated their day this past week. Big balloons go out to Scarlett LaBonte and Theodore Moore, who celebrated on Oct. 30; Scout Harl on Oct. 31; Gianni Navarrete and Jesse Reed on Nov. 2; Davi Soares on Nov. 3; and Zoe Tucker on Nov. 4. Emma Braillard and Jamison DeMello celebrate their day on Nov. 5.

Halloween seemed to go off without a hitch. It was great to see all the little goblins on Main street.

Who knew Vineyarders played significant roles in the American Revolution? Jonathan Mayhew’s sermons sparked Stamp Act riots in Boston. Polly Daggett symbolically spearheaded rebel sentiment. Beriah Norton maintained a semblance of order during Grey’s Raid. Thomas Chase sailed off with John Paul Jones. Captain Nathan Daggett, Polly’s brother, was instrumental in bringing an end to the war.

You can read all about this in Tom Dresser’s new book, Martha’s Vineyard in the American Revolution. It will be available Nov. 29 at Bunch of Grapes and Edgartown Books.

I have been giving the countdown on how many Fridays we have until Christmas. It is now seven but I have said nothing yet about decorating. Several friends inquired on Facebook whether or not they could decorate now. Well, Erika Bettencourt has them all beat: she put up all of her decorations as of Nov. 1. Her home is beautiful. Mary Beth Baptiste and Louise Searle are both so jealous: they wanted to be the first. I am sure I will be seeing their decorations in a few days.

Erika decorated her house first but on Dec. 26, you would never know that Christmas ever happened as everything will be put away. I envy her energy in both situations.

I ran into Annie Hale Long, who handed this column over to me many moons ago. It was great to see her, catch up, and hear that she and her husband Ray Long have been able to get some down time at their home in Maine.

Have a great week and keep the home candles burning.