These days there are many of them among us. Some just arrived for a quick visit, some came earlier in the spring and some stay year-round.
There are those who rise early and are active all day in various pursuits, Others prefer nighttime to roam about. Of course they are all welcome here. The Island is, like most islands, welcoming. The contributions they make are sometimes bold and at other times subtle.
The year-rounders notice each other in passing, perhaps sharing greetings, a wave, a chirped hello. Some travel the local byways and others find their own ways on paths more hidden.
The short-term visitors offer their own contributions and often return year-after-year having heard stories of this place from their elders, their ancestors. Many labor all day, some bask in the sun, some stay near the water, others prefer the up-Island woodlands. Many have family ties amassing in groups feasting on the bounty the land and sea offer, others stay solitary enjoying this place in their own fashion.
If one pays attention they can hear the praises that are sung by these visitors, and after all are we not all visitors?
A high point is seeing the various dress they prefer. Some go for bold red coats and crested hats. Some prefer a mix of colors like blue with stripes of black and white. There is a wide variety of styles and a wide variety of ways they interact. Some are quite chatty some prefer quiet interactions.
The contributions they make are inestimable, especially if you consider what it would be like if they didn’t come here.
No barn swallows swooping over the fields of West Tisbury, no catbirds talking to each other on the farms of Chilmark. No ospreys high in the air, near stillness in flight over the up-Island ponds, no calls from screech owls late at night.
Some, the ones that stay year-round, reside in the places of their ancestral family lines stretching back for uncountable ages, the crows and the chickadees for instance. They bring with them their hearts and songs, asking for nothing in return but perhaps the recognition that when they are here we can stop and enjoy their presence with the notion that at this moment we all are Islanders and perhaps we all have songs to sing to one another.
Joe Keenan lives in West Tisbury.
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