Scallop season has begun, and on the Vineyard men and women turn to the ponds to gather their dinners or earn their living. These hardy Islanders don waders and go out in skiffs with hand-cranked chain drags. The work is hard and cold but it has own unique rhythm: dip net or drag for the daily limit, return to land, shuck the scallops, take them to the fish market and earn a good day’s pay — or just eat them for dinner.