The important news of this week is the weather and the impact it had on our Island.

Everyone did their best to try and build up the dunes so we could preserve the beaches. However, Mother Nature is a strong force and she said no to those ideas. The beaches are quite devastated and social media shows pictures of how the whole Island was effected.

I am so glad that no one was hurt. There is a lot of work ahead to prepare and save what we can of the beaches.

Happy birthday to all who celebrated their day this past week. Big balloons go out to Charles Bettencourt and Mya Smith who celebrated on Jan. 13, Hailey Waters on Jan. 14, Enzo Duarte on Jan. 15, Danika Peters and Amelie Rossi on Jan. 16, Emily Barbosa on Jan. 17 and to Pedro Oliveira, who celebrates his day on Jan. 19.

My niece Debbie and I took a ride up-Island to maybe have a lobster roll at Stanley Larsen’s Menemsha Fish Market and eat by the water. The ride was so nice without a lot of traffic. Even though it was cold, there are no leaves on the trees and the pastures are not green, you are still in awe of how pretty our Island is. You can really see the stone walls that were built many moons ago and think of the stories they could tell.

We got to Menemsha and the fish market was closed but it will be re-opening this weekend. We were disappointed but we still got to enjoy the scenery. On our return, we went down North Road and into Vineyard Haven after passing the Tashmoo overlook, which of course never disappoints. We had lunch at Copper Anchor, then home on Beach Road — which was also affected by the storms — and home. It was a great afternoon. We will still try again soon for lobster rolls in Menemsha.

Now that it is the middle of January, I hear about and see people making soups, getting home projects going, binge-watching series on Netflix, or reading a good book. If we have the cold weather they are predicting, we will have plenty of time for all of it. Whatever your pleasure is, enjoy and be safe.

Have a great week and keep the home candles burning.