MARGARET KNIGHT

508-627-8894

(margaret02539@yahoo.com)

This is the time of year when it seems fair to complain about the cold weather here. After all, we had a week of nice warm weather at least a month ago — but very few days since then. I’m glad we have a drawn-out spring, with flowers blooming a long time, but having to wear a winter hat inside seems a little extreme. Of course I could turn on the heat, but I don’t on principle — it’s nearly the end of May. Besides, we’ve taken down our winterizing measures and I hate to be paying for heat that just escapes out the cracks.

At high tide last Sunday afternoon, I watched the ocean roar through the two openings at Norton Point, both about equal in size, and probably in depth, with a narrow wind-and-ocean-swept island between them. It’s no wonder the currents at the ferry are so strong.

The ferry is now on its summer schedule and runs from 6:45 a.m. until midnight. In years past, I couldn’t wait for the summer schedule to start, but I’m not out in the evening so much now, and the start of summer hours escaped my notice this year. Although I’ve already enjoyed the freedom of not having to keep track of time at an evening event off Chappaquiddick, I can’t imagine who would want to stay out until midnight. But there are more college student-aged people here now — maybe they stay out until then.

As I pulled into the ferry line on the Edgartown side last Thursday, Peter Wells was walking onto the ferry. He waved a screwdriver at me, pointing toward the concrete pad he’d poured for the new fuel tank. Finally I understood that he was saying I should carve my initials into the concrete. It was just about set, but I managed to etch mine and my family’s initials in amongst the others, for future generations to find.

Helix bolts screwed down 10 feet into the ground hold the new tank in place, so it shouldn’t be going anywhere, even if the rest of Dock street floats away. The new steel and concrete tank holds 500 gallons of diesel fuel and replaces the former tank that was less than up to code, the one Peter removed shortly after taking over the business. The new tank means the ferries will not need to be taken twice a week to Edgartown Marine for refueling, and will relieve Peter of the task of transporting diesel in his truck for extra fill-ups.

Landscaper Donna Kelly has been cleaning up around Bill Brine’s new Chappaquiddick cemetery, mowing the lawn and raking out the dirt and debris left behind after the wall building, which is completed. She’s also working at the back of the cemetery where the lilies of the valley and lilacs mark the location of the old Native American graves. The lilies, in bloom now, have spread like a fragrant carpet all through the underbrush. In the course of removing leaves and deadwood, Donna discovered the old stones marking grave sites and, she said, she had a strong feeling of working on hallowed ground.

The Edgartown library has been closed this week to facilitate the move back to the library building, which has finally passed its air quality tests. It will be open again on Tuesday, the day after Memorial Day. When the library reopens, it will have new hours of service which they hope will be easier for everyone to remember. They’ll be open every Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., except on Tuesday and Wednesday when they’ll stay open until 8 p.m. The change means an increase from 40 to 41 hours each week, but the library will now be closed on Mondays.

Joan and Siamak Adibi are here for a month. Visiting them are their daughter Jennifer and her husband Dave and their nine-week-old baby Axelrein, who is having his first Chappy experience. The three of them will be moving to San Francisco in the fall where Jennifer has a postdoctoral fellowship in placental development at the University of California at San Francisco.

Peter Wells and Sally Snipes have a red-tail hawk neighbor who has been dropping by for visits. One day when Peter and Sally were out working in the yard, it swooped down to their little pond (about eight feet across) and started splashing around taking a bath. Then it perched on the edge and preened itself, not disturbed by the presence of Peter and Sally. The birds at the nearby feeder didn’t seem disturbed by its presence, either. Sally went inside to get binoculars, and then she and the hawk got a good look at each other — the hawk having no need for help in seeing her. The next day the hawk was up on their windmill tower, where they hoped it might make a nest.