KATHIE CASE

508-627-5349

(kathleencase@comcast)

I love this weather — not too hot, not too cold. You can wear a sweatshirt in the morning and shorts by afternoon. Now we are getting the much-needed rain and sun for the Labor Day weekend.

Happy birthday to all who celebrated their day this past week. Big balloons go out to Michael Courtney and Joseph Serpa, who celebrated their day August 24; Samuel Rollins, and Emma Searle, August 25; Brannan Gerard, August 27; Connor Graves and Gabriel Jarillo, August 29; Lyle Lemieux and Ruby Mercier, August 30; and to Leilane Dias, who celebrates her day August 31.

Special wishes go out to Erika Bettencourt, who celebrated her day August 27.

Speaking of Erika, she and her husband Tony will be taking their oldest daughter, Kassidy, to her first year of college at Westfield State this week. They are among many who will be traveling to take their first-born to college and having mixed reactions as they drive off. I have a friend who could not hear the mention of her child’s name without crying again after she dropped her child off at college. But as time went on and her children came home after graduating, she was trying to find them a place to live. Janet Hathaway’s grandson, Nigel Ross Alexander of East Orange, N.J., was here for a week. Janet said she was very busy and Nigel is very curious about things and loved all the activities Janet took him to.

The best night was when they walked downtown to the Edgartown Yacht Club where they watched the launch coming in and going out. Janet explained that it was for taking people to and from their boats like a taxi. It was a slow night and Nigel was trying to understand when Captain Justine Kane offered to take them on a run. Nigel thought it was the greatest and couldn’t wait to tell his mom Ashley about the boat with the Pink Whale on it.

To all football and cheerleading fans: football season is right around the corner and the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School’s cheerleading squad will be back on the sidelines to support the players, our community and fans. Any high school student interested in joining the cheering squad can contact Channon Capra at 508-696-3787 or Sue Costello at 508-627-9568. There are some dynamic plans for the fall program and all athletes are welcome.

I have been watching and enjoying the birds these past few weeks. The baby birds are flying from their nest and their mothers, as always, are squawking after them. A few mornings ago I was watching and started to laugh to myself when a mother cardinal and mother blue jay came to the feeder. We all know that the male birds have great feathers and beautiful colors, and the females are a duller color for nesting purposes.

Well, neither of these mothers had a crest on her head. They were perfectly round heads almost as if clean shaven. I laughed thinking to myself that they had had enough of the kids and handsome husbands and had decided to do something easy to their heads so as not to have to fuss. I know that is not the reason, but I felt there might be a little rebellion in them.

Have a good holiday weekend. If you are traveling home, I wish you safe travels.

Have a great week and keep the home candles burning.