I recently received the Vineyard Gazette’s Facebook page from a friend who, like me, used to live on the Vineyard. I lived in Chilmark in the winter of 1967 to 1968, next door to Charlie Maida, who we became friends with. Charlie, being the police chief, mayor, chief councilman and bottle washer, took me on his rounds of summer houses, checking to see all was in good order. I met Alison Shaw and enjoyed her photography then and now, and after leaving, subscribed to the Gazette for a few years just to remind me of how much I love living there in the heart of winter, my long walks in the deep cold down to Menemsha harbor and back.

I found the winter rental in the classifieds of a literary review and went there to write, but only came away with one three-page poem about the experience, being too immersed in just being there to actually write much about it. Good to see your paper again.

Michael Sykes
Cedarville, Calif.