During the holiday weekend the place to be was the Performing Arts Center for the regional high school's production of Big Fish. Playing four shows to packed house, the cast included nearly 50 students, along with some adults, a live orchestra, a mermaid, an elephant and so much more. 

Since the darkest days of the winter solstice, more than half an hour of light has already been added to each Island day. Almost two months, already, have been subtracted from the term of this winter.

From calm to stormy, gray to colorful, the landscape carves its own shape each season. Each hour brings a new turn to the potter's wheel, be it a weathered shingle or a wave crashing upon a rock or a colorful buoy taking a time out upon the sand.

Streets, beaches, trails, dockside — they all take on a different character when not populated with the human character.

For people who frequent land bank properties, the experience is more than just getting some exercise, it’s about getting back in touch with the core character of the Island — what made people fall in love with it in the first place.

Winter birds are settled in on the Vineyard, and feeders are busier in January as birds look for reliable sources of food in snow and cold temperatures. Send bird sightings to birds@mvgazette.com and follow the latest avian activity through the Gazette Bird News column.

Snow has a way of inviting us to see anew as it opens new vistas, especially in the deep woods, which it seems to open up even as it decks them in white.

There's novelty in snow that falls overnight, squeaks underfoot in morning and yields to broom rather than shovel. In the glittering sunlight of early morning, the snow blossoms sparkled down from trees in puffs of breeze until it almost seemed to be snowing from a sky of brilliant blue.