The Vineyard this week is lush and green from a surfeit of rain, and tractors and lawn mowers are on overtime, knocking down the tall grass in yards and meadows to clear the way for picnics and barbecues and the occasional home fireworks display which are the hallmark of the Fourth of July.

Thursday marks the two hundred and forty-third birthday of America.
 This is the week for flags – hundreds of them, fluttering from porches and front doors and fantails and farm gates. They are the flags of freedom, and the air is charged with the energy and spirit that comes with this holiday and with the start of summer in this resort community.

Like the newly mown fields, the Island is fresh and sparkling, still untrampled by crowds.