On the Vineyard in June, the distant sun is just about the only thing that finds time to stand still. On the Island, June does not so much embody summer as it does our transition into that exciting season, and of all the transitions the Island seasons bring, this is the most challenging.

June is the month of adjustments, as motorists relearn the art of merging into heavy traffic, and even a simple outing to the grocery store and post office becomes an occasion for careful planning.

June is the month when school buses become tour buses, college children are home and families face new dynamics just as most parents enter the busiest months of the working year.

If there is a discernible plot to this wonderful predicament called summer on Martha’s Vineyard, perhaps it is provided by the natural world around us. After all, it’s the lush beauty of this place that draws the throngs of summer here in the first place.