Dylan Thomas
The birds of the winged trees flying my name Above the farms and the white horses I rose in rainy autumn And walked abroad in a shower of all my days. – Dylan Thomas
August 23, 2011
News Update: Thursday, August 25 – All Beaches Are Open
All Island beaches are safe for swimming.
Ice House Pond, the latest in a series on Vineyard ponds and beaches that had warned bathers of unacceptable bacteria levels, has tested clean.
The West Tisbury board of health had closed Ice House due to high bacteria counts the water in regular weekly…
News Update: Wednesday, August 24 – President gets briefing on Hurricane Irene, No Plans to Leave Vineyard Early
President Obama was briefed today on preparations for the expected arrival of powerful Hurricane Irene, but has no plans at this stage to cut short his vacation on the Vineyard, a Presidential spokesman said this morning.
Vineyard Arts Project to Open the Curtain on New Plays this weekend
Since August 16 six newly graduated acting students from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London along with playwrights David Simpatico and Saviana Stanescu, and director, Nona Sheppard, have been in residence at the Vineyard Arts Project, located at 215 Upper Main street in Edgartown. The company has been working on a selection…
News Update: Tuesday, August 23 – Tremors from Virginia Earthquake shake up Islanders
An earthquake centered in Virginia Tuesday afternoon was felt hundreds of miles away, including on the Vineyard. The 5.8 magnitude earthquake was felt strongly in Washington, D.C. and up the East Coast. On the Vineyard, the county communications center received a handful of calls reporting shakes, including one from the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital, according Linda…
Awareness About Present Issues Key to Preserving Island’s Future
All around the Island this summer, at banks, at libraries, at the museum, at the Polly Hill Arboretum, at the offices of nonprofits and realtors, and at Morning Glory Farm, the pensive self-portrait of New Yorker cartoonist Jules Feiffer has been inviting us to understand the Vineyard. What the mysterious booklet asks us to understand…
Land Court Allows A Partial Injunction in Title Dispute
Two Vineyard residents locked in a bitter dispute with the Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation over title to a piece of land in Chilmark can use a tent and keep trailers on the property for now, but cannot do any further clearing or construction, a Massachusetts Land Court judge ruled on Friday.
Dean’s List
Dean’s List
Jaime L. Billings, of Oak Bluffs, has been named to the spring 2011 dean’s list at Roger Williams University.
The Poetry of Paying Attention
During the last presidential campaign, the poet Naomi Shihab Nye had the daunting task of introducing Caroline Kennedy at an Obama campaign event in San Antonio, Texas. The honor was made particularly formidable because Ms. Kennedy’s plane had been significantly delayed.
In Full Throttle World, Breath Is Key Vehicle to Slowing Down
Breathe, Smile, Relax is the self-evident exercise that Buddhist teacher Lama Surya Das promotes in his new book, Buddha Standard Time: Awakening to the Infinite Possibilities of Now. It’s a meditation that, as he puts it, “can help us collect ourselves and reconcentrate our energy and attention. Learning how to do this prevents the cupful…
Go Fly a Kite? You Bet, Wind Festival Warms Up
Summer is on the wane and now, admit it, you’re thinking, yikes, in trying to do everything, be everywhere, have the best summer ever, you forgot how to relax on your vacation. Never fear, there is still time to change course.
Night at Opera Provides Musical Education
Night at Opera Provides Musical Education
On Thursday, August 25, beginning at 7 p.m. Vineyard audiences will be treated to the luscious music provided by Opera Noire. Luscious may seem an odd way to describe opera, but the performers provide so much more than great music that new and more fully-formed ways of…
The Rap on Kid Critic Jonas Plaut
The Rap on Kid Critic Jonas Plaut Name: Jonas Jacob Plaut Age: 11 School: Sixth grade at Abraham Joshua Heschel School, New York city Pets: My black Lab, Poogie, died a few years ago at age 16. He is buried on our property where he always sat under a Japanese cherry tree. Something new you…
Bison, Bison Baby
Bison, Bison Baby
The bison are back! Howard University Alumni Association (HUAA) in conjunction with the Howard University Law Alumni Association (HULAA) will be hosting a networking and professional development group of events beginning on Wednesday, August 24 and running through Sunday, August 28. Activities will include numerous meets and swims with the…
Reenacting Colonial Days From Rifles to Making Camp
Lectures, those events featuring knowledgeable experts discussing their subjects, are such yesterday’s news. How about instead a person actually becoming their subject and acting out the period in question?
Grandparents Day
Grandparents Day
Friday, August 26 from 9 a.m. to noon it’s grandparents day at the Native Earth Teaching Farm off North Road in Chilmark.
Grandparents and their little ones are invited to tour the farm, check out the baby animals and learn about farming and conservation. Don’t forget to check out…
Food Booth Yummies Generate Monies for Island Organizations
Thrilling rides, impressive artwork, and delicious food — including onion rings, fruit smoothies, barbecued ribs and fresh lemonade — entice Vineyarders of all ages at the Agricultural Fair.
But behind the sights and sounds of the fair, there are many hardworking individuals dedicated to making the Vineyard a better place. The Island Children’s…
Tuesday Chronicle: Important Matters
From a 1991 Just a Thought column by Art Railton:
Most of us have moments when we feel more important than we really are. It doesn’t happen often, but occasionally a certain smugness takes over. And why not? We’re living in an age of conspicuous self-importance. It’s the current talisman.
Turning Tide of Floodwaters Could Also Ease Political Rapids
Dear President Obama:
With so many top-notch advisors to routinely advise you, how audacious of me to think I might offer some nugget that might get your attention, yet I believe citizen perspectives can be instructive.
To do something big and to do it now, at a time of national economic…
Special Awards
As the sun began to set at the Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Hall fair grounds Sunday evening, farmers began to haul their animals into waiting trailers, the last skillets were tossed in the air and only a few whirls of cotton candy remained shrouded in the golden August haze.
All signs pointed to the…
Washashore Chronicle: When Guided by the Heart, Home Is Where the Dreams Are
It was the right thing to do.
This past April we sold our primary residence outside of Boston and moved the proverbial lock, stock and what seemed like 47 barrels to Vineyard Haven. At the same time, we told friends that we also intended to sell the house we’ve had in Menemsha for…
Enter the Solarbeam
Enter the Solarbeam
Southern New England Solar has installed the first solar parabolic concentrator on a residence in the United States, here on Martha’s Vineyard. The system is currently providing all domestic hot water, space heating and pool heating for a large residence on the Island.
The company, recently formed by…
Architects Turn to Machu Picchu Exhibit
Massachusetts architects Elizabeth Morgan and Ann W. Marshall are working as colleagues in Peru to install an exhibition of archaeological artifacts from the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu at the Casa Concha, a manor house in Cusco.
From ’Tree to Tree-Hugger, Voices Offer President Advice, Critique
Island author, Pulitzer-prize winner and self-described “deep-green, feminist, tree-hugging” Geraldine Brooks recalled a thankless trudge through New Hampshire canvassing for then-Senator Barack Obama in 2007. Retreating to a diner on that frigid day Ms. Brooks ventured to canvass the dining patrons as well.
“As I approached a friendly-looking couple, I noticed that they,…
Poverty and Failure of Education System Weigh on Black Students
Since 1968, the black middle class in America has quadrupled, Henry Louis (Skip) Gates told a packed house at the Edgartown Whaling Church on Thursday evening.
But that was the only positive news in an otherwise bleak survey of the state of black education by a panel of experts convened by Professor Gates…
Briefings on Clash in Libya Punctuate Presidential Vacation Time on Island
From a podium bearing the presidential seal set up before a grove on Blue Heron Farm, President Obama spoke to the people of Libya yesterday, saying, “An ocean divides us, but we are joined in the basic human longing for freedom, for justice and for dignity.”
The Agricultural Society Fair: Flying High at 150
People stood stock still. Necks craned. Those who were unwitting enough to have their heads down stepped around, muttering about these human obstacles in their path. But it was their loss. What was so dazzling that hundreds of people attending the 150th Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Society Livestock Show and Fair were able to stop where…
