July 6, 2023 was marked as the hottest day recorded in the Earth’s history. Unfortunately, as we approach this unhappy anniversary, there is little to celebrate.

It was one of those days that had me wishing the pain others carry didn’t touch me so deeply. Driving along a beach road, the scent of rosa rugosa infusing the breezes, the pain in our world began to ebb.

Samuel Osborn Jr. of Edgartown writes that “S. S. Daggett, jailer, born Aug. 20, 1799, related to me that the first celebration of the Fourth of July was observed in Edgartown, July 4, 1777.

A few years ago, I was chatting with my mother, who is now 97, at her house on Menemsha Pond in Chilmark. At that point, the egrets on the Pond and her dog Lizzie were her principal interests.

The Edgartown Fourth of July parade may look a lot different than when it started out in 1844, but 180 years later the sentiment remains the same.

The following cases were heard in Edgartown district court.

Noa Meyer and Edward Minoff purchased 0 Old Field Road in Aquinnah from Kathryn R. Ham Trust, Cold Fusion Realty Trust, Susan E. Jenson Trust and Mandrake Realty Trust for $1,800,000 on June 25.

Jacalyn Kane, who has organized and officiated more than 300 elopements on the Vineyard, married her husband Gary Brown in May at their new home in Santa Fe, N.M.

I was headed down Quenames Road in Chilmark, where neon pastures peak through a forest of scraggly oak and pine for a visit to Milkweed Farm, the little sandy fiefdom where Mallory Watts has recently begun to reap a yearly harvest. 

For many years, the famous American flag sail was carried by the catboat Tigress, captained and chartered by Kurt Peterson. This summer, the sail is still blowing across the harbor — this time atop his catboat Dolphin.