World news intruded on President Obama’s Vineyard vacation Wednesday, with briefings for the press and the president on unfolding violence in Egypt.

“The United States strongly condemns the use of violence against protesters in Egypt,” principal deputy press secretary Josh Earnest said.

With geological studies under way to determine more precisely how much more land may be lost to storms this winter, the Gay Head Lighthouse now sits just 47 feet from the edge of the rapidly eroding Clay Cliffs. A plan that has the backing of the town of Aquinnah is taking shape to relocate the historic tower in the fall of 2014. The Coast Guard currently owns the lighthouse, which is managed by the Martha’s Vineyard Museum.

This is not just a story, it's a love story. In 1799 President John Adams commissioned the building of an eight-sided wooden lighthouse which marked the birth of the Gay Head Light.

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Willy Mason is sitting on a barstool in a London pub, smoking a cigarette and considering the last decade. He takes a pull on his beer and thinks about what all the buzz — tours with Radiohead, collaborations with the Chemical Brothers and duets with KT Tunstall and Rosanne Cash — has really meant to the young bard now closing in on 30.

There is a seasonal change on the water this week. Atlantic bonito are showing up in greater numbers just south of the Island and false albacore are only a few weeks away. There are also more stories of tuna.

Steve Morris of Dick’s Bait and Tackle Shop had an early birthday present on Monday. Mr. Morris turns 50 years-old next Thursday and to celebrate he went offshore fishing with Greg Lee. They went on Mr. Lee’s boat, Sea Ox II, and caught long-fin albacore and one 40-pound wahoo.

Friday, August 9: Overcast. Light rain. Fishermen line the shoreline to the Lagoon Pond drawbridge early. A fleet of motor boats and sailboats are anchored off the Beach Road, in Vineyard Haven. Schooner Alabama is in the harbor.

“Tis not her coldness, father,

That chills my labouring breast;

It’s that confounded cucumber

I’ve ate and can’t digest.”

The summer is racing to an end. The Agricultural Fair is this weekend, the Chilmark Community Center programs end on Friday the 16th (although I will lead their last of the season bird walk on August 20), and people are beginning to return to their homes after their summer vacations. And along with all of this, the birding is changing. Large numbers of shorebirds are being found on the flats of the South Shore and along a few of the harbors and Great Ponds. Yellow warblers are disappearing, headed for their winter haunts in the south.

It’s Sunday morning in what promises to be a beautiful day. The sun is shining and, thankfully, there is low humidity. The Obamas have arrived 
. . . welcome back. I’m fascinated by all the hoopla about the inconvenience of travel. I’m happy to live in a place that attracts presidents. Riding along Middle or North Road for a week? People . . . please. Is this a problem?