Abigail McGrath, of Oak Bluffs, is researching and interviewing for a film on the artists of the Harlem Renaissance, a documentary called Chick Nor Child.

MARGARET KNIGHT

508-627-8894

(margaret02539@yahoo.com)

Lest I sound as if I’m complaining too many weeks in a row about March and its fickle weather, let me first express my concern for the daffodils and all the birds that thought summer had come on Saturday when the temperature — at least outside my house — stayed at 62 degrees Fahrenheit for a good part of the day. Monday’s brief snowstorm must have come as a shock — not that I minded, of course.

In this year-long serialized novel set on the Vineyard in real time, a native Islander (“Call me Becca”) returns home after two decades to help her eccentric Uncle Abe keep his landscaping business, Pequot, afloat. Abe fears and detests Richard Moby, the CEO of an off-Island wholesale nursery, Broadway. Convinced that Moby wants to destroy Abe personally, and all Island-based landscaping/nursery businesses generally, Abe is obsessed with “taking down” Moby.

The Okavango Delta was by far my favorite spot in Botswana and maybe of our whole Namibia/Botswana trip. I am not sure that Paul Magid and Anita Botti would agree, but Flip Harrington and I loved it. Our first tented camp was very strange, and if this had been our only stop my opinion of Botswana and the Okavango Delta would have been very different! We were greeted by three dogs of various mixed breeds. There was a tank of tilapia fish next to the desk where we checked in. When we returned from our tents after stowing our gear, there was an otter in the hall of the dinning area eating a fish. We sat down at the table for dinner and the otter scurried around our feet. Then, as we were about to be served, a full-grown goat appeared in the kitchen and promptly climbed up on a box about three feet square! This is where the goat was fed its bottle when young and has definitely been imprinted. Get on box, get fed. After dinner we went into the “lounge” to find the goat on a soft chair “sitting” next to the owner watching satellite TV. Oh, boy!

By LYNNE IRONS

I try to make the illustrations match the written word. I give Seniel a word or two hint and she comes up with something appropriate. It is always a surprise to me when I get the Gazette on Friday. She e-mails to the Gazette, while I, on the other hand, typewrite the content and someone is kind to pick it up. Two weeks ago I mentioned raking until my arms no longer worked. The picture did not make it until last week. I cracked up to see the rake with dismembered arms.

Hello, Lethicia

Daniela and Erlande Diniz of Oak Bluffs announce the birth of a daughter, Lethicia Malagoli Diniz, born on March 4, 2009, at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. Lethicia weighed 9 pounds, 0.8 ounces at birth.

Birdfeeders are not only for the birds.

It is a virtual Noah’s Ark at my feeder, with a surprising diversity of wildlife taking their turn for a taste. The usual suspects are all there — chickadees, nuthatches, cardinals and blue jays, but recently some uninvited visitors have made an appearance.

Announcing Malia

Meg and Jay Bodnar of Aquinnah announce the birth of a daughter, Malia Austin Bodnar, born on March 3, 2009, at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. Malia weighed 7 pounds, 2 ounces at birth.

The town of Oak Bluffs is proud to be “StormSmart.”

Or rather, the town is on its way to gaining said smartness. Being StormSmart has to do with one of those scary, invisible truths that no one wants to think about: sea level rise. And the debate is over. No matter how well the human race conserves energy from here on in, the sea around us will rise. Conservative estimates show the sea rising at least three feet over the course of this century, not including the impact of the planet’s rapidly melting glaciers.

The Legend of Moshup is an ancient creation story from the Wampanoag oral tradition. It tells of the giant Moshup, the personification of the immense forces of nature, deciding to settle here after a long journey, and dragging his foot to separate Martha’s Vineyard from the mainland and plow up the Cliffs of Gay Head. Scraps from his dinner table are the fossilized bones and teeth of ancient life forms found there.