I enjoyed the story by Cooper Davis that appeared in the Gazette on Dec. 5 titled “Naturalist Rose Treat on the Art of Living at 100.” I have come to know Rose over the last few years and have made time to visit with her for an occasional lunch. My visits are always rewarded with a new story as well as familiar tales illustrating her remarkable life.

Temperature: Precip.

Day Max. Min. Inches.

Fº Fº

Dec. 24 42 22 Trace

Dec. 25 55 41 .25

Dec. 26 47 30 .00

Dec. 27 47 35 .02

Dec. 28 52 46 .02

Dec. 29 53 34 .00

Dec. 30 44 27 .00

Water temperature in Edgartown harbor: 44º F.

Setting a New Agenda

At about this time last year the Cape Cod Times, our respected daily counterpart across the Sound, laid out an ambitious editorial agenda for the year ahead. It was well-written and thoughtful and the very idea of such a thing was at once impressive and daunting.

MARGARET KNIGHT

508-627-8894

(margaret02539@yahoo.com)

After some of the very cold days of late fall, the warm temperatures around Christmas were a nice surprise. At my house, we’re still picking kale and some less hardy greens from the garden, and the lawn, while probably not actually growing, is still somewhat green.

JOHN S. ALLEY

508-693-2950

(alleys@vineyard.net)

Several parties were held around town on new year’s eve. The trend in recent years seems to be more toward family or neighborhood gatherings to welcome in the new year.

JANE N. SLATER

508-645-3378

(slaterjn@comcast.net)

Chilmark is setting off into 2009 looking surprisingly like she has for the past 100 years! The big changes don’t show, so it is comforting to enjoy looking at what hasn’t changed. Our roadside stonewalls are still being cleared and repaired; our harbor is still a haven for commercial fishermen, who, by the way, are enjoying a good scallop season, and our farmers are enjoying the resurgence of interest in their local products.

NANCY GARDELLA

508-693-3308

(vhavenvgazette@yahoo.com)

The year just past brought its share of mourning for the well-known Islanders who died.

On Jan 5 Robert T. Morgan died at the age of 84. Perhaps most widely known for his role as Island legislative liaison from 1985 to 1992, he was a ubiquitous presence around the place, a farmer, swordfisherman, scalloper, harbor master and civic leader.

Peter M. Williamson died on Jan. 23. He served 32 years with Oak Bluffs, 28 as chief. He was 70 years old.

When the National Science Foundation sent acclaimed film director Werner Herzog to Antarctica to shoot a documentary, they may have been hoping that he might return with a message of oncoming global climactic disaster, evidenced in the swift melting of the great icebergs that cluster the shores of this barren consistent, or a sad picture of the ways in which the pristine snowy wilderness has been marred by humankind’s insatiable need to map the unknown, plant flags and harvest resources.

JUNE D. MANNING

508-645-2574

(lthslnks@gis.net)

Happy New Year to one and all. May we enjoy a year of peace, forgiveness, prosperity, and especially the best of health for one and all.