Six Steps to Happiness
1. Begin with a sparkling October day.

2. Gather waders, dip net, peep sight and basket.

3. Enter the pond, find no scallops, feel full of self doubt.

4. Find one scallop, feel hope surge. Find more. Fill basket with fresh scallops.

5. Go home, drink strong coffee with steamed milk. Shuck scallops. Freeze some, switch to cold beer, eat a pile for dinner.

6. Sweet dreams.

The other morning I ambled down Main street into the town center of Vineyard Haven with my noble yellow lab Floyd. We stopped at his usual oasis, the generously filled water bowl outside The Green Room, and the lapping commenced. He usually doesn’t stop drinking until his bladder assumes the proportion of water associated with that of the Earth’s surface.

Editor’s Note: What brings a group of Italian flyfishermen and one American friend together? Lobsterville Beach in Aquinnah and Coop’s Bait and Tackle in Edgartown. Arturo Kenney, an avid flyfisherman and former basketball pro who uses his six-foot-eight-inch height to advantage when wading on saltwater flats, began coming to the Vineyard with The Fly Angling Club of Milano two years ago in late summer to pursue their passion.

In denying the 10-person petition to place on the April ballot a resolution that the Monster Shark Tournament become a completely catch-and-release event, the Oak Bluffs selectmen have actually done the opponents of the event a favor. Now they must gather signatures of at least 10 per cent of the Oak Bluffs registered voters, and therein lies an opportunity.

I am not a resident of West Tisbury but I grew up in Lambert’s Cove. As a child I played with my cousins in their backyard, which basically was a field that sloped down to the Mill Pond. I moved back to the Vineyard recently.

The following letter was sent to the Martha’s Vineyard Commission: I was not able to attend your wind regulation meeting last night. I would like to raise concerns solely on wind turbines near residential communities.

My family and I enjoyed the rustic beauty of the Vineyard on a recent vacation, a return for me after many years to an Island connected with many fond childhood memories. However, we were taken aback by two incidents involving dog owners. In the first, during business hours, a dog owner abandoned his dog’s ample dung heap in the middle of the sidewalk in the commercial section of North Water street in Edgartown.

I am beginning to call Scott Brown the Artful Dodger. I was very frustrated about his second debate with Elizabeth Warren. After the first debate when he kept avoiding her questions, I was hoping that finally I would hear what his views are. But instead he kept dodging her questions and the moderator’s questions, using the event as an opportunity to beat the Indian drum and make up facts about Ms. Warren.

On behalf of the Animal Shelter of Martha’s Vineyard I want to thank all of the participants, the donors and volunteers who made the First Annual Walk For the Animals a huge success. A very special thank you to Pat Adler who brought us the idea to hold this event and her service on the organization committee along with the hard-working Christine Todd.

From the Vineyard Gazette edition of Oct. 18, 1946: The Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass Derby wound up in a blaze of glory at noon on Tuesday when the last fish were entered for weighing, and the Martha’s Vineyard Rod and Gun Club held open house for all entrants, with dinner served in the club rooms in the evening before the prizes were awarded.