I pretty much hate summer — fleas, poison ivy, sunburns, mosquitoes, traffic and countless insect pests in the gardens. The worst of all is the lack of significant rain. Even lawns with irrigation systems are beginning to crisp. The encouraging news is that the lawns will come back. The dried-up annual beds and window boxes will not recover. I cannot encourage you enough to water those areas every day ­— perhaps morning and evening.

Slave Songs

Almost 150 years after the emancipation of slaves in this country, slave songs still bring alive the pain of a past reality and the longing for a better future.

Tim Wakefield digs into a baseball just behind the horseshoe of the seams, a grip he credits to longtime Dodgers and Rangers knuckleballer Charlie Hough, one of only a handful of men in the major leagues who have been able to harness the sorcery of the pitch. In February, Mr. Wakefield retired after two decades hurling the strangest pitch in the game, a career that has led him to develop some unlikely skills.

After 10 and 17 years of living on the Island, respectively, Tanya Augoustinos and Maria Westby were thinking of moving off-Island. They needed a change. The arts scene in the wintertime was unsatisfying, and their day jobs were getting a little dull.

“We were ready to get out of here,” Ms. Westby said. “We were wondering, how do we change our lives? It was either move on or bring something here.”

Controversy breeds questions, and an Island visitor has some answers.

Harvard Professor of Law and Chilmark summer resident Alan Dershowitz presents Rights and Wrongs: How the Supreme Court and The United Nations Have Hijacked Our Rights, at the Chilmark Library on Thursday, July 26 at 5 p.m. He will address the issues facing individual rights in today’s political climate.

The event is free but seating is limited, so arrive early. For more information, call 508-645-3360.

Gary Murphy came to Vineyard House in July of 2006 with a broken marriage, taxes piled up, child support debt and a much bigger problem.

“I was a functional alcohol addict,” he said. “But I just got sick of being out there, and I wanted to give it one more try. I’ve been clean ever since.”

Just last month he left Vineyard House after serving as a house manager for five years.

John Cruz

Grammy winner singer-songwriter John Cruz has returned to the Vineyard to open his East Coast tour with three evening performances aboard the Black Dog’s Tall Ship Alabama. The first performance took place last night, July 19. He also plays tonight and tomorrow night. The concerts begin at 5 p.m. and cruise the Vineyard Sound for several hours, returning at 8 p.m.

Hooked on a Feelin’

E pluribus unum. From many musical sensations comes one Super Group to perform at Hooked seafood restaurant in Oak Bluffs on July 28 at 9 p.m. The musicians are Rick Marotta, drummer for Steely Dan and Paul Simon; Joe Caro, guitarist for Carly Simon and Lenny Kravitz; Neil Stubenhaus, bass guitarist for Sting and Barbra Streisand, and Jon Gilutin, keyboard for James Taylor and Diana Ross.

Tickets are $15 and available only at Hooked.

Party Time in a Square That’s Hip

It’s summer on Winter street in Edgartown and there’s a block party going on tomorrow.

In the summer of 1992, a few friends from Connecticut College, Wesleyan University and Skidmore College who knew each other from high school had the idea to spend the summer on the Vineyard doing what they liked best: singing.

Jody Alford and friends each gathered a couple of members from their respective collegiate a cappella groups and headed to the Island, forming a group they called the Vineyard Sound.