How about a lunar eclipse? That periodic feat of nature is headed our way next week, and it brings curiosity, beauty and wonder yet again. If they came every night, I would still be fascinated.

Well, we are finally getting some much-needed rain. It was also the best kind of rain so that it soaked into the ground. Now we need to have the ponds full.

Nick Bunker's An Empire on the Edge, How Britain Came to Fight America visits the origins of the American Revolution from the British perspective. He'll talk about the book at the Katharine Cornell Theatre on Oct. 5 at 4 p.m.

If funding is approved at upcoming town meetings, the Martha’s Vineyard Refuse District will expand its central facility beginning next year. The Vineyard produces thousands of tons of trash annually, all of it shipped off-Island.

All of a sudden carriers full of kittens are arriving at the shelter. Six young ones have arrived. They are 10 weeks old and bring out the awww factor in all who see them. Our older cats are leaving at a rapid pace.

If you were to stand at the intersection of fashion, marketing and footwear you would find Ruthie Davis. And she would be wearing great shoes. Ms. Davis, who has summered on the Vineyard since she was born, designs custom shoes for Lady Gaga and Beyonce, and was named Footwear Designer of the Year.

When Zachary Townes becomes a full-time police officer in Edgartown next year, pending completion of the police academy, it won’t be his first paycheck from the town. Far from it. Mr. Townes, 29, has worked for the town for 13 years.

A spirit of collaboration prevailed Monday evening at a forum that begins a yearlong study of the Mill Brook watershed. The 3,700-acre watershed includes the historic, much-discussed Mill Pond near the center of town.

A smattering of pumpkins, mums and Halloween displays are beginning to appear around town. We now have an early sunset (6:20 p.m.), cooler temperatures and memories of a September that seemed to slip by before we knew it.

Tara J. Whiting purchased 488 Edgartown Road in West Tisbury from Thomas P. Major and Michelle Marie Marks for $610,000 on Sept. 22.