As Kahlil Gibran reminds us in The Prophet, “Life and death are one, even as the river and sea are one.” But death is not often simple these days. Advancing medical technologies present difficult and complex questions and interventions.

P.R. makes Martha’s Vineyard out to be a playground of the rich. My parents both were born here and my ancestors have been here since probably the 1620s (according to what Mr. Railton called the Pease legend). My mother’s father, Ellsworth Luce West, was the last living Vineyard whaling captain when he died in 1949 on his farm in Chilmark. Truck farming was normal life during the last Depression. My other grandfather, a doctor in Edgartown, was often enough paid in eggs and chickens. (Dr. Bob Nevin, his nephew who took over his practice, is more remembered today.)

I am proud to announce my move to Shear Inspiration Salon and Spa located at number 12 Mariners Way in Edgartown.

These events happened a while back, when the war was not quite a war, more a prelude to a war. Their army was called a guerrilla force. Our army was called a Military Assistance Command.

The Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank reported revenues of $40,500 for the business week ending on Friday, March 21, 2014. The land bank receives its funds from a two per cent fee charged on many Vineyard real estate transactions.

Spring arrived, as did another nor’easter and a blizzard to top it all. Those rare snowy owls are still lingering around. Even more rare was the report of a coyote washed ashore.

Chilmark is a howling place as I write on Wednesday. The winds are blowing and the snow is flying around just like February, and not like the end of March. Where is the lamb in all of this? It appears in this year of global warming that March came in like a lion and is going out like one! So far the power has blinked once but remained on all morning. We are grateful for that. The snow is drifted up against fences and doorways and has required several passes with the plows . . . maybe six inches or so.

Well, spring has arrived and it sure felt like it last Sunday, but just as we get comfortable we hear snow is on the way. The flowers and many birds are back and the grass is looking greener.

Slip Away Farm is showing outward signs of the coming growing season. The front field has been tilled, just in time for Wednesday’s snowstorm.

So, this is the scenario: the ground hog is in hiding as he lied and people are after him. Spring has come and gone twice this month and now we are waiting for the blizzard to hit.