Our dog Cloverdale was run over by a delivery truck on Oct. 17. My husband was present at the time and immediately called for emergency help to the Comcenter.

During World War II, I was not too young to appreciate the wonderful cooperation between the two political parties in Congress. It seems as if we should have been thanking Hitler, Hirohito and Mussolini for that gift of our togetherness. Better than that, though, perhaps we the people should declare war on our representatives in Washington and insist that they work together on the issues rather than separately. We should urge the Congress to try to compromise more.

Heidi Schultz
West Tisbury

The West Tisbury School U.K. eighth grade fall exchange concluded with the annual soccer match. This year, the British beat the U.S. team, but there’s always next year.

The SAT tests are this Saturday, Nov. 2, and the next one is Dec. 7. Now, thanks to the Martha’s Vineyard Youth Leadership Initiative, the ACT test also will be available.

The weather last weekend was seasonal and a fair amount of tourists and homeowners came for perhaps their last weekend of the fall. Pumpkins and scarecrows are all over town.

Wayne Coutinho was the first person I ever saw dive headfirst off of the old pier at the Pay Beach. That doesn’t sound like too big of a deal until you realize that the pier was about eight or nine feet above about six or seven feet of water, depending on the tide. And he didn’t just dive; Wayne ran half the length of the pier laughing enthusiastically and leaping with abandon — just like he lived, loving the water above all else.

The weather is getting colder and the question of the month is “When do you turn your heat on?” Well, most of the answers I hear are Nov. 1. A lot of people say they already have it on and don’t care.

Chilmark is enjoying being haunted this week as we prepare for the annual Halloween celebrations around the Island. The Chilmark Volunteer Firefighters hosted their annual Halloween party for the young and not so young ghosts and goblins at the Chilmark Community Center on Thursday evening.

With Thanksgiving sneaking up on us on pointy turkey talons, we begin to reflect upon all that for which we are grateful ... which leaves us precious little time to brood upon those things that annoy us.

The autumn air has remained in the 50s throughout the week, but the frost is on the pumpkins most nights. Tuesday was an absolutely warm, calm day for getting out to enjoy the sounds of nature.