On a blustery, cold February day, the 47-foot Coast Guard motor lifeboat out of Menemsha pitched and rolled in Vineyard Sound. Strong, chilly winds coming up from the southwest had kicked up big swells off Menemsha Bight to nine feet and off Quick’s Hole to 12 feet.

The Tashmoo Spring building preservation committee has scheduled a brainstorming meeting about the possible future use of the Tashmoo Spring Building, built in 1887 as a pumping station at the head of Lake Tashmoo, Vineyard Haven.

The meeting will be held at the Tisbury Senior Center from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 5.

Exterior renovations and interior structural restoration are set to be completed at the Tashmoo Spring building by June 2009.

Announcing Natalie

Shannon Larsen and Daniel Larsen Jr. of West Tisbury announce the birth of a daughter, Natalie Elizabeth Larsen, on Feb. 25 at the Martha’s Vineyard Community Hospital. Natalie weighed 7 pounds, 1 ounce at birth.

Temperature: Precip.

Day Max. Min. Inches.

Fº Fº

Feb. 22 32 19 .11

Feb. 23 35 28 .57

Feb. 24 34 24 Trace

Feb. 25 38 26 .00

Feb. 26 47 26 .00

Feb. 27 49 38 .68

Feb. 28 42 22 Trace

Water temperature in Edgartown harbor: 42º F.

MARGARET KNIGHT

508-627-8894

(margaret02539@yahoo.com)

The longer you live in a place, the more its finer points come into focus. First, you might just know there’s an island named Chappaquiddick, but very soon you know the names of its most mentioned features, like Wasque, the ferry, and the dyke bridge. After you’ve lived in a place for longer, the shared history and common names for things start to reveal themselves, maybe by being overheard or referred to in conversation.

KATHIE CASE

508-627-5349

(kcase1@verizon.net)

The competition is on. I officially counted five blooming crocuses in my garden. I have three purple, one white and one yellow. The daffodils are showing their green heads.

TOM DRESSER

508-693-1050

(tomdresser@aol.com)

Thirty months ago today, on August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina ripped through New Orleans. Anyone who has seen photos of the area knows the destruction the storm caused. Anyone who has visited the scene knows how much work still has to be done.

JOHN S. ALLEY

508-693-2950

(alleys@vineyard.net)

February has been the snowiest and coldest month of the winter. It sure has been like a ghost town all week largely because it is the school’s winter vacation and many families are on the move. People have left Dodge for a warmer climate while others have gone up north to ski. Even the usually busy Reliable Market down in Oak Bluffs has suffered a slowdown from its normally brisk pace.

JANE N. SLATER

508-645-3378

(slaterjn@comcast.net)

An extra day in this February might provide some sunshine . . . it has been a gray week with lots of rain. However, it was the perfect school vacation . . . if you went off Island.

The best show in town is in the early morning, in the week ahead. The moon, Jupiter, Venus and Mercury are low in the southeastern sky before sunrise. There is a change from day to day.