I love when it warms up after a couple of snowy days and the snow gives itself back up to the atmosphere. The foggy mist is a welcome calm.

About 40 years ago, Virginia Gassel asked me to build her a coffin. She had heard that Scott Nearing, that original “back to the land” guy up in Cape Rosier, Me. actually slept on top of his.

This feels to me like the longest winter ever. Not because of the amount of snow we have had — hardly any and it has vanished quickly.

Mother Nature is keeping us on our toes this winter. Now she has thrown in the wind to add to all the other winter weather.

A state forest task force that looked at plans to clear out some white pine trees says it’s a good idea for forest ecology and fire safety. And bird flu is confirmed on-Island by health officials but eggs are safe and a plenty at farm stands where prices haven’t been affected.

Geraldine Brooks’ new memoir, Memorial Days, grew out of a tragedy and its aftermath.

The Vineyard’s first cases of avian flu found in dead birds last week have Island officials urging the community to do its part to stop the spread of the disease. 

The state’s pending plan to clear 175 acres of white pine and other trees in the Manuel F. Correllus forest has earned the endorsement of a coalition of Island ecologists, fire chiefs and other conservation groups. 

Last year, a U.S. District Court judge ruled that Golden Bull and its president owe Mr. Silva more than $200,000. In the more than seven months since the ruling, Mr. Silva has not received any money and the court hasn’t been able to get in touch with his former employer.

A new restaurant partnership is preparing to reinvent the long-vacant Golden Bull steakhouse in Vineyard Haven as a pair of casual eateries: MV Tap and Vineyard Caribbean Cuisine.