Some years back, my wife and I rented a tiny little cottage in Gay Head on Martha’s Vineyard. It was called the Binnacle. According to a story we heard, the Binnacle had been built with a keel for a foundation and a hurricane had floated it to where it was now, on the road from Lobsterville toward Red Beach.

Instead of moving it back to its original site, the Binnacle’s owner, Dorothy Scoville, had simply bought the lot where it had landed.

Ometepe is as unlikely a place as you could ever imagine to catch a glimpse of the future. Although unique in the world, an island composed of two volcanoes in the midst of Nicaragua’s freshwater Lake Cocibolca, it is mostly a quiet backwater, both off the grid and the beaten path as well.

Vineyard residents have a unique op portunity next Thursday, July 28, to assess the state of civil liberties and justice in America as we approach the 10th anniversary of 9/11.

Two remarkable speakers — retiring federal judge Nancy Gertner, and national ACLU legal director Steve Shapiro — will discuss The Pursuit of Justice: Perspectives on Major Civil Liberties Issues from Two Sides of the Bench, as part of the ACLU of Massachusetts Roger Baldwin Summer Series at the Chilmark Community Center at 7 p.m.

Murky Waters

It’s been a delicious hot spell, the days sunny but not excessively so and the nights cool. Perfect Island weather. Perfect for summer. Perfect for swimming.

The Tisbury Firefighters Association invites everyone to its annual Car Show, open this Saturday, July 23, from 4 to 8 p.m. at the RM Packer lot and docks on Beach Road in Vineyard Haven.

The show includes more than 50 cars — from classic, custom, antiques and hot rods — and this year includes custom motorcycles. Most of the cars are Island-owned and operated.

Thanks to a new service purchased in this new fiscal year by the Edgartown and Vineyard Haven Public Libraries, card-holding patrons in both towns now have access to free songs from the Sony Music catalog of recording artists.

Temperature: Precip.

Day Max. Min. Inches.

Fº Fº

July 15 70 57 Trace

July 16 80 60 .00

July 17 82 65 .00

July 18 85 67 .00

July 19 79 67 .01

July 20 85 64 .00

July 21 84 68 .01

Water temperature in Edgartown harbor: 76º F.

BETTYE FOSTER BAKER

508-696-9983

(bdrbaker@comcast.net)

RICK HERRICK

508-693-8065

(herricklr@verizon.net)

Sue Collinson is a talented, fascinating woman. She recently became a Life Master in bridge, a milestone achieved by winning 300 master points in bridge tournaments. Her favorite partner is her husband, Dale Collinson. Sue and Dale compete in bridge tournaments all over New England.

BRAD WOODGER

508-627-4216

(ibwsgolf@aol.com)