THE UNNATURAL HISTORY OF THE SEA. By Callum Roberts. Island Press/Shearwater Books, Washington, D.C. 2007. 436 pages. Hardcover, $28.

Last spring when the herring started showing up in Island coastal ponds, I got a call from a fisherman asking, “Where are the mackerel?”

Film critic Roger Ebert called The Great World of Sound, “a confident, sure-handed exercise focusing on the American Dream, turned nightmare.” This eccentric, awardwinning film screens this Saturday, Jan. 12, at 7:30 p.m. at the Katharine Cornell Theatre on Spring street in Vineyard Haven.

Charter School

Monday, Jan. 14: Macaroni with broccoli and garlic, meatballs in tomato sauce, garlic bread, applesauce and milk.

Tuesday, Jan. 15: Mexican chicken or vegetable soup, tortilla chips, salsa con queso, fruit smoothie and milk

Wednesday, Jan. 16: Sloppy Joes, chicken salad sandwich or hummus and veggie wrap, Greek salad, pineapple and milk.

Thursday, Jan. 17: Pizza (plain cheese, pepperoni or roasted veggie), tossed salad, fresh fruit and milk.

Sometimes a story just drops into your lap, or more accurately into your e-mail box.

That was the case last October when I received an inquiry about a mystery creature. But since I believe in saving for a rainy day, the story has waited until now.

I received a well-written, humorous, and descriptive inquiry from Jamie Katz, who even did some of the research for me.

We had a beautiful day on Saturday, Jan. 5 for the Vineyard’s forty-eighth consecutive Christmas Bird Count. We beat Nantucket, sort of, but more on that later. It was a day of fair weather with a bit of wind, but no rain or fog to dampen the birds’ or birders’ spirit. We had a great turnout with 69 field participants including six from Nantucket, a couple from Cape Cod and a couple from the Boston area.

Temperature: Precip.

Day Max. Min. Inches.

Fº Fº

Jan. 4 20 8 .00

Jan. 5 35 17 .00

Jan. 6 43 23 .00

Jan. 7 49 36 .00

Jan. 8 52 35 .00

Jan. 9 55 44 .00

Jan. 10 53 36 .02

Water temperature in Edgartown harbor: 45º F.

By LYNNE IRONS

I am a hopeless pack rat. I bet I still have every piece of macaroni my children fashioned into artwork at nursery school. The plastic pots from my various plant purchases are my worst offense. In fact, I have an area in the garden known as Potland. When I am overwhelmed in some area of my life, I resort to organizing these pots.

Tonight is the benefit opening of Island Theatre Workshop, Inc.’s latest production, Gian Carlo Menotti’s beloved family opera Amahl and the Night Visitors. The curtain goes up at 7:30 p.m. in the Katharine Cornell Theatre in Vineyard Haven.

When I first showed up to the Vineyard in 1988 as a candidate for state representative in the newly created Barnstable, Dukes and Nantucket District, I knew maybe six people on the Island and Bob Morgan wasn’t one of them.

Fortunately for me, Bob decided I was his candidate, and he took me around to the VFW, the scallop shucking hall, the senior centers, the coffee shops and other places where Islanders could be found in the off-season.

Good morning! The Gazette office will be closed on Monday in observance of the Martin Luther King Jr. national holiday. And Tom Hodgson of West Tisbury called the Gazette this week to report snowdrops blooming in his yard off Music street in West Tisbury.