Early Monday morning, at the height of the northeaster snow storm, the very tall, very thin Sam Norton flagpole next to the whale tail at Memorial Wharf cracked at about shoulder level and fell across Dock Stree, coming to rest on the overhead wires that supply electricity to Chappaquiddick.
The wood of the pole began to smolder. It took a couple of hours for the first of three big wires to break. The pole then rested heavily on the next wire, the middle of the three. That really got the wood burning. When the fire had weakened the wood to a fraction of its original diameter, the top 10 feet of the pole, including the whale weather vane plunged to the ground. A short while later that wire also broke. That’s probably when the circuit breakers popped and the power to Chappy ceased to flow. Fortunately, it was day time so folks weren’t plunged into darkness.
But it was a cold and blustery day and a house without electricity is deprived of one of the most important comforts of home – warmth.
It wasn’t until late Tuesday evening that power was restored. Service to Chappy comes down Main street. There were various downed wires and askew poles that needed fixing before Edgartown proper got its power back and then in turn Chappy.
The ferry landings each have their own generators for just such an event as this storm. In spite of the harsh environment that they must tolerate, they ran flawlessly for nearly 36 hours. They are very noisy but certainly very handy for keeping the ferry ramp operating and the flood lights on at night. The flooding of Dock street and the 60 mile per hour gusts prevented the ferry from operating on the normal steady schedule all day Monday. A ferry captain was on duty at the ferry in case of a life/death emergency. Longtime ferry Captain Jeff Lamarche volunteered to stay at the ferry to avoid the issue of responding from his house to the ferry during the blizzard. He stayed holed up in the ferry house from 5 p.m. Sunday until 7 a.m. Tuesday.
With a functioning furnace and microwave oven and an ample supply of groceries provided by his thoughtful wife Becca, he kept his sense of humor throughout his hermitage. Fortunately there were no dire emergencies requiring him to venture out into the tempest.
The ferry resumed normal operation Tuesday morning. Even if you got over to the main Island, there was really no place to go as electricity was scarce and a place to park your vehicle was nonexistent. When the first forecasts of one to two feet of snow were bandied about, we disregarded them as too silly to be true. Turns out, the weather folks got it right this time!
Chilmark
Katie Carroll
Before the flakes fall, the sky turns a peculiar shade of blue-gray, a leaden hue that seems to drain color from the world, leaving trees looking barren against the colorless expanse. The air itself feels heavy, charged with moisture and intensely cold. The wind is holding its breath as the pressure drops, creating an eerie, anticipatory stillness. There is a profound silence, and a “calm before the storm” atmosphere that acts as an ominous precursor to what’s to come.
Then the wind scaled the trees, acting as a fierce architect, while the snow fell in a blinding curtain, quickly transforming the world into a monochromatic landscape. It was only a matter of time before the heavy, wet accumulation became too much for the infrastructure to bear, and in an instant, the power went out, plunging the world in reverse.
Once again, a big shout out to highway superintendent Aaron Brown and his team of plow drivers. Many thanks to our dedicated fire, police and medical emergency responders – Garrison Vieira, Michael Dullea, Bret Stearns, Jeremy Bradshaw, Manny Rose, Vitor Silva, to name a few. They responded to call after call with steadfast compassion and unwavering dedication. Who can overlook sending praise to our dispatchers fielding calls for everything from medical emergencies, arcing wires, courtesy transports and more. One of my favorite voices to hear is that of Samantha Smith Hollinger. I’ve had the pleasure of watching her grow up and some of those were in our employ at the Texaco. She was a spunky teen who blossomed into a remarkable adult.
Three cheers for our private plow drivers, too. Without them, we’d all still be shoveling. When I grow up, I want to be Keith Fenner and Isaac Taylor.
Janet Stoddard returned from her warm weather travels just in time to prep for ushering in a blizzard. She met up with her sister in Florida and the two explored Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Saint Kitts. Her pup Toby was very pleased to see her return home and greeted her with immeasurable affection.
Feb. 27 is transition day. Jeremy Bradshaw retires and Manny Rose gets sworn in as our new Fire Chief. The two have been working together for the past couple of weeks to ensure the changing of the guard is a smooth one. Jeremy, I realize you don’t want fanfare, but here is a hip, hip, hooray just for you.
Speaking of the fire department, a handful or so of volunteers joined the West Tisbury Fire Department for an ice rescue drill. Ice rescues represent some of the most dangerous, high-stakes scenarios firefighters face, blending extreme environmental conditions with the urgent need for technical precision. To combat the relatively low frequency of these emergencies, fire departments conduct specialized ice rescue drills, transforming frozen, treacherous water into a controlled classroom to ensure crews can act safely, rapidly, and effectively when a life is on the line. Thanks to West Tisbury Fire Department Chief Greg Pachico for extending the invitation.
Liz Oliver is one proud mom. Her youngest, Hollis, participated in Falmouth Academy’s Science And Engineering Fair where he was awarded both first place in the high school division and the first place environmental award from the Salt Pond Areas Bird Sanctuary. His project was Enzymatic Degradation of Colored PET by Ideonella Sakaiensis. The non-science explanation of that is it’s a microorganism that eats plastic. Hollis dedicated a lot of time, energy and extra ferry trips back and forth to Falmouth and performed his experiment at WHOI. Nice going, Hollis.
West Tisbury
EILEEN MALEY
I had not intended to write again about our winter landscape, but I can’t help it.
Monday morning was oddly colorless out the windows. The snow had been blowing sideways and stuck in thick patches to the shingled walls, leaving narrow dark lines at the bottom edge of each shingle. The result made the walls into log cabin structures, made of thin straight logs much like Lincoln Logs.
Tree branches are coated white, except for those that have fallen and stick out from snow piles in the yard. The cedars are thickly covered with mounds of snow, not unlike those poorly-made holiday ornaments in November’s budget catalogs.
The sky is the same white as the ground. The lights in the house flicker a little and all the clocks are asking to be reset – just days away from the resumption of daylight savings time.
Summer hours return offiicially on March 8. It means the clocks in our car and truck will be correct once again.
Then around lunch time Monday, we lost power…and internet, phone, water and heat. Thank the thermal gods for the wood stove, where we huddled the rest of the day and ate baked beans and sausages for supper, not knowing what time it was. A few more hours of huddling, we went to bed early, with lots of covers. I slept very well, snug as a cat.
Tuesday the sun was out, the wind had gone, but the air was still below freezing. There are new animal tracks on the snow; the former ones having disappeared on Monday. The heavily-laden pines and spruce trees all bow toward the west. Snow on top of the table on the deck – my winter measuring device – looks about three feet deep. The adirondack chairs out there are bloated with heaps of snow.
Bigger branches have fallen and stuck here and there. There may be a tree or two down; I can’t tell from here.
The plow has come and gone. It’s just, again, the walk from house to car, about 18 or 22 miles now, I think. But the power is back on, and the rest, and I can run the dishwasher and even wash my face.
Happy birthday to Kate Athearn on Friday, Feb. 27. And best wishes to Patrick Ruel, Suzie Goldstein aned Sydney Gerhard on Saturday, Feb. 28. Sam Alley would have a birthday on Feb. 29, if there were such a date, but this year he can choose his own.
Congratulations and happy wedding anniversary to Kenny and Janet Belain on Friday, Feb. 18.