Last summer my husband and I wanted to try a new Island restaurant, but unpredictable work schedules are not conducive to well-planned date nights. It was the middle of the week, albeit in August, and we were just hoping for a quick dinner before a movie. Without time to make a reservation, we took our walk-in chances.

Whether you see the landscapes of the Vineyard every day or dream about them from afar, one thing is certain — the Island is uniquely beautiful and retains a special, ecological character that many other places have lost. This lasting, natural beauty is due in large part to the native plants that have flourished here, evolving in our landscape for thousands of years. But more and more commonly, invasive, nonnative species are threatening to take over, presenting a danger not only to the look and feel of the Island but also to the countless creatures that call it home.

On an unseasonably balmy morning in September, Reade Kontje Milne had just ushered her two kids, Greta and Felix, off to school. Though she was running a little late for work at MacNelly Cohen architects in West Tisbury, she eked out some time to talk over coffee and eggs about her experience as one of the Vineyard’s few female carpenters.

The term family compound once conjured up images of Kennedys in white pants, sipping cocktails on a sprawling lawn between jaunts on the family yacht. While in some circles family estates are still a luxury, compound living now also brings to mind a more modest scenario, often the only option for younger generations finding creative ways to stay on the Island they’ve grown to love.

W hen Molly Finkelstein and her husband David built their house in West Tisbury more than 40 years ago, they weren’t exactly building with their forever home in mind. But instead of starting from scratch, they have decided to help the home they’ve grown to love grow with them, along the way upgrading and reimagining the space to suit the needs of their family.

It’s a little after noon on a wintry Wednesday, and Alex’s Place is hopping. The YMCA teen center, made possible by a gift from the Gagnon Foundation, is a growing hub for Island adolescents.

We are the visited, the indigenous Islanders. We own mansions, castles, thatched huts (there must be at least one somewhere up-Island), garage apartments, condos, converted barns, Spider Shacks (maybe just me), bungalows and bodegas. And they know it. And they are coming.

As the sole groundskeeper for The Royal & Ancient Chappaquiddick Links (yes that is a real place), allow me to offer the following tips on how to best prepare your golf course for the coming season.

The last stretch, that last tenth of a 3.1-mile race, can be the best part. At Katama it’s when you make the turn down the dirt road back to the Farm Institute. With any luck you’ve got a killer song with a strong beat helping to propel you to the finish line.

The one-story building stands at the corner of County Road and Vineyard avenue in Oak Bluffs. An American flag flaps in the breeze. Beneath it is the Portuguese flag.