This week’s storm caused a very old tree on the roadside property of Tom Ruimerman and Janet Weidner and their boys, Peter and Andrew, to collapse from snow and wind.

Chilmark greets this day in mid February with bright sunshine and cold temps. However dire warnings are coming our way. You will know how right the weather forecasters are by the time you read this. It would be nice to get rid of some of the old snow and ice that make walking around a chore for some of us. The crisp air is great to breathe and the sky and ocean are a beautiful blue, so life is good in Chilmark. It is necessary to say goodbye to three people who enjoyed life in Chilmark and shared their bright lives with us.

Chilmark joins the rest of the world in celebrating the life and work of Pete Seeger. His talent and dedication to folk music and the human condition stirred many musicians of a generation ago and brought forth great talents.

The media have convinced me that another storm of great proportions is heading for us and that we must brace ourselves for its severity. I am not making light of things but I am remembering the days before there were all these people watching out for us.

Chilmark enjoyed sharing the January thaw with the rest of the Island. However, there were many activities in town to get us out in the mild weather. At Squibnocket Beach, both in the parking lot and in the surf, many boarders enjoyed the waves. Over at Menemsha, the parking lot was at a summertime level, people coming in numbers to view the unfortunate basking shark cast up on the bathing beach. As I write midweek, the rains are falling and there is a mist similar to an April rain. However, cooler weather is in the forecast.

Chilmark is off and running — or not — in very cold temperatures and with the usual winter winds. Our temperatures are higher than some off-Island neighbors, but that is small comfort when the numbers are single digits.

Chilmark welcomes the new year with the same demeanor it always has . . . a sort of deadpan look of being the same though different from the preceding years. We look sort of the same and feel sort of the same but of course we are all changed from the year before, and that is the way it goes. Cheers to us all for a healthy new year.

Chilmark started this day — Tuesday — with a starry sky and a nip in the early morning air, but as I write mid afternoon, it is snowing hard and the roads are coated. We will continue to anticipate that it will turn to rain as predicted.

Chilmark survived a bit of unfortunate excitement on Tuesday last with minimum impact on its citizens. You will read all the details elsewhere in this paper, but I just want to reassure those of you who are not here that all is well and we are well taken care of by our police force and others in authority.

Chilmark is ready for the turkey . . . in fact, many live turkeys are wandering around our roads and yards. They are unaware of the fate of their fatter kin. Just as well. By the time you read this you will be down to the sandwich and the pot pie.