Happy Valentine’s Day and happy birthday to my daughter Nearess who is here visiting with my grandsons Isaiah and Bailey. She has flown in from California to be with us for a week. Their grandmother will be pretty tired but very happy to have all five of her grandchildren in one place at one time.

Years ago contra dances were held monthly on Martha’s Vineyard. We even had one here on Chappy at the Chappy Community Center one summer. Sally and I attended regularly enough that we could easily carry out the steps and figures. Contra dances usually include some square dancing as well as a few waltzes. During the contra and square dances the caller would tell us what figure to do next. A big part of it was teaching the figures to the newcomers and introducing new figures to the old-timers.

So far Sue and Jerry Wacks have been winning the staring contest they are engaged in with Mother Nature. Their house remains intact at the moment in its ringside seat overlooking the Wasque opening.

The erosion at Wasque continues unabated. If the Schifter’s buildings had not been moved, the guesthouse and pool would have fallen over the bluff this week. For the moment the Wacks house seems to have been granted a reprieve.

This is pretty much as close as we will get to the dead of winter here on Chappy. Aside from the burst of activity at morning and evening rush hour, traffic is light at the ferry. Perhaps this is a good time to take a moment to reflect upon the integral role that the Chappy ferry plays in life on Chappaquiddick. I know that it can be a love/hate relationship. As the ferry itself serves to create the solitude and separation from the rest of the world that we value on Chappy, it is also a source of frustration.

The wonderment of the overpowering and penetrating tones of the bagpipes is their ability to stir our ancestral soul. Don has been gone nearly a decade now, but the Martha’s Vineyard Scottish Society he helped to found in 1986 continues to celebrate our Scottish heritage.

Christmas Eve dinner at the Chappy Community Center saw almost as many attendees as the ferry captains’ dinner. There were lots of kids and plenty of extended family members. We even had folks come over from as far away as North Road in Chilmark. Thanks to all for making it such a wonderful occasion.

The Holiday Tea last Saturday was enjoyed by many. As expected, Rose Kaszuba, with the able assistance of Tom Osborn, baked up a huge assortment of treats. Rose really knows how to put on a tea party. She even employed that little-known trick of giving the room a yuletide atmosphere by leaving the fireplace damper closed just for a few minutes when the fire is first lit. The hot chocolate was as rich as it could be and yet still flowed from the urn.

Ruby Poe Southard was born Monday evening, Dec. 16. She is certainly a keeper, weighing in at 7 pounds 10 ounces and measuring 21 inches long. Her parents Zachariah Southard and Jessica Park live near Atlanta, Ga.

The population of Chappaquiddick island seemed to double during the Thanksgiving holiday. Though the long weekend began with a storm that disrupted ferry service to the Vineyard, the remaining days were mostly sunny even if they were a bit chilly.