Welcome. Edgartown News was born from the simple fact that I have ink and Dektol in my veins and I need to write and photograph more than I need air or food, and from my love for this little town where I grew up and raised my family, the town I have left a few times but can't quite shake for good. Here you will find the wanderings and musings, photographs and commentary; the people, places, and happenings - past and present - of a small island town: my home town.

Monday, April 9, 2012

Plantingfield Paving - Progress?







They began re-paving Plantingfield Way this morning, and in the process they are also widening the road. Unfortunately, I predict that the "new and improved" road will become even more of a speedway than it already is.

Yes, it's a little annoying to have to slow down when you encounter large trucks approaching from the opposite direction (and God knows, there have been plenty of trucks in recent years, what with all the new construction down at the end of the road), but think about it - will enabling the traffic to move faster on Plantingfield Way improve the neighborhood?

My brother, John, and I grew up playing on Plantingfield Way in the family lot that was once my great-grandparents' cow field - he meeting up with the neighborhood boys - Jimmy, David, and Eddie - to play baseball; I to fly kites and build log cabins - the same lot where I would later build a house, raise my family, and live for thirty years. Fifty years ago, Plantingfield Way was a country lane. As the far end of Plantingfield Way became developed, the traffic increased and also got very fast; scary-fast for a rural road. God knows, my heart was in my throat raising kids on that street, and today (being the safety freak that I am) I always include, in bold red letters on my rental lease: "THE ROAD OUT FRONT LOOKS INNOCENT, BUT IT IS NOT! KEEP YOUR CHILDREN AWAY FROM THE ROAD."

The main problem is, after the city folks who rent or live down at the end of the road have endured the painstakingly slow and bumpy drive over the unpaved section of Plantingfield Way, once they hit the tar, it's "pedal to the metal".

Sorry to say, the speeding will become exponentially worse once the street is widened and given a fresh smooth layer of tar.

I hope I'm wrong, but I know I'm not. But there's no stopping progress.

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Nary a Soul



Edgartown News, ghost town



Edgartown's Main Street on a Tuesday mid-afternoon in April - lovely, but deserted.

In the winter it's a ghost town and there's no one there; in the summer the streets are overflowing with strangers and there's still no one there.