Late Afternoon, November

It just keeps getting better and better around here.


Hough's Pond

Music on Main Street

It couldn't have been a more perfect weekend - perfect weather, a perfect blend of friends and music, and a perfect variety of guest stars who happened by - including (but not limited to) the group of dancers who walked in off the street last night; my cousin Edson Rodgerswho blew us out of the water with a guest appearance with his horn; the lass - Katrina - who stepped up and sang us a song; and last but not least, the young man from Brazil who was apparently moved to tears by the music he heard coming from the porch and stopped and sat with us a while. It was great to have Mary Wolverton on board, too, with her friend Tim from Iowa. With a special thank you to my guests Rosanne, Wynter, and Dan - who made the trek down from Boston and environs - no easy feat on an August Saturday, particularly when the president of the USA is pulling into town on the same day. The plu-perfect weekend was topped off by a showing of the super Sturgeon Moon on Sunday night.

Albania Girl

Sometimes all I have to do is sit on my porch and interesting people come to me.


"I'm from Albania and have been on the island for four days. I came over to work - I work at Relaxation Spa - and I have friends here. I speak Albanian, Italian, Spanish, and English, but I'm a little confused because I've been studying Italian so I've been thinking in Italian. At home I'm a student, studying political science. I also like to write because I'm shy, and when I write, my emotions come out."

Saturday Night Downtown

"I work at the hospital, I'm trying to be a nurse. I also work at Stefanie Wolf Designs and I'm a tuna fisherman. I'm like most islanders - I do many things. I've lived here year-round for nine years."


"We're out celebrating summer."


"My favorite flavor [today] is cotton candy."


Bluesman Johnny Hoy, pleasing the crowd at the Colonial Inn complex (I'm sure it hasn't been called the Colonial Inn for many years. I have no idea what it is now.)

Street, June 25, 2014

Clare and Irwin, with Stella. Clare is originally from Co. Tyrone, Ireland but has been living in London for twenty years. Clare was more interested in my photographing Stella, her large Irish Setter, but I talked her into letting me photograph her (and her husband, Irwin, whom she beckoned from down the street, on the phone with a business call. "But you're on vacation." "Yeah, I know."). Clare, Irwin and Stella are on the island for five weeks.


I also ran into my Green Avenue neighbors - Justin and Stefanie and their four daughters who are here for the week at the Marchese house: Kaelah, Marabel, Lucy, and Neve. It's been fun having kids in the neighborhood. There are times, between my grandkids and the neighbor children, when my yard looks and sounds like a school yard, with swinging, running, screaming, digging in the dirt; all the things children ought to be doing, somewhat of an aberration among the pristine and perfectly landscaped and mostly child-free Edgartown yards.


Mike is back in town, holding court on Main Street. Tonight's selections included Ring Them Bells (that he learned from me on my porch last week), and Lord, Won't You Buy Me a Mercedes Benz.

People and Colors, June 3

My friend Becky came over tonight and we went for a walk, with our cameras, downtown. Honestly, I'm so tired of passing person after person on the sidewalk who stares straight ahead, silently. From now on, no matter what, I'm saying hello. Come on, people - what is this, Zombie land?




"Wow, Do you always wear colors like these? What's the occasion? Are you a Buddhist?" "No, this is just what I do. I'm from Boston, here on business."














Mike is here on vacation, staying at his family's Campground cottage, and was determined to catch a scup for supper. A Church of God pastor, Mike's pastoral work involves teaching inner city teenagers to read, kids who are part of the fallout of the collapsed economy. Mike's been on sabbatical for the past four months. "I miss my kids".


"I will make you fishers of men."

Memorial Day Weekend - Sunday Night Downtown

It was on the cool side when I ventured downtown this evening, but that didn't stop the multitudes from going through the motions, acting as if summer is here, with an enthusiasm that belied the frigid air. But after this past horrific winter, who isn't eager for summer? Eventually the weather will catch up, I'm sure.



Eric is from California and has been working at Scoops for one week. It's his first time on the island, and so far, so good.


These siblings from Boston are 8, 6, 4, and 3. According to mom, most of her friends have four or five children, too. Maybe big families are coming back.


Down at the docks I found a few members of the Jackson clan, including Dennis, holding court aboard the Alison Lee.


Peter Jackson, fishing for squid.


Cute fisherboy.


It's Official: Summer 2014 has arrived.

Street Meeting

I met a few interesting people on my walk tonight as well as a car you don't see on the streets here every day. I love this time of year with its influx of people and culture.



Tonika, Mary, and Tamar, from the Republic of Georgia, here for the summer to work.


Russell is a carpenter from the Cape and is working on homes out at Cape Pogue. Susanna is from Austria. "Where did you meet?" "We met when I built her a house."


Not only does this time of year bring us interesting people, but also interesting cars.

May Harbor

Edgartown Harbor, in her May glory.












Andrew, crew member of F/V Tradition, a squidder laying over from Point Judith, Rhode Island.

Bright as the Noonday Sun

So, apparently I missed the trial run of the LED street lamps. Not that I get out at night much during the winter months (who does, especially during a winter such as the one that just ended?). And even if I had, my night time travels would not have included a trip down Pease's Point Way (one of the test areas), and as for the Stop&Shop neighborhood (the other test area), how would they even have been noticed among the many lights in that commercial district?

But there was no missing the light shining through my kitchen window on a particular evening last week. As I stood at my sink, washing dishes and gazing out the window onto Green Avenue - daydreaming, taking in the peace of the evening and admiring the twilight sky - suddenly, a bright light pierced my eyes. My first thought was, "Ah, they've replaced the broken streetlamp, the one that was flickering all of last summer." (actually, that was my second thought, immediately following, "What the HELL is that?") I went out to get a better look and was struck by two things: one, the sheer, eye-piercing brightness, and two: the fact that there was no shade to direct the light downward, enabling this bright light to shine straight into my eyes. Ugh, I thought. Then I remembered the electric company trucks I had seen on Main Street that day with men working on the poles. I walked to the front of my house - yep, Main Street was now sporting new lights as well. It was then that I realized I had missed the "trial." The time, possibly, when the public would have had an opportunity to give feedback?

Okay, I guess it's too late now, but here's my take:

The lights are way too bright and they shine right in your eyes if you're out walking at night (if the desired end result is safety, how can having no night vision be safe?)

Not only are the lights too bright, they also cast a cold, stark light. The pleasant warm ambiance of our village is gone.

Obviously it is too late to remove the new lights, but I have heard they can be adjusted, so here's hoping they will be turned down a few notches. There's probably nothing that can be done about the color temperature, unfortunately. On some level, the change that these new lights brings to our town is subtle - probably not noticed by the majority and certainly of no concern to the vast numbers who rarely frequent downtown Edgartown at night - but on another, very real level, the new lights are a part of the chip, chip, chipping away of the quality of our life, specifically as pertains to what was once the pleasing and warm glow that permeated the streets of our village.

Edited to add (inspired by a Facebook comment): Why would it not be possible to filter these lights to warm the color temperature? Based on my photography background and the way I am able to manipulate the color of my flash, ought there not be a gel or lens that could change the appearance of these lights from harsh and cold to warm and cozy? Or at least warmer?




The view from my kitchen window.


In this view, from my upstairs window, you can see the difference between the warm glow of the older incandescent lights, below in the lanterns on the sidewalk, and the cold cast of the LED, above on the pole. In fact, the temperature - visually and actually - of LEDs is not warm enough to melt snow that falls on them - a problem in cities where traffic signals have been replaced with LEDs. This should prove to be interesting next winter.


Main Street, looking towards town.


Middle of the night, sole source of light.


My formerly quaint, now lit up like a football field, Green Avenue. Am I on the moon?


Main Street, looking towards town.


Main Street, looking towards the jail.








Edgartown's former warm incandescent glow,