Out and About

Sometimes it feels as if I haven't left my property in days (because I haven’t), and when I do leave I am usually walking or biking so I don’t venture that far, but today, feeling a little stir-crazy, as well as a bit hemmed in by the gray and drizzling skies, I made a break for it and climbed into the Grand (Ma) Caravan and took a little cruise. I had the newly-serviced Lumix along with me and was eager to get my hands back on her, though when I came across the kite boarders on Sengekontacket a part of me wished I had brought the big cameras along for the ride; another part of me, however, likes keeping it simple and enjoys the challenge of working with the tools I have on hand. And you know what? For what the little Lumix is - a handy high-end carry-around camera - it did a more-than-acceptable job, even with its limitations of focal length and shutter speed.
This is not the first time I've photographed this path to South Beach...
...or these retired-for-the-season life guard stands.
Fishermen, heading home up Kelly Street.

Just for Fun, April 2, 2020

On my way home from Oak Bluffs I found one of the Douglas boys kite boarding - one more occasion when I wished I had packed the big camera and lens. But it's all good. There's something freeing about traveling with a small camera and staying within its limitations. In the old days I wanted more, and bigger, and the next new thing. Now I'm enjoying the simplicity. I was able to capture a fair representation of a ten minute roadside stopover with the Lumix (and would have done better if the young Mr. Douglas had not been wrapping up his session - and also realized, afterwards, that for these situations, it would be better to use touch-focus). Okay, I guess the east wind is good for something.

January Doldrums

With the holidays passed, all that can be said now is, "Welcome to January."
Bleak midwinter? January doldrums?
All is quiet here - a state I once dreaded but now savor.
Quiet, with an underlying pulse; life in the slow lane.





A lone quahogger forages the shore line of Sengekontacket.


Flocks of grackles dominate the January bird scene.

Beach Road, Wednesday Morning

I had just enough time on my way to Oak Bluffs this morning to catch this lone shellfisherman, quahogging in the rain.

September 11 Wanderings

I'm so busy taking pictures for work, along with my myriad other responsibilities, that I don't get enough time to photograph just for the fun of it. Yesterday, realizing that the days of the magical evening light are numbered - for this season, anyway - I grabbed the camera and went out for a brief foray, starting along my usual Main Street/harbor route, and ending up at Bend in the Road, where, along with finding an almost-full moon rising, I happened upon Joanne Scott and family who were celebrating her son Ben Stafford's Saturday wedding with a clambake. The family graciously welcomed me into their circle, smack between the rising moon over Chappy and the gloriously setting sun beyond the waters of Sengekontacket; a fine way to end the day and the weekend - basking in God's glory and surrounded by good cheer.


My first subjects of the evening were this father and daughter, so adorable that their presence on the bench outside of Edgartown Delicatessen fairly begged for a photo. Having never met my own father, I do have a fondness for fathers and daughters.





I met Mike and Catherine down at Memorial Wharf while they were trying to negotiate getting a photo of themselves. Since I happened to be standing nearby with my gi-mongous, professional-looking camera, they figured (correctly) that I might be a good person to ask for assistance. At first they simply wanted me to snap a quick shot with their Lumix (nice camera!), right next to the chain link fence at the ferry ramp (yuck!), but I suggested we look for a better background, which we found upstairs on the observation deck. I happened to notice that Catherine was wearing an engagement ring, and when I said, "Oh, you're engaged," they said, "Yes, we're here to get married, next Saturday." Mike and Catherine also posed for a couple of shots with my camera.


Same Beautiful Old Church of Whaling Days, different light.


The seed-heads on the beach grass tell us it's September.


Almost full moon, Bend in the Road.
And lest anyone think I have overlooked today's date, I offer this David Wilcox composition:

Slow News Week

All was quiet on the front earlier this week when I had a chance to scout around a bit. The conch season is winding down, scalloping is piddling along with reports of plentiful seed stock but not too many keepers. There were a number of construction and repair projects going on around town, including the drilling beneath the harbor that continues; closing the hole and preparing for new construction at #8 Pent Lane; utility line repairs on Morse Street; and dredging the channel that runs between Big Bridge and Little Bridge in Sengekontacket with its companion project, the ongoing renovation and bolstering of the beach at Cow Bay.






Conch pots, retired for the season, Fishermen's Pier.








Dougie Benefit calls it a wrap for conch fishing, for this year anyway.







Local color.







Memorial Wharf








#8 Pent Lane, awaiting the next phase.








As a frequent walker to the post office, I have often thought that it would make sense to install a pedestrian walk-way nestled safely between the fronts of the cars and the bank building (above). As it is, once you've headed into the parking lot from the sidewalk on Vineyard Haven Road, you're forced to walk in the roadway, directly behind the frequently-backing-out cars. All that would be required would be to move the parking spaces back toward the parking lot a few feet and create a little sidewalk. This makes infinite sense to me. Stay tuned.







Bend in the Road







It appears that Mother Nature is taking care of that pesky rock problem at our beach. The sand on the left is the original (smooth) Bend in the Road sand; the sand on the right is the pebble-filled detritus that was dumped here last year. Seeing this makes me wonder, what is the point of dumping all this sand here - truck-load after truck-load - if it's only going to wash away anyway (maybe you've been following the story of Plum Island's losing battle in the news).? Oh well, thank God for small favors I guess, because that stony soil ruined the beach, in the opinion of many beach-goers.







The end of the public beach, where Cow Bay begins.
















This sand is smooth and soft and obviously has been graded (now, does this make sense, to put properly graded sand on a private beach that no-one uses and dump a pile of stones on our much-loved and highly utilized public beach?) I was told that this sand actually comes from New Bedford - foreign soil - shipped over on Packer's barge.







The dredging operation at Big Bridge, with our own Donnie Benefit at the helm.







This is the "wet pit," where the spoils from Sengekontacket are initially deposited. The backhoe scoops out the wet sand - under the watchful eyes of the seagulls lined up on the banks, waiting for clams and other goodies to spew from the pipe - and creates nearby piles; the water drains out and the now-manageable sand is loaded into trucks, for transport either to Cow Bay or to the Pay Beach in Oak Bluffs. This project's main purpose, according to field coordinator, Mark DeFeo, is to open up the channel that runs parallel to the road between both of the bridges so as to increase the circulation, and thereby the health, of Segekontacket Pond. The beach projects are secondary to this purpose.

Bend in the Road Beach - good news and bad news

 Our Bend in the Road Beach (home of the best swimming on the planet, I dare say) is slightly improved this summer - the steep hill that was created by last year's renovations has been smoothed out, a few picnic tables and benches have been added, and the beach is, over-all, more usable.

There is one major problem, however: the spoils that were most recently dumped onto the beach (from the dredging of Sengekontacket) contained a preponderance of stones. Yes, what was once a lovely sandy beach is now unfit for walking on with bare feet. Ouch! I wonder what advanced-degreed engineer master-minded this fiasco? (Probably the same engineer who designed the man-made dune that blocks the view of the water from the parking lot, the lot where many locals, some elderly and unable to get down to the beach, once loved to come and sit at the end of the day and watch the water and the activities on the beach. This same dune also blocks the refreshing afternoon wind - it's an oven on that beach on a hot day.)

I can't imagine that those stones are going anywhere, sorry to say. 

The swimming is still good, but you'll have to go up farther towards the bridge to find the soft, uncorrupted sand.

See you there.

This year's spoils, awaiting dispersal

Beach renewal, spring 2009

The new beach - spacious but painful to walk on with bare feet

Sand and water always guarantee hours of happiness

 "Oh, water boy - bring the buck-buck-bucket here."

Watch it - this guy is looking for your lunch

Treasures to take home in a blue pail