Be Careful What You Wish For

Many Islanders complain about the crowds all summer long - "I can't wait for September!" - but many of us love summer on the Vineyard. I prefer a beach with people over an empty private beach. I enjoy interacting with the visitors who happen by my porch and into my gallery, and I love seeing summer friends and neighbors I haven't seen all year. Yes, it gets stressful while navigating through the grocery aisles and overflowing sidewalks, along with the noise and the traffic, but I have always maintained that a summer with no visitors would be simply horrible and that the people who complain about the crowds don't know what they are asking for or truly understand how dependent we are on the summer people - they literally keep us alive. Back in August, headlines in the Vineyard Gazette announced: Summer Traffic Triggers Talk of Tipping Point. Well, the problem appears to be solved, as this is what Edgartown looks like at the moment on every street in every direction at any given time of day, with no clear indication that anything will be much different by summer.

Be careful what you wish for.

The State of Things

We are now in full-blown stay-at-home mode. Yes, we can go out for a walk - thank God. We do expect the streets to be quiet this time of year, but this is beyond the beyond - eerie, surreal. God save us all.


Main Street, looking west, late afternoon.

Main Street, downtown.

Court house parking lot.

Downtown - a new way of interacting: six feet apart.

Winter Street



Plantingfield Way

                                             Main Street, downtown Edgartown.

Photo-therapy

These strange times continue, approximately one week in. My consolation continues to be my walks - in and around town and beyond - and employing my Lumix to capture the world around me; the walking and creative efforts serving as distractions to an otherwise depressing situation, occasionally running into other humans out and about, walking the streets, all of us grateful to share a smile and a "hello" (from a distance, of course).



A splash of color is very welcome on a gray day.

This bench along the yellow trail at the Caroline Tuthill Preserve has no takers today. 

From a distance, I thought the swans were swimming among white buoys.



Anthier's Pond lies just over this hill.

A South Beach Sunset never disappoints. 

Sometimes we hope for empty streets and no traffic, but after a week's worth, it's getting old. 

Fishermen's Pier - different every day.