The Inkwell: Wading into its history
I could feel the sun on my skin as my feet sank into the warm sand. I trailed along behind my mother, looking up at her and her tribe of Vineyard friends, who all...
Echoes of excellence
When we think of the Harlem Renaissance, names like Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, and Zora Neale Hurston usually spring to mind first. But there's one name that deserves just as much recognition: Dorothy West....
Remembering the Island’s past
The African American Heritage Trail on the Island celebrated its 25th anniversary last year, and each year extends the trail adding more stops that honor the role of African Americans on the Island. The...
On the wild side
Among the most common wildlife questions that I get these days runs about like this: “I’m hardly seeing any butterflies. Are their numbers down?”
It’s a question to handle with care. A lot of factors...
In the chair
“Penny Lane, there is a barber showing photographs of every head he's had the pleasure to know, and all the people that come and go, stop and say, ‘Hello’.”
We all know that tune. It’s...
Wild Side: The blue jay
For various reasons, I’ve stuck pretty close to home this winter, doing most of my naturalizing in or near our tiny yard in Oak Bluffs. This is not to complain: Like Henry David Thoreau,...
This Was Then: The Holmes Hole skyline
Behold Vineyard Haven — or as many of the locals still called it, Holmes Hole — as it appeared in the late 1870s. This photograph was taken on two plates from what is now...
Join the club
The Portuguese American Club in Oak Bluffs has more and more become a place to gather, hang out, shoot pool, listen to music, grab a bite to eat from Mo’s Lunch, and sit with...
Ask an Island Expert: Are those actual wild turkeys walking around?
Well, yes and no. They are turkeys, certainly: Meleagris gallopavo to ornithologists. But they’re better thought of as feral than as truly wild. Truly wild turkeys were wiped out on the Vineyard, and indeed...
