Someone said to me that they thought I shouldn’t write so much about Martha’s Vineyard, that I should write about where I live, or other places I’ve been. That’s all well and good, and I do write about those things… but my blog is mostly about MV and my obsession with this 100 sq mile piece of land abounding with charm and in some cases, mystical qualities.
I got to thinking about something a teacher in high school said… ‘to write what you know about. I know how my heart flutters as it nears the ferries in Woods Hole. I know how no other place I’ve ever been delights my soul and makes me feel at peace and at home.
I know how I love to breathe deeply and fill my lungs with sea air. I know how many ‘traditions’ I have to experience each time I’m on MV. I know that it’s a hassle getting there sometimes, but that once I’ve driven onto the ferry it’s all been worth it. I know that whether I’m physically on the Vineyard or not that in my mind and soul I am always there.
What is it that makes a place so special to a person. I know in my case it’s that MV is where my mother grew up and where I’ve been going all my life. I know also that now my family feels the same connection, and I feel content knowing that fact.
How can sea, sand, grass and trees be so special in one place. It must be that each experience is a part of the sum of the whole.
It’s also the surprises each trip to MV holds for me. It’s starting a conversation only to find out that the person you’re talking to knew you or your family years ago. It’s dipping your toes into the water in the same spot you did when you were five years old and suddenly being transported back to that time. It’s remembering your loved ones who aren’t there in body anymore but definitely in spirit.
It’s all those things and more…. it’s Martha’s Vineyard
What does the Vineyard mean to you ?
- by Joan -
My daughter Deb and I decided to treat ourselves to The Taste of the Vineyard. It’s put on every year by the Martha’s Vineyard Preservation Trust. Restaurants, caterers and beverage purveyors from around the Island gather under tents to present some of their specialities to be tasted. We’d never gone before and it seemed like a fun and different thing to do. Off we went to the Vineyard for a glorious long weekend of eating, shopping and tasting. The weather turned brutally hot all along the Eastern seaboard, it verged on 100 degress which is unusual for mid June. A few hours before the Taste was to begin welcomed thunder storms rolled in and dropped the temps about 25 degrees. The evening was cool and clear and perfect.
