Author Archives: Susanna J. Sturgis
Infested
You know those cartoon traffic jams where four cars are stuck in an intersection and none of them can move because each one is being blocked by another? Five Corners looked like that a little after midday and I was … Continue reading
Stunned
I got the news via Facebook early last evening. There in my news feed was the genial, instantly recognizable face of Pat Gregory moderating a West Tisbury town meeting, and next to it the ungraspable Martha’s Vineyard Times headline: “Pat Gregory murdered … Continue reading
Spring on the Line
How do I know it’s really spring? Early spring culminates in yellow season. In mid-spring yellow starts yielding to purple and green conquers (almost) all. The shade to the left of my work chair is pulled all the way down … Continue reading
Not-So-Mellow Yellow
Yellow season was well under way before I noticed it this year, probably because April was cool and everyone was bitching about how winter would never end. True, there was enough ice in Travvy’s outdoor water dish to make an … Continue reading
Whose Story Is It?
I’m posting this to both my writing blog, Write Through It; and my Vineyard blog, From the Seasonally Occupied Territories. I love it when the two converge like this. Earlier this week I read a blog post on “What Makes Cultural Appropriation Offensive?” Both the … Continue reading
Scorched
Travvy and I walk the path behind the West Tisbury School at least once most days. Some days it’s two or three times. It doesn’t change much. The four school buses disappear from the parking lot to pick kids up … Continue reading
Taking Stock
Dear From the Seasonally Occupied Territories: You’ve probably noticed that I haven’t been around much lately. It’s not that I don’t love you, or think of you often. It’s just that I’ve, well, sort of opened the relationship. Back in … Continue reading
April License Plate Report
Indiana and Illinois, Arizona and New Mexico. This wasn’t the order I spotted them in, quite, but — probably because I’m a chronic East Coast girl — I think of Indiana and Illinois as a couple, and Arizona and New … Continue reading
Swans a-Swimming
When we drive, walk, or bike past the Mill Pond, most of us slow down and glance sideways to see what’s happening. Something always is, though it’s easy to miss if one cruises through at 35 miles an hour — … Continue reading
Beyond Dredgery
I just posted this in reply to a comment to my most recent post, “To Dredge or Not to Dredge.” In that post I quoted William Blake’s line about “seeing the world in a grain of sand.” When we talk … Continue reading
From the Seasonally Occupied Territories . . . 