Category Archives: Uncategorized
February License Plate Report
February’s tally is always dwarfed by January’s for obvious reasons, but considering that I scored a strong 28 plates in January, spotting 4 in February would be a good showing even if the 4 didn’t include Idaho and Alabama. But … Continue reading
August License Plate Report
August was looking like a complete bust — which isn’t all that unusual for August — when I pulled into the beer store on the last Sunday of the month and there it was: West Virginia. The parking lot that … Continue reading
February License Plate Report
In general, when January yields a bumper crop, the pickings in February are sparse, but when January’s haul is relatively meager, February makes up for it. 2021 proves the latter point. Ten new sightings in February: Louisiana, Wisconsin, Ohio, Alabama, … Continue reading
June License Plate Report
Utah, Iowa, and Louisiana are now on the map! Alaska was spotted in Edgartown a few days ago but not by me, so it doesn’t count. But if it’s on the island — hey! It’s way past time for Michigan … Continue reading
Growing Up with Guns
By Susan Robinson Susan Robinson posted this comment on my October 7 blog post, “Gun Store on Main Street.” It’s an eloquent story in its own right so I asked and was granted permission to reprint it here. It’s been … Continue reading
No Man Will Shake Me From This Land
An amazing meditation about place — maybe someday I’ll be able to write as well about New England and Martha’s Vineyard, but meanwhile this expresses so well why I know they’re crucial to my being.
So Much Depends on a Little Red Cart.
Originally posted on thetompostpile:
Here on Martha’s Vineyard, the town of Oak Bluffs has a rare jewel. A family-owned supermarket on its Main Street. The “Reliable Self-Service Market”. The market is of a type that was once common, the centrally-located…
November License Plate Report
So I thought November’s big news was going to be spotting British Columbia at up-island Cronig’s in the middle of the month. Officially I’m only tracking U.S. states, but Canada’s western provinces are rare, rare, rare on Martha’s Vineyard, and … Continue reading
Twelve Years a Slave
I saw Steve McQueen’s excellent film last night at the M.V. Film Center. I sing in Jim Thomas’s Spirituals Choir. Twelve Years a Slave depicts the world the slave songs came from, so I posted a brief comment on the … Continue reading
Year-End License Plate Report
Where have I been? you ask. Or maybe you don’t ask. Maybe you’ve been comparably occupied, and as little inclined to reading as I’ve been to writing. To get business out of the way: This is how the map looked … Continue reading
From the Seasonally Occupied Territories . . . 