A Remarks Page

I vividly remember the mornings after Hurricane Sandy.

I walked about a landscape and seascape whose familiarity I had held onto so tight. For the child in me who grew up here it was emotional. And now for the  adult  in me it was problematic-the 12 sites I would profess to know intimately, and the trust put in myself that I could record an Island’s environmental trends were both shook up and eroded. That’s when I looked down and noticed this feather- I was on South Beach. It was just an observation, but as light as this feather was, it stood fast. Instead of monitoring becoming a heavy burden for an individual- I thought it could very well become a blessing for an Island’s whole community. So I “let go”.

This summer I added a Remarks page to our data base, mostly because I have so many Islanders contributing observations, I can’t keep up –nor was I ever supposed to. This sharing has brought out the “unity” in our Community.

Dolphins off Race Point Lighthouse in July and the Big Club in August, fisher cat vs. mink on Wilderness Point road, swarms of baby bunker (menhaden fish) along the old stone Tennis Racquet, 30 Least Terns (threatened species) north side by the Castle, coyote tracks thru the Parade Grounds, released quail hopefully feeling at home and nesting, monarch butterflies returning, more bats and lightening bugs than in the past summers. All just this week!  Just remarkable.