Nantucket, Bittersweet

I met a man today at the cafe who said he lived in Whately, and worked here for a local contractor. A tall, lean man, he said that he painted murals on furniture and in rich people’s homes around here and in Nantucket. He said he thought the wealth and the presumptousness among his clients out there was depressing. He said his richest client just couldn’t get close to people when he tried to talk…he lavished them with parties and gifts and expensive toys but was joyless inside, and awkward.

I agreed. I have a bittersweet taste about that island, having gone there each month for almost ten years in a row. Now I am going to Martha’s Vineyard in a civilian’s garb. No sales. love it.

This is a passage about ospreys from Nantucket’s Inquirer and Mirror.

“Soaring high above her nest in circles, sending out a worried chirping cry as she looked down on her two babies, the mother osprey was clearly uncomfortable with what was happening below.

What so perturbed her was Elizabeth Donelan climbing a 40-foot ladder with a tote bag in her hand with which she planned to retrieve the baby birds.

Thankfully, the osprey had nothing to fear. Donelan is an intern with the Maria Mitchell Association and was going to place small aluminum bands on the birds’ legs so they can be identified if they are caught at a later date.

Donelan’s activities were part of an ongoing study by the Maria Mitchell Association and the Nantucket Land Council to study the birds of prey and track their movements and numbers on Nantucket, and by extension, throughout the world.”