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According to the dictionary the definitions of standard are: normal, accepted, definitive, and official to name a few. I bring this up because this Saturday, March 10th is the beginning of Daylight Savings Time… or in my own definition…fake time 
Hang in here with me as I try to explain.
I’m one of those rare people who like it when it gets dark early. I like long evenings when you can be cozy and comfy… not that you can’t do that when it’s light out but it seems somehow more cozy when it’s dark. I know there are some others out there that agree with me but somehow when we mention this preference we get looks of disbelief. I’m not saying that I don’t enjoy an evening stroll, I’m not totally a hermit… I have been known to actually be outside after supper and enjoyed it.
But… and here is where I usually lose people with my explanation of ‘real’ time versus ‘fake’ time.
OK… in my head it goes this way… when you were born determines what YOUR real time is.
I was born in February so my ‘real’ time is Standard Time.
My daughter Patty was born in June so her ‘real’ time is Daylight Savings Time.
Daughter Deb was born in November, her ‘real’ time, Standard Time.
WAIT, not so fast, they changed the time change from the end of Oct to early November and so her ‘real’ time should, or could be, Daylight Savings Time – but it isn’t BECAUSE she was born before the change so she’ll always be time-wise, a Standard Time person. Talk about messing up body clocks.
Totally confused! Me too but I needed to get this whole silly thing off my brain. So, don’t forget to turn your clocks ahead this coming Sunday at 2 a.m. — and why is it 2 a.m. why not midnight ! Anyone know? I’ve got a headache now and I’m sure you do too.
As for me, I’m always…
(I know there are very good reasons for the time changes, I’m just indulging my sense of silliness with this timely post
- by Joan -
Martha’s Vineyard has an airport and it certainly has its share of cars, and of course it has boats, did you know though there once was a railroad on the Vineyard? In the the book: The History of Martha’s Vineyard by Arthur R Railton, you’ll find that indeed there was one, the Martha’s Vineyard Railroad.
It was built in 1874 and ran along the beach from Oak Bluffs to Katama. Storms often washed the tracks out and expensive repairs were needed. It had its share of problems and eventually in 1900 the bankrupt railroad stopped running.
There was actually another railroad that’s sort of connected to MV. The old New York/New Haven/Hartford railroad. Its Old Colony line used to go all the way to Woods Hole. The station was located where the parking lot for the ferry is today.
When my mother and I would go to MV every year to spend the summer we would take a train from Pennsylvania Station in Newark, NJ to Grand Central Station in NYC where we would change trains.
We would have to run from one end of the station to the other to board the New York/New Haven & Hartford’s train on the Old Colony line called the Day Cape Codder, which would take us all the way from New York City to Woods Hole, MA. That’s right, all the way to Woods Hole.
The train stopped at what is now the staging area for cars waiting to get onto the ferries. The tracks ran under the overpass in the left corner of the above photograph. It was literally only steps from train to boat. A comfortable and luxurious way to travel in the days when lots of people didn’t have cars and the road system left a lot to be desired anyway. The trains had dining cars with each table dressed in fancy tablecloths and crisply ironed napkins. The waiters and conductors were always the same and seemed to remember me from year to year… made me feel special and grown up. Train service to Woods Hole ended in the 1960′s.
From the train we’d board the ferry, Nobska and sail to Oak Bluffs where
our relatives would pick us up and three glorious months on the Vineyard would begin.
(For more information on the NOBSKA/NANTUCKET, the last American coastal steamer, which ended its sailing days in 1973 please CLICK HERE).
(For more information on the Martha’s Vineyard Railroad please CLICK HERE).
- by Joan -
Off the beaten track but well worth visiting are:
Christiantown
Down a dirt road in the woods of West Tisbury near Indian Hill, is Christiantown.
Christiantown was established in 1659 by Wampanoag sachem Takemmy as a home for Native American converts to Christianity.
A plaque on the above boulder commemorates “the services of Governor Thomas Mayhew and his descended missionaries who here labored among the native Indians.”
By 1600 there were two or three congregations of Native Americans on the Island.
The Christiantown Meeting House, or chapel was built in 1829. There is a tiny altar and six pews inside… nearby is an old graveyard. This is a wonderful place for hiking or a walk in the woods.
The Wampanoag tribe now owns the memorial, the chapel and the burial ground containing graves of early converts.
Indian Hill
My mother’s step-cousin, Harold Rogers was born in this house in Indian Hill in 1911. He lived in this house, built in 1752, until he died. He was quite a guy. He was a master at building things and he could fix absolutely anything. Over the years he added on to the family homestead, and when there wasn’t anymore he could do there he turned his sights to –
— the one room school house up the road where he’d gone to school. He purchased the school house and set about renovating it. When his daughter got married she and her husband moved into it. I had the pleasure of going there for dinner and I was in awe. The original wooden floors had been beautifully restored, but more than that, you could see clearly the marks where the desks had once been. A couple of the desks had been salvaged and were part of the living room. The closet was, of course the former cloak room with, the original coat hooks. And to top things off <grin> the school bell was once again working. I hardly ever enjoyed being in a classroom quite as much as I did that night at dinner.
The Flying Horses, the oldest carousel in the United States, are housed in this building at the intersection of Circuit and Lake Aves in Oak Bluffs. They came to the Island in 1884 from Coney Island.
The Flying Horses are not a carousel, or a merry-go-round, they don’t go up and down just round and round. They are flying horses, like Pegasus, and fly to wherever you can imagine . They don’t actually have wings, but as you make the first circuit you feel like you’re about to fly out the open windows.
Look closely at the horse’s eyes, inside each one is a tiny hand carved animal.
(My picture didn’t capture the animal in the eye so I cheated just a little)
I flew on these beautiful horses every day when I was a little girl. The ticket taker was a young man who would never take my tickets ! We tried everything to get him to take them… we brought him candy and cookies and tried slipping the tickets in with them… nothing work. At the end of the summer I said I wanted to buy him a gift, so off my mom and I went to purchase what I thought was a novel idea .. a tie. I was 5 years old, what did I know about buying gifts for men… he, by the way was about 13 but in my eyes he was a grown up. We put the tie in the box with all of summer’s uncollected tickets. As he came around to NOT collect my ticket I handed him the box. He smiled. Ah ha, success… or so I thought. As we were leaving the Flying Horses he came over and thanked us for the tie and as we turned to leave he handed us the tickets. I won’t say who he is, just that he turned out to be an official in Oak Bluffs in later years… and someone I’ve never forgotten.
A few years ago along with my daughter Deb, her dog Chappy and two dog friends, we went walking in the Tisbury/W Tisbury woods of the Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank Commission.
While the 4-legged walkers sniffed their way through the woods I let my eyes feast on the beauty. Looking down I saw this beautiful green mossy growth…
…and this old stump that somewhat resembles an airplane part (to my eyes anyway).
Raising my eyes a bit there was …
And finally, looking skyward and spotting something nestled among the trees !! Do you see it – is it a bird, is it a plane !!
I’m looking forward to my next walks on the Vineyard… there’s no better place to stretch your legs and your paws.
Recently I visited
in Hamilton, NJ. This place is A-MAZ-ING, I’ve never seen anything like it. GFS is a sculpture park and museum founded by John Seward Johnson in 1992. I heard about GFS a few years ago but had no idea how really unique and quieting to the mind and spirit GFS is.
(CLICK ON PICTURES TO ENLARGE THEM)
The sculptures were fantastic …
even thought provoking like the one below… which one is the real one?
But it was the tableaux, often hidden away in secluded settings that I enjoyed the most.
In some cases I felt like I was intruding.
In others it was more like walking through a different century.
And in others still… mind games of sorts.
‘Forest of The Subconscious’
I’m pretty sure MY subconscious doesn’t look like that, but who knows.
‘Chamber Of Internal Dialogue’
outside inside
I loved my visit to Garden Of Sculpture, I felt very content here, I hope someday to go back and see more of it. It’s not possible to see it all in one trip, each winding path, or secluded glade leads you off in another direction.
You’ll find more of my pictures of Grounds For Sculpture at:
THROUGH JERSEY EYES (click here)
This is Katy (Katama) our Boykin Spaniel, she was our first dog to go to Martha’s Vineyard… actually our first dog to ever go on a vacation with us. Here she is on the Islander looking happy and eager to get on with her adventures.
She enjoyed her first dip in the ocean… running and barking and trying to catch an elusive wave or two.
At Katama/South Beach, the place she was named for she was a little unsure of the waves so she mostly romped along side of them.
A quiet morning at Edgartown lighthouse was nice after all the beach going, shopping and meeting people. Unfortunately it was Katy’s one and only trip to MV… a year later she was hit by a car and died at only 20 months old. She was a sweetheart and we miss her and still love her.
And then along came…
Chappy (Chappaquiddick) our second Boykin Spaniel and our first boy dog. His first vacation at age 10 months was of course to MV, he loves the beach too.
And Sengekontacket pond which is a little calmer then the ocean.
Relaxing at Vineyard Haven harbor is fun too… watching the ferries arriving and leaving and sometimes meeting an Island dog to chat with. This by the way is his mom’s favorite picture of him.
Chappy had to visit the place he was named after too so here he is with his mom on Chappaquiddick. Chappy has made seven trips so far to Martha’s Vineyard and looks forward to many more.
Bradys NESW and the Island Inn are two great places to stay with or without your pet. Chappy says two of his favorite places to shop are - Good Dog Goods in Oak Bluffs… the treats there are wonderful (especially the cheese ones and the peanut butter ones) and the people always remember him and sometimes get down on the floor to play with him. He also recommends the Black Dog for their dog biscuits… he says they’re droolicious.
The Elms
Nice places to visit but I wouldn’t want to live there. I could however settle in nicely to any of the following.
Read about the school house below by CLICKING HERE
You can’t actually see the gingerbread cottage below but I really love this picture.
These are pictures inside the original Fresnel lenses that lit the Gay Head Lighthouse from 1856 until the 1950′s when it was automated. You can see these lenses, which are made up of over 1000 prisms at the Martha’s Vineyard Museum in Edgartown.
“One red, three white light our slumber through the night… Three white, one red bring us back home to Gay Head” Kate Taylor
Down a dirt road in the woods of West Tisbury near Indian Hill, is Christiantown.
Christiantown was established in 1659 by Wampanoag sachem Takemmy as a home for Native American converts to Christianity.
A plaque on the above boulder commemorates “the services of Governor Thomas Mayhew and his descended missionaries who here labored among the native Indians.”
By 1600 there were two or three congregations of Native Americans on the Island.
The Christiantown Meeting House, or chapel was built in 1829. There is a tiny altar and six pews inside… nearby is an old graveyard. This is a wonderful place for hiking or a walk in the woods.
The Wampanoag tribe now owns the memorial, the chapel and the burial ground containing graves of early converts.
Christiantown is off the beaten track but worth the effort to find.
