Martha's Vineyard

I spent the last six days at Martha's Vineyard with Jud and his parents, staying at his aunt's barn. Jud's aunt Diane and great aunt Mickey live on the Island year round, and I got to visit with them a bit. Grandma Powers was also there and is always fun, even if she already knew about the great Scrabble word "kopje."

I never realized how beautiful Martha's Vineyard is. The beaches were gorgeous, and the surrounding landscape was also lovely. There's a lot more open space than I thought. I learned Jaws was filmed entirely on the Island, and so I got to see a lot of key areas, such as Chief Brody's house and the various beaches near which the shark attacks occured. Curiously, Diane was supposed to be the girl who dies at the beginning of the movie, but a stunt woman was finally chosen instead because of safety concerns.

Jud's family worked quite hard to teach me the art of doing nothing. I have to say that this art of theirs is utterly exhausting. I could barely stay awake until midnight some nights, and I didn't wake up until 10:00 or later most days. We would go out to the beach, and then I would attempt to read quietly and enjoy the sun. I made occasional trips into the overly calm water (too smooth to jump waves or body surf) and to collect neat rocks and sea glass (sea glass is glass that's made its way into the ocean, been beaten into smooth and frosty pebbles, and then spit up onto the shore again for bored vacationers to collect). Over the course of my vacation, I finished The Plague and read War of the Worlds. My dad recommended War of the Worlds to me when I was 12 or so, and I didn't enjoy it then, but this time around, I found it thrilling. I bought the newly rereleased hardback version illustrated by Edward Gorey, and the illustrations really added to the story. Overall, it was much better than the movie.

I got to try a lot of new (or maybe forgotten) things while I was on vacation: poached eggs, flounder, lobster (by itself--not in pasta, a stew, bisque, a casserole, etc), stuffed scallops, and anadama bread. I wasn't a big fan of the stuffed scallops, but everything else was great.

Grandma Powers treated us to one of the better restaurants on the Island, and we had a great meal there. Because all their salads had carrots, they let me choose an extra appetizer (this was a prix fixe place), so I got to have clam chowder and steamed mussels. Mmm... Not moules frites, but I'll take it.

I also got to know Mocha, Jud's parents' dog, a lot better. He's a really sweet chocolate lab who's afraid to jump in a pool. He fell in once and seemed panicked. I think that with time and increased familiarity with pools (he'll be able to visit one any time now that the Powers live in Florida in a house with a pool).

Well, that's about all I have to report for now. Sorry this was so random!