Katie Carroll

Writer at Vineyard Gazette

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Articles

Chilmark Town Column: Week Ending May 30

1 week ago | vineyardgazette.com | Katie Carroll

The end of May is here. It is time to flip the calendar to June and embrace the summer season. It’s time to be delighted by the early morning chirping of baby birds, the clanging of the bell buoy, the hum of the lobstermen’s engines, dew on the grass, the sweet smell of beach roses and sipping lemonade from an entrepreneurial child’s roadside stand. I’ll confess, I often dip my toes into summer with the thought that I “just need to endure it.” I’m not really one to enjoy the heat.
Chilmark Town Column: May 23

2 weeks ago | vineyardgazette.com | Katie Carroll

The rhythm of the seasons influences human interaction and connection. With the warmth of the sunshine, the promise of longer days and the opportunity to linger over cocktails comes the return of our seasonal friends and neighbors. The sunset crowd grows bigger, ferry travel becomes more challenging, but conversations with folks you haven’t seen in many months are priceless.
Chilmark Town Column: May 9

1 month ago | vineyardgazette.com | Katie Carroll

Palpable shifts. May is the month when things come to life. May is the month that prompts celebration. There may be over-the-top festivities encompassing May Day, college graduations, Memorial Day and birthdays. But there are also those small little victories than need a cautiously optimistic yippee.
Chilmark Town Column: May 2

1 month ago | vineyardgazette.com | Katie Carroll

Change: both good and bad, positive and negative. Either way, I’ve never been good with it. It’s not that I need everything to stay the same, just most of it. Charming and quirky with a sense of pattern and order appeals to me, but life doesn’t always work like that. You have to adapt to new situations, yet preserve the past while moving forward. I think that’s why I visit the cemetery so often to visit my old friends.
Chilmark Town Column: April 25

1 month ago | vineyardgazette.com | Katie Carroll

May 1 is more than just the first day of the month. It’s May Day, when Chilmark School fourth and fifth graders celebrate a longstanding community tradition. No longer can students frolic all over town for the teachers-versus-students “Where are the children?” variation of hide and seek, but the May pole is danced around for community onlookers to enjoy, and May baskets are compiled by fifth graders for teachers and a few select folks around town.
Chilmark Town Column: April 18

1 month ago | vineyardgazette.com | Katie Carroll

If you’ve been to any of the 63 National Parks, you know already that it’s more than just a pretty place; it is an awe inspiring experience. Most weeks I try to keep my column focus on you, but occasionally I just have to share a little bit about me. I’ve set a goal to visit each of the National Parks. Yes, there are a lot. Yes, some of them are a challenge to get to like Gates of the Arctic in Alaska that requires a charter plane to access.
Chilmark Town Column: April 11

1 month ago | vineyardgazette.com | Katie Carroll

Dark gloomy, clouds have lingered overhead all but masking the sun. What we all want to see is a blue sky, yet what we’ve seen in various shades of gray with the occasional ray of sunlight peaking through the clouds. Raindrops, as tiresome as they can be, hold positivity within their sogginess.
Chilmark Town Column: April 4

2 months ago | vineyardgazette.com | Katie Carroll

It seems like we should be so far removed from the nighttime glow of artificial light, but in reality it surrounds us. It can cause tremendous difficulties for critters, the environment and us humans. Humans are messy creatures. One of the pollutants we create on a daily basis is something we can easily get a handle on: light pollution. As I have mentioned before, a couple of my favorite spring pastimes are listening to the pinkletinks and tracking the return of the osprey.
Chilmark Town Column: March 28

2 months ago | vineyardgazette.com | Katie Carroll

I saw my first osprey yesterday. It was a glorious spring sight and, despite its altitude, hard to miss with all the noise. The pinkletinks are back singing as well. At this time of year it’s habit to roll down my windows while driving through the corner at Brandy Brow. Such a melody those little frogs willingly share. If you need a boost to the spirits, I suggest the simplicity of rolling down your car windows.
Chilmark Town Column: March 21

2 months ago | vineyardgazette.com | Katie Carroll

The weather starts to get warmer, the sun shines a little brighter and life seems full of new beginnings. While it might be a bit hard to elaborate on the feeling you get when you hear the first cacophony of pinkletinks, spot the first crocus, see a seal pup sunning itself or smell the briny salt air the warm sun brings, it’s not hard to quietly enjoy these little pleasures. Although the days are getting longer and the air warmer, it’s still hockey season.