EVERYDAY ISLAND

  A series of photographs of everyday life on the Vineyard with extended captions.

Morning Shift at Mocha Mott's – Oak Bluffs .  

Left to Right – Meredith Gallo (owner of Mocha Mott's), Annelies Spykman, Alexis Major.

“We read the newspaper in the mornings. We aren't too busy. It's quiet these days. Meredith is reading her horoscope – she does every morning. It said something about travel and children – and she was leaving for the weekend. She couldn't figure out who the children might be.

We were talking about the future of our country, about the state of our government and the election coming up. I don't really love Kerry, but I want Bush out. I think we all do here.” Annelies Spykman

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EVERYDAY ISLAND 

A series of photographs of everyday life on the Vineyard with extended captions.

  Laurie Campos is a year round resident of Oak Bluffs.

“I am sitting on my bench. I started going there a year ago this past summer after I had broken up from 7 year relationship. That bench got me though a hard time - just being able to go there and have a spot when I needed to get away or reflect or write. The plaque on the bench says Redd family – “prey, enjoy and relax.” Some day I will get in touch with the family and thank them because that is my bench. I read there a lot. I write in my journal and I watch people on the beach. When I moved into my new place, one of my friends had a house warming for me at my bench.

Whenever I need to regroup or get away I go to my bench. When this picture appeared in the Gazette a friend saw it – he could tell by my hair that it was me - and because it was my bench. The ocean is so calming. I have been here for thirty years and sometimes you don't take advantage of the island's beauty. If you don't take the time – you tend to take it for granted.

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November 26, 2004

EVERYDAY ISLAND 

A series of photographs of everyday life on the Vineyard with extended captions.

Most every morning Paul Freedberg walks the bike path from his home in Edgartown to Farm Pond where he turns around and walks back. 

“When I first turn that bend in the road with the ocean on my right it always reminds me that I'm on an island. It's about seven miles back and forth. Depending on the wind, it can be a challenge – one way is usually easy and the other way is hard. The last few weeks it's been blowing from the northeast.

There's always something new to see. I like to watch the tides - see if it is a moon tide, if it is high or low. I watch the wind ripple across the pond. I study the ocean. Sometimes I see Shenandoah and Alabama out there. Sometimes it's clear - sometimes foggy. I see scallopers. I watch the birds. It's always changing.

There's a regular group of people who do this walk and we always pass each other, usually at the same place. We don't know each other but it's fun to say hello.

I walk for the exercise and for the peace of mind. Walking gets my juices going. It sets me up for the rest of the day."

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EVERYDAY ISLAND  

A series of photographs of everyday life on the Vineyard with extended captions.

  Rick Haslet has been building his 42 foot schooner in a shed at Martha's Vineyard Shipyard for the last 12 years.

“One thing I love about Vineyard Haven is that there are so many beautiful wooden boats here – it's the wooden boat capital of the east coast. I can go aboard dozens of boats in this harbor and sit in them, sail them, and I can see what I like about them. If I have a problem, there are a dozen or so shipwrights here that know how to solve it. Every now and then I will tell Nat Benjamin that I would like to talk to him and he always finds his way over here to give me advice. I would say that Vineyard Haven is the perfect place to build a wooden boat.”

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EVERYDAY ISLAND 

A series of photographs of everyday life on the Vineyard with extended captions.

  Alan Wonson, a summer resident of Oak Bluffs, fishing at Light House Beach in Edgartown.

“What a beautiful morning. I parked my car at the end of Fuller Street and walked down the beach looking for signs of fish. They're out there. I saw some swirls a minute ago. Bonito probably. Fishing gives me peace, it's the most relaxing thing I do.

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