I long for the month of August. For the past 18 years, we’ve been coming to the island of Martha’s Vineyard, always in August. It’s a time for us to escape the normal grind and take a different path. When we’re here on the island, we have no schedule, no commitments, no work to do, just what fancies us, and what the weather gods will provide. My family includes my wife and two teenage daughters, and our dog, Gyasi the Ridgeback. We leave the cats at home, they’re not beach people!
If it’s a sunny day, we usually head to the beach, our favorite is Gay Head beach in Aquinnah. Gay Head is one of the most beautiful beaches in the world, with its multi-colored clay cliffs, soft sand, and warm water. We often reunite with friends there that we haven’t seen since last summer. If it’s overcast we’ll walk one of the many nature trails, visit a gallery, do some shopping, or just read a book. If there’s a sunset to be seen, we head on down to Lamberts Cove, and bring some wine, cheese and some chips. And of course the camera. I’ve captured thousands of gorgeous sunsets captured over the years, and more importantly, precious moments with my girls.
Martha’s Vineyard is only a short ride and a ferry from where we live in Sharon MA, a small bedroom community, where we’re blessed with a beautiful home in the middle of an Audobon wildlife sanctuary called Moose Hill. There are trails right outside our door, and beauty abounds. In many ways it’s like a vacation home. But there’s a profound difference in the quality of time spent that separates our lives in Sharon from those two vacation weeks on Martha’s Vineyard.
It is this profound difference in the quality of time spent with my family that makes this vacation a truly special event. But what of this difference in quality, should I analyze it, explore it, understand it, in order to develop a complete appreciation? Or is this a time to be completely present, a time to enjoy and live, without thinking, without noting, without saying. And after the vacation is over, will it be useful to rate the quality of time spent, the weather, the events, the sunsets? In time, the memories of the vacation will fade. Is that a reason to be less present with my family?