What’s doing on the Vinyud in February?

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In a word…travel.

All the buzz is on where you’ve been and where you are going. If you don’t have any travel plans for February or March you are greeted with a look akin to pity mixed with confusion. NOBODY stays all winter without a break. Nobody in their right mind that is…so I guess I have a new title to own. crazy. It won’t be my first spin on the crazymobile, and doubtfully my last.

As energized and calamitous the summer months are, the winter is the opposite. Lethargic and empty, the pace is so slowed that you wonder if its the same place.The beaches are deserted and too cold and windy to walk. The restaurants and stores are mostly closed. Those glorious summer homes by the ocean are all boarded up and look like they may be haunted. The year round population has gone indoors, waiting for the sun to return.

Today it is 40 degrees out, last week’s snow has turned to slush and the skies are gray. If this sounds familiar and you are experiencing the same weather patterns in your area, imagine the scene without any people. Deserted and so quiet that you can hear the drawn out call of the foghorn from every point on the island.

It’s at this time of the year that the people who miss out on summer because they work through it get antsy to travel south and see what the commotion of having a beach side vacation is all about.  Vacation by the beach? Novel idea! Last year my family and I traveled to St John, USVI and were amazed by the  Vineyarders that we came across. I wrote A Tale of Two Islands about that trip.

This year I’ve spoken to a half dozen people who will be headed to St John. I have friends going to the snow, the beach and the mountains. Some are cruising so they get a whole variety of travel experiences and some go to Boston to stay in a hotel. I don’t have many who are staying here. Those who are could be classified in two camps…the ones who actually NEVER leave the island (you know who you are) and the rest of us who are too broke to go…

Throughout my 11 years as a year rounder on the Vineyard I have felt varying degrees of crazy as my world got smaller and smaller and the permanence of my decision sank in… but I have to ask myself, Am I crazy to be grateful for my life today and the abundance of peace and serenity that eluded me elsewhere? Anyone who knows me knows that I am no stranger to crazy. Somehow this visit to “out of your mind” doesn’t feel wrong at all. Sacrifices are easier when you are happy, so I will travel in my little head and read some books for vacation this year.

Happy trails.