Overheard late afternoon on Sunday, March 9, apropos of Daylight Saving Time:

“It seems later than it is.”

“It is later than it is!”

Ponder on that.

Islanders abroad

A Malcolm Greenaway photo has been selected by Roderick Moore, the new ambassador to Montenegro, for the U.S. embassy in the capital city of Podgorica. A check with Malcolm reveals that the Department of State’s “Art in Embassies” program seeks to share American art in an effort to foster worldwide cultural connections. Each newly appointed ambassador chooses the art to be displayed; typical tenure is about two-and-a-half years. Ambassador Moore, who grew up in New England and wants to showcase the region’s art, chose Greenaway’s “Dusk at North Light” panoramic photo.

Moore’s father visited Block Island last year and bought Greenaway’s book, “Block Island: Rhode Island’s Jewel.”

Other Block Island residents have been traveling the world as well. Mimi Leveille spent a month in Thailand, two weeks as a Global Volunteer and two weeks on vacation. As a volunteer, Mimi went into villages to take blood pressures and give home nursing advice for conditions such as sore muscles or burns.

A highlight of Mimi’s vacation was a visit with elephants in Chiang Mai. “The elephant ride was terrifying — there was no saddle, nothing to hang onto, I was up in the air moving around with the elephant and I’m scared of heights!” she confesses. The elephant colony, however, “was very spiritual and moving. There was a pregnant albino elephant, and the others clustered around and kept touching her with their trunks. If she gives birth to a rare white elephant, it will be a gift for the king of Thailand.”

Other Global Volunteers from Block Island this year are Gail and Gerry Pierce, soon heading to Salvador, Brazil, to work perhaps in a children’s hospital. This will be Gail’s eighth, and Gerry’s ninth stint as a Global Volunteer.

Recently returned from Spain are Barbara and John Hirsch, who have now taken three vacations in Nerja, on the Costa del Sol. Charmed by this hideaway, they like to rent a place, as they did this year for six weeks, and branch out in a rented car. Recognizing that many Block Island people have a “winter window” for vacations, John says, “if anyone has any interest in that part of the world, I have lots of website links and other information. Call me at 466-5585.”

Happy birthdays to Willis Dodge, Kim Gaffett and Brian Schrauf, all born on March 10 in consecutive decades, and we’re not saying which decades they are.

Thank you to …

David Roosa, for his ongoing and single-handed work of cleaning Block Island’s beaches and coves of debris and disposing of the stuff off-island.

Glen Pence and friends, for a memorable seafood dinner, the last of the Block Island Economic Development Dinner Club series, on a blustery night. We were seated with the evening’s guest of honor, Betsy Theve, 81 years young that very day. Also at our table were Pat and Tom Doyle and Steve and Claire McQueeny, buffeted in by the southwest gale and filled with tales of a dramatic boat ride.

A special treat, prior to the evening’s oyster course, was Connor Murphy’s splendid reading of Lewis Carroll’s “The Walrus and the Carpenter.” All about oysters, slurp slurp, in case you’ve forgotten.

The next morning, Anna and Mike Lofaro reported night winds of 80 mph at Southwest Point.

Thank you to the Island Free Library Board of Trustees for the lavish lasagna served to the Lunch Bunch last Tuesday. Culinary talents on board were Elisa Hundt, Steve Robison, Paul Marte, Dr. Janice Miller, Connie LaRue, Doris Hassinger and Jack Sisto.

The Block Island Catholic Ladies Guild outdid themselves with this year’s St. Paddy’s Day Brunch at St. Andrew Parish Center. Turnout was great, despite Daylight Saving Time kicking in at 2 a.m. On hand were all the faves: Sandy Kelly’s baked beans, Connie LaRue’s scalloped tomatoes, Lillian Martin’s Canadian tourti