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Columnists

Reservations

By

J. V. Houlihan, Jr.

Thu, Aug 22

Category:

Columnists, The Ferry Dock Scribbler

In 2016 I wrote a column simply titled, “Standby.” I wrote the piece while I was out sailing, and was laughing like a loon as I punched the keys — I’m easily amused. I told my wife that I thought the column was funny in a Mark Twain sort of way. “Well, we’ll see when it runs,” she said. My wife is...
Celebration of Summer

By

Matha Ball

Thu, Aug 22

Category:

Island Notes

La st night the sky was dark before sunset, a dramatic band of gray blue that promised yet another storm that never quite materialized here. There were splatters on my windshield on the Neck Road, a flash of lightning as I swung round in my barnyard, some wet on a few west-facing windowsills, then...
Old Sailors

By

J.V. Houlihan, Jr.

Thu, Aug 15

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

“If you haven’t played the Garden, you haven’t played anywhere.” — Anonymous In 1968 while playing center for Providence College, Ray Johnson strode to the middle of the basketball court at Madison Square Garden. There, he stood face to face with a local New York City street player named Lew...
Dish off the Block: Grilled baby lamb chops

By

Pam Gelsomini

Thu, Aug 15

Category:

Columnists

Lamb — the other red meat! Mix up your grilling routine and try this super flavorful dish highlighting baby lamb chops with a twist on your classic pesto. The Chops: 2.5 to 3 pounds baby lamb chops, cut into single chops 6 large cloves of garlic, chopped 3 Tbsp. fresh rosemary leaves,...
Order this... Flavors from the sea at The Beachead

By

Amy Lockwood MacDougall

Thu, Aug 15

Category:

Columnists, Order This

Many visitors who come to Block Island have a routine when they arrive — some go to their houses to unpack, some go right to the beach, and nearly everyone I interviewed for this article heads directly to the Beachead as soon as they disembark from the ferry. It’s that kind of place — right on Corn...
Summer, still

By

Martha Ball

Thu, Aug 15

Category:

Columnists, Island Notes

Fo ur years ago on this date I took a photo of the maple at the edge of the yard, noting the amount of sky I could see though its branches in mid-August when two months earlier it had been dense and lush. The rain that was never quite torrential here had ceased when I went out to compare this year'...
Summer Observed

By

Martha Ball

Thu, Aug 8

Category:

Columnists, Island Notes

My R ebecca Rotary/Roundabout Report on Facebook began a few summers ago, a line from one of those lovely, overheard family conversations. Bits and pieces of summer observed from one little corner in town, the world passing by — and coming into — the Greenaway Gallery. There are movie matinee...
Disruption

By

Martha Ball

Thu, Aug 1

Category:

Island Notes

So metime over the weekend Verizon cell service went from increasingly spotty to dark. I remain hopeful, even as I write, that it will be restored shortly, certainly a memory by the time this column is printed. I have a landline, it is my fallback, my fail safe; it is the line to which my computer...
Summer Storm Tide

By

Martha Ball

Fri, Jul 26

Category:

Island Notes

There is a screen in my window. Not in all my windows, and the door remains open while I am home, but firmly in the one the that draws the most birds, regardless of the season. It is the window at which I hear a thump and sometimes see a bird lying on the ground beneath the glass, generally stunned...
A random inspection

By

J.V. Houlihan, Jr.

Fri, Jul 26

Category:

Columnists, The Ferry Dock Scribbler

“Hello, sir. When was the last time you were boarded by the United States Coast Guard, sir?” asked the crewman aboard the 30-foot Defender Class vessel. “I was boarded in Point Judith about 30 years ago for a random inspection, sir,” I replied. “Thank you, sir. We’d like to come aboard to inspect...
The General Slocum

By

J.V. Houlihan, Jr.

Thu, Jul 18

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

The Hyannis home’s basement contained brass wheels, binnacles, brass lanterns with green and red glass, barometers, binoculars, a brass diving hard hat, various frayed charts of Vineyard Sound, Cape Cod, and Nantucket shoals, postcards of Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard steamships, compasses of...
Mid-July

By

Martha Ball

Thu, Jul 18

Category:

Island Notes

There are banks of roses around the island, ramblers I have always called them, probably because my mother did, flowers in varying shades of pink that bloom after the multiflora has faded and fallen, long after the first, the most stunningly dramatic round of beach roses has passed. They spill over...
Grounded, redux

By

J.V. Houlihan, Jr.

Thu, Jul 11

Category:

Columnists, The Ferry Dock Scribbler

“Only two sailors in my experience never ran aground. One never left port and the other was an atrocious liar.” — Don Bamford Running aground on any type of boat can be a humbling experience, and such an experience does, indeed, leave one grounded — complete ego deflation —...
Order this... Fresh take on favorite Food at Block Island Oyster Bar and Grill

By

Amy Lockwood MacDougall

Thu, Jul 11

Category:

Columnists, Order This

If you’ve been to Block Island in the past 35 years, you probably have heard of or been to or eaten at a place touched by Kimberly. Her newest endeavor with husband Norman Ward and Chef Terry Smith is the Block Island Oyster Bar & Grill, entering its second year down by Champlin’s. The Oyster...
Gift of the Morning

By

Martha Ball

Thu, Jul 11

Category:

Columnists, Island Notes

Among the things that horrify some of my relatives is my open door (Autumn has to have free access to the outside while it is seasonable and I am home, a bird flying in every now and then is no big deal as long as it does not start building a nest, or panic) and no fixed screens (in the too many...
This land...

By

Martha Ball

Wed, Jul 3

Category:

Island Notes

We graduated from the stage of the Empire in June 1969. It was evening, we all wore “dignified” black caps and gowns, a United States Senator was our guest speaker. The country was at war, we knew it, but it seemed far removed from our lives. None of our classmates was going into the service, nor...
Tempus fugit

By

J.V. Houlihan Jr.

Thu, Jun 27

Category:

Columnists, The Ferry Dock Scribbler

While rowing out to my sailboat a few weeks ago, I passed a 70-foot sailing yacht named tempus fugit — time flies in Latin. Leave it to the Romans to figure out such a precise phrase like that to give the good citizens of Rome something to think about while they were paying their taxes and...
A dark, short-lived fury

By

Martha Ball

Thu, Jun 27

Category:

Columnists, Island Notes

On Saturday, we were not hit by the storm that dropped hail and pounding rain on the mainland. It was one of those times we were able to watch it, creeping across the northern sky in layers of dark clouds from which curtains of water hung, giving them a strange look of being land — or ocean —...
Order this... A feast of sights and flavors at The Atlantic Inn

By

Amy Lockwood MacDougall

Thu, Jun 27

Category:

Columnists, Order This

Perched high on a hill overlooking Old Harbor, the quiet pastoral setting of The Atlantic Inn offers a respite from the business of town, beach, and ferry. While there is no dress code per se , the elegance of the gardens, the inn, and surrounding grounds inspires you to put on a linen dress...
Falki at the Gate

By

Martha Ball

Thu, Jun 20

Category:

Columnists, Island Notes

Th ere had been some grumbling in the Clay Head Swamp. The Pesky Pond Troll — the PPT — always lurking, had heard snippets of conversation he chose to ignore, all involving “his” Icelandic horse, Lukka, going north, not over the hill where he could visit, but across the wide ocean, to a place...
Sailing season is on!

By

J.V. Houlihan Jr.

Thu, Jun 13

Category:

Columnists, The Ferry Dock Scribbler

Last October, I wrote a column about sailing and mentioned that my boat, Reverie, needed a new headsail — jib — because I wore the other one out from several years of constant use. The sail was patched, sail taped, careworn, and frayed; however, it had served Reverie well. I had...
In good hands with Jennifer Egan

By

J.V. Houlihan, Jr.

Thu, Jun 6

Category:

Columnists, The Ferry Dock Scribbler

One of the greatest things about reading a good book is that we are able to learn something as we flip through the pages. A fringe benefit of reading is that we don’t need to travel, because good writing is like traveling. Whether we are reading fiction or non-fiction—if we get the sense that we...
Mansion Road Maples

By

Martha Ball

Thu, Jun 6

Category:

Columnists

T his is the time of year I think with each week the land has peaked. Early flowers and blossoms have come and gone, the beach roses blanket the dunes, and the maples, the weedy trees that grew while we were not watching, have become great green canopies, spreading over roads. When they are trimmed...
The Orchid Lounge reopens

By

Amy Lockwood MacDougall

Thu, Jun 6

Category:

Columnists

An old piece of Block Island history has been brought back to life. The Orchid Lounge, a popular bar in the 60s and 70s, in what was then the Royal Hotel, has been reopened at the Harborside Inn. How many times do you hear, “I remember Block Island when...” when speaking with islanders, or...
Turning the Tide column: Coastal seal rescues

By

Rosemary Connelli

Fri, May 31

Category:

Columnists

In a recent article from Hakai magazine, “Reassessing Seal Rescue,” questions and actions are spurred on the topic of seal rescues: Should the seal be rescued, handled by experts, or just left alone? The article shares a coastal perspective from the Netherlands, and the historical account of seal...
Rule of thumb for the summer: situational awareness

By

J.V. Houlihan, Jr.

Thu, May 30

Category:

Columnists, The Ferry Dock Scribbler

The phone rang and a voice with a southern drawl said, “Hey, Joe, how’re you doin?” “Good, long time no hear Captain, how are you and yours? You still flying the big wagons?” I asked. “Yup, but I’ll tell ya, last week I crashed my Stinson Gullwing in New Mexico, some guy hit me while I was on final...
Eleven Blooms

By

Martha Ball

Thu, May 30

Category:

Columnists

Years ago I dug up what I thought were a few paper whites which had been blooming in a little circle in my yard. There was a mass of bulbs, I discovered, grown tightly against each other. I read instructions, separated them, counting as I went, collecting them in groups of ten, then hundreds. Some...
Miniature Yews

By

Martha Ball

Thu, May 23

Category:

Island Notes

A clitter-clatter follows me into the kitchen when I go to refill my coffee cup. I know it is Autumn. She does it all the time, and still makes me laugh, standing there, giving her empty dish — then me — a mournful look. Breakfast was served, I remind her, and she turns, dejected, only to plop down...
Memories of the bridges we’ve crossed

By

Martha Ball

Thu, May 16

Category:

Columnists, Island Notes

S p ring is coming in spurts, as it is prone to do, but not at such extremes as this year. We always wait for the shad to bloom, watching it bud in the cool of April, often to flower and fade in a very few days of bright sun. It is the ornamentals that put the passage of time more certainly at our...
A Summer At Sea

By

Martha Ball

Thu, May 9

Category:

Island Notes

Th e first year I know there was an egret at the edge of the pond behind my house was 1990. It was May and I was out front playing with my new golden retriever puppy, my precious Shad. The fields were clear, and folks from up the road were out walking. They saw us and came up to see the puppy, or,...
The First of May

By

Martha Ball

Fri, May 3

Category:

Island Notes

It is the first of May and it is green and gray, the sky a parfait of pale blues and whites over a calm and near-silver ocean. The shad on Clay Head is still waiting for a day or two of full sunshine to burst open. The grass out back is thick but it is heavy with moisture, newly reclaimed, just a...
Class of 1969

By

J.V. Houlihan Jr.

Thu, May 2

Category:

Columnists, The Ferry Dock Scribbler

“Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” — Samuel Beckett In 1969 I graduated from Saint Raphael Academy in my hometown of Pawtucket, Rhode Island — I was last in my class. The road to this ranking was rife with academic failure; school was not something I...
Dish off the Block: Thai Chicken and Shrimp Naan Pizza

By

Pam Gelsomini

Thu, Apr 25

Category:

Columnists

Sooo, I just won the Taste of America Challenge with my Thai-inspired pizza on naan bread! Naan is a soft Indian flatbread made with yogurt. A trendy ingredient, it can be readily found in most supermarkets. Naan bread is very versatile and creates the perfect canvas for a time-saving...
April Blue

By

Martha Ball

Thu, Apr 25

Category:

Columnists, Island Notes

S ome years ago this paper asked about holiday traditions, be it Christmas or Easter, I do not remember, or it may well have been a theme through the seasons. I had little to offer, no recipes handed down over generations, carried from Europe in someone’s head or on a carefully folded slip of paper...
Cathedral of Spring

By

Martha Ball

Thu, Apr 18

Category:

Columnists, Island Notes

A p ril came slowly, the daffodils at the turn off Mansion Road that some years bloom the first of the month opened a solid two weeks later this year. The forsythia, part of the yellow wave that belongs to this part of spring, has finally flowered, tossing splashes of color into the awakening, but...
Dish off the Block: That’s no yolk!

By

Pamela Gelsomini

Fri, Apr 12

Category:

Columnists

What’s for “brinner” — breakfast for dinner?” Never underestimate the power of placing a sunny-side up egg with a gooey yolk on top of some of your favorite dishes. These meals are taken to new heights when topped with the incredible edible egg… and that’s no yolk! Twice Baked Potatoes...
Stoked

By

J.V. Houlihan Jr.

Thu, Apr 11

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

The guy was swimming toward the rocky shore of the Point Judith Lighthouse as the whitewater pounded and rumbled him forward. The swell was pumping well over head and there were 40 surfers out jockeying for position in the crowded lineup. This swell popped up very quickly and the word spread fast...
Head for the Steeple

By

Martha Ball

Thu, Apr 11

Category:

Island Notes

Martha Ball is out sick this week. This column was originally published in April 2011. Y ou can’t go wrong when you head for the steeple. Sage advice, it was, from my cousin the mariner, he still so belonging to the world of deepwater he will not park close to the supermarket door. He...
A saloon musician gets his due

By

J.V. Houlihan Jr.

Thu, Apr 4

Category:

Columnists, The Ferry Dock Scribbler

”Bear down on that guitar, Houlihan,” said Jon Campbell from the stage as we were performing a benefit on Block Island for the moving of the Southeast Lighthouse. My response was a sneer at my music mate as I bashed down a solid G chord on my Guild guitar. That’s how Campbell rolled when we played...
Year To Year

By

Martha Ball

Thu, Apr 4

Category:

Columnists, Island Notes

It is April. All of the requisite calendar markers have been passed, the gas station is open on Sunday, the boat is making more runs, the grocery closes later, some restaurants are opening over weekends, others posting countdown notices until they will welcome diners. What happened to the winter I...
Dish off the Block: Lobster pasta in cream sauce

By

Pam Gelsomini

Thu, Mar 28

Category:

Columnists

Did you know that the best time to enjoy Block Island lobster is not in the summer? Admittedly, New England lobster is sweet and delicious any time of year, but lobsters in the waters surrounding our favorite glacial deposit generally begin the molting process, where they shed their shell...
Under Changed Conditions

By

Martha Ball

Thu, Mar 28

Category:

Island Notes

We come to the end of March, Women's History Month. And so I go to the stack of paper that occupies the left-hand corner of my desk. It does not contain timely paperwork, rather bits and pieces of history, of things I might “need” someday. It is, to my credit, slowly diminishing, but there are some...
Wind and Words

By

J.V. Houlihan, Jr.

Thu, Mar 21

Category:

Columnists, The Ferry Dock Scribbler

For several years I had a monthly ritual that involved reading a particular character’s stuff in Soundings magazine. It was written by the late Jack Sherwood, who had a column called “Bay Tripper.” I found interesting stories by a guy who loved sailing on the Chesapeake in a beautifully maintained...
Between the Seasons

By

Martha Ball

Thu, Mar 21

Category:

News, Island Notes

We have crossed the many thresholds that mark the transition from winter to spring. We passed Washington's birthday; meteorological winter ended on March 1; our man-imposed measure of time shifted, a blip pushing the sunrise back before seven for a few days; and the closing hour of the grocery was...
Sprung Ahead

By

Martha Ball

Thu, Mar 14

Category:

Island Notes

No t so long ago my brother commented from Michigan the wonder of technology we have seen in our lives, of our ability to take photographs, see the result and transmit them almost instantaneously. We grew up in a world of black — or gray — and white, of snapshots that were taken sparingly, the film...
Dish off the Block: A St Patty’s Day special

By

Pem Gelsomini

Thu, Mar 14

Category:

Columnists

St. Patty’s Day is this Sunday! Pour yourself some green beer, do an Irish jig in celebration. Sláinte! I bet you thought I would be serving up some corned beef and cabbage for this column, right? Nope! Did you know that corned beef and cabbage is not really an authentic Irish dish? It was...
Founding Mother

By

Martha Ball

Thu, Mar 7

Category:

Columnists, Island Notes

Even in 1877, long before women could vote or anyone thought of Women’s History Month, Sarah Sands was included in the Rev. Livermore's sketches on important players in the early European settlement of Block Island, and as more than the footnoted “wife of. . .” He wrote of Sarah: T...
Thoughts for Lent

By

Pastor Peter Preiser

Thu, Mar 7

Category:

Columnists

Lenten reflections: An early Easter Easter falls rather late on the calendar this year, but why not start celebrating early? Easter Sunday is my favorite day of the year, and the Season of Lent, the 40 day period leading up to Easter, is my favorite season of the church calendar. I have...
Bridging two glimmering cities

By

J.V. Houlihan Jr.

Thu, Feb 28

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

“Judy, we’re kind of close to this guy,” said Pat Hackett from the backseat of a black boxy Mercedes Benz as it swerved ahead into the right lane after zipping past the Metro bus. “It’s okay, Pat, I see him. Joe, you’re a writer. Look! The Village Voice ,” said Judy, as she deftly wove the...
In Another Century

By

Martha Ball

Thu, Feb 28

Category:

Columnists, Island Notes

I t is a strange thing not to be exceedingly, record-breakingly old, but remember so clearly a world so different from the one we know. Technology has erased boundaries and miles even as it has built walls, taking away the communications that required some thought and effort, a pen and paper vs...

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Island Buzz

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This weeks Nature Conservancy Schedule

Posted By

The Block Island Times

8/24

Check out this weeks Nature Conservancy Schedule at https://www.nature.org

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