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Columnists

A society of friends living together on the pond

John Willis

Fri, Jul 17

Category:

Columnists

Beacon Hollow is a small farm on Block Island. It is home to many animals large and small — mostly rescued. There are feathered animals, furry animals and scaled or shelled animals such as turtles and fish. There are two ponds at Beacon Hollow, man-made many years ago as retention ponds to provide...
The Column About The Airport

Martha Ball

Thu, Jul 16

Category:

Island Notes

This morning I was reminded by Bob Champagne Willis, Block Island Historical Society President, via a photo of a medallion, that it is not only 2020, that this day, July 15, marks, without fanfare, the seventieth anniversary of the ceremonial opening of our State Airport. The fact the airport was...
A nod to the new way

J.V. Houlihan

Thu, Jul 9

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

In early March, I took a trip over to Martha’s Vineyard to see some friends, and grab some slack time before the season cranked up at the ferry docks. I do the same trip every year in late March; however, this year I went early and I’m glad that I did because a series of events were in play; going...
Amber Waves

Martha Ball

Thu, Jul 9

Category:

Island Notes

When the media exploded with the removal of characters long associated with certain products, one was the hot cereal, Cream of Wheat. I had bought some over the winter, when it was on sale, thought fleetingly that the box looked different, before I emptied its contents into a glass canister and...
360 video

Walk through Rodman’s Hollow

Rosemary Connelli, at rconnelli@blockislandtimes.com

Thu, Jul 9

Category:

Video

(360 VIDEO) Walk the path through Rodman’s Hollow, courtesy of The Block Island Times. This preserve, located in the southwest part of the island, is considered the birthplace of conservation on Block Island. The video was taken on Wednesday, July 8, a bright and sunny afternoon with temperatures...
Waves Rising

Martha Ball

Thu, Jul 2

Category:

Island Notes

Every year I refer to “the egret” in the pond behind my house, but always wonder if there is more then one. There used to be a heron, great and blue — or blue-gray — that nested at the edge of the swamp, just to the north, over the wall, in a bayberry bush grown so tall it seemed a tree. It once...
Wind, redux

J.V. Houlihan

Thu, Jun 25

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

On a late April weekend in 1965, my parents piled their four kids into our 1962 red Plymouth Valiant and we took off on a day trip to Falmouth, Mass. Our dad liked to visit the Cape when we were kids; we’d visit the outer Cape beaches, Truro and Provincetown. I can see now that he and my mom were...
Ice Plant Remains

Martha Ball

Thu, Jun 25

Category:

Island Notes

We used to start school the Monday after Labor Day. It was long one of those impossible memories, but underscored by another, of the first year we started on the Friday after the holiday, a half day. That and more memories came rushing back when I heard the announcement that all schools in Rhode...
360 Video

Walk the path through the Block Island National Wildlife Refuge

Rosemary Connelli, at rconnelli@blockislandtimes.com

Wed, Jun 24

Category:

Video

(360 VIDEO) Walk the path through the Block Island National Wildlife Refuge at the North Light, courtesy of The Block Island Times. The refuge is a haven for gulls, swallows, sparrows and more. The video was taken on Tuesday, June 23, a bright and sunny afternoon with temperatures in the 70s. Note...
The thick-billed murre

Brielle Chase

Thu, Jun 18

Category:

The Bird Corner

Block Island has always been a wonderful spot to go birding, not only because it is an important stopover during migration. Many thanks to Elizabeth Dickens who started the bird program with the Block Island School students in the early 1900s, and to Kim Gaffett for continuing it....
Down the beaten path

Martha Ball

Thu, Jun 18

Category:

Island Notes

It is almost summer and, much as some believe they can wish away the uncertainty that has engulfed us for so long, the reality is we have yet to see the back side of the hurricane. It is all speculation, from educated guesses to wildly uninformed declarations. “But you don’t have COVID out here” we...
The Sharp-Shinned Hawk

Noah Rocha

Fri, Jun 12

Category:

The Bird Corner

Block Island has always been a wonderful spot to go birding, not only because it is an important stopover during migration. Many thanks to Elizabeth Dickens who started the bird program with the Block Island School students in the early 1900s, and Kim Gaffett for continuing it. Each...
Arcs of June

Martha Ball

Thu, Jun 11

Category:

Island Notes

Every year, around this time, when the grass is tall and heavy laden with seed, we get a big rain; this year was no exception. We experienced a summer squall Saturday night. It had been foggy in the morning, then it seemed to clear to sunny warm. Some serious system on the radar mappings looked to...
Rumrunners

J.V. Houlihan

Thu, Jun 4

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

“Hi there,” said the man on a Ocean Avenue front porch. “Nice night.” The man’s home was midway between Old Harbor and New Harbor. His name was Murphy and was from my hometown of Pawtucket, Rhode Island. I noticed the austere and gabled house had a brass plaque that read Spartan — it was once a...
Calendar Maple

Martha Ball

Thu, Jun 4

Category:

Island Notes

Several years ago I first noticed a volunteer maple tree, seeded I guessed, from the older tree at the corner of the front yard. It was in the tall grass, perhaps three feet high but the time I even realized it was there, at the time partly in the shadow of a gnarly, dying olive. It seemed, in the...
Slow Waves

Martha Ball

Thu, May 28

Category:

Island Notes

Spring arrives in slow waves and we watch them crest and crash on the shore, then recede to become part of the wide ocean. Yellow daffodils and forsythia and creamy shad have all gone by, the first to withering stems, the others to greenery. Some trees flower only to be consumed by a day of searing...
VIDEO

Horseshoe Crab Season

Rosemary Connelli, at rconnelli@blockislandtimes.com

Wed, May 27

Category:

News, Video

(VIDEO) Horseshoe crabs have begun to emerge around the Great Salt Pond recently, with their appearance serving as a reminder to their annual breeding event. Horseshoe crabs are one of Block Island's living fossils, and their appearance has not changed in 300 million years. Reporter Rosemary...
Roadblock Reminder

Martha Ball

Thu, May 21

Category:

Island Notes

We have learned, or had confirmed, these past, endless weeks, that all the talk of going back in time inspired by old photographs is the stuff of fantasy. I am old enough that I remember when all winter we had one boat from Galilee, one boat that landed at noon and left at two or two-thirty. As I...
360 VIDEO

Walk through Andy’s Way

Rosemary Connelli, at rconnelli@blockislandtimes.com

Tue, May 19

Category:

News, Video

(360 VIDEO) Reporter Rosemary Connelli walked through Andy’s Way today: a large crescent of sandy beach on the eastern side of the Great Salt Pond, and home to a diverse list of plants and animals. The Block Island Times will be a featuring a story in this week’s paper on Andy’s Way, originally...
Sandhill Crane Makes a House Call

Kim Gaffett

Thu, May 14

Category:

Ocean Views

Any morning that includes a bird photo and the following text exchange, is a good one. Paige G: “Good morning:) Kate Musso just sent this and is curious what it is?” Kim G: “OMG where??? Sand Hill Crane. I need to see it!!!” I was at the banding station handling gray catbirds,...
Purposefully forward

J. V. Houlihan

Thu, May 14

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

Last week I was in Newport to check on our sailboat, and was shocked at seeing the harbor completely empty. There wasn’t a single sailboat on a mooring, and there were very few people out and about in town. This is not what the City of Newport is supposed to look like on a mild day in early April...
Stamina and perseverance

Martha Ball

Thu, May 14

Category:

Island Notes

There was a time when Canada Geese had about them a mystique. They were the birds in a Joni Mitchell song, those “in chevron flight, flapping and racing on before the snow.” We watched them fly in formation, rising up to leave us, honking as they passed over the open pastures, their long necks clad...
360 VIDEO

Walk to Mosquito Beach

Rosemary Connelli, at rconnelli@blockislandtimes.com

Wed, May 13

Category:

News, Video

(360 VIDEO) Walk the path to Mosquito Beach, courtesy of The Block Island Times. Mosquito Beach, or Dinghy Beach, is a small sandy cove by the Great Salt Pond on Corn Neck Road. A bright and warm day by the pond yesterday, with slight winds blowing overhead. Note: Turn up the volume to fully...
You Don’t Know What You’ve Got

Martha Ball

Thu, May 7

Category:

Island Notes

“They paved paradise Put up a parking lot With a pink hotel, a boutique And a swinging hot spot Don’t it always seem to go That you don’t know what you’ve got ‘Til it’s gone” T he lyric of ”Big Yellow Taxi” was the written reaction of Canadian singer and songwriter Joni Mitchell to various vistas...
VIDEO

Watching the waves roll

Rosemary Connelli, at rconnelli@blockislandtimes.com

Mon, May 4

Category:

Video

(VIDEO) Reporter Rosemary Connelli visited Fred Benson Town Beach today. Start off your week with a relaxing video: watching the waves roll into the shore. Note: Turn up the volume to fully immerse yourself in the environment, and pause, and click on the video to drag it around for different...
Earth Day, Arbor Day, May Day: Calls of action

Kim Gaffett

Fri, May 1

Category:

Ocean Views

Ahhhhh, what an April it has been. We can only hope that the adage, “April showers bring May flowers , ” proves true. By my calculation, we have had only 10 mostly sunny days in April (30 percent). The other 20 days have been cloudy or rainy! Ahhhhh, keeping track of the weather is such a...
Dooryard

Martha Ball

Fri, May 1

Category:

Island Notes

In the interests of full disclosure I have never been a student of poetry, and, I admit envying poets all that white space that us writers of prose must fill with words. Nonetheless, even I had some vague knowledge of “When Lilacs Last on the Dooryard Bloom’d,” the long poem Walt Whitman penned the...
The George W. Danielson

Martha Ball

Fri, Apr 24

Category:

Island Notes

“What was the first ferry to bring folks?” someone asked and I realized I would have to look that up, and is so often the case with everything Block Island, how to define such a thing? Would it have been the first recorded excursion, a group rowed into the landing, before there was a proper harbor...
Kim Gaffett’s Ocean Views: Earth Day meets Poetry Month

Kim Gaffett

Fri, Apr 17

Category:

Ocean Views

Everything is Going to be All Right How should I not be glad to contemplate the clouds clearing beyond the dormer window and a high tide reflected on the ceiling? There will be dying, there will be dying, but there is no need to go into that. The poems flow from the hand unbidden and the hidden...
Kitchen Tools

Martha Ball

Fri, Apr 17

Category:

Island Notes

Somewhere, I sort of stopped cooking beyond the most basic of dishes. On some level I realized what was happening, but how far it had gone hit me squarely the other night when it took four, yes, four, implements to open a bottle of olive oil. A knife to cut the foil, then there were two jar openers...
Video

Windy day at Mohegan Bluffs

Rosemary Connelli

Mon, Apr 13

Category:

News, Video

(VIDEO) Reporter Rosemary Connelli visited the Mohegan Bluffs today, and was greeted with strong wind speeds and rough waters. Wind speeds are expected to reach up to 60 m.p.h. today for coastal communities. Note: Turn up the volume to fully immerse yourself in the environment, and pause, and click...
Certainties in an uncertain world

Martha Ball

Thu, Apr 9

Category:

Island Notes

I t feels the calendar revolves even more than usual around the sunny, hopeful, days, the dramatic spring tides, the great moon filling the sky, all pushing aside the inevitable gray April rains that mirror a national mood. Monday was glorious and I left the door open, tired of Autumn's let-me-go-...
Rolling spring

Martha Ball

Thu, Apr 2

Category:

Island Notes

W hen I came inside yesterday afternoon the sparse forsythia scraping my window, the same that seems unable to recover from having been cut to the ground a few years ago, that refuses to do more than send ever taller shoots upward, glowed. Its yellow blossoms were like so many little suns on the...
VIDEO

Daily reminders for practicing good hygiene

Rosemary Connelli

Fri, Mar 27

Category:

News, Video

(VIDEO) Reporter Rosemary Connelli shares daily reminders on how to practice good hygiene. Stay safe, and let's continue to do our part in slowing the spread of COVID-19! To learn more on hygiene practices and COVID-19: www.cdc.gov www.who.int www.whitehouse.gov www.health.ri.gov www.new-shoreham...
Horizon Bound

J. V. Houlihan

Fri, Mar 27

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

John Walmsley grew up in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, and spent his summers at Point Judith’s Breakwater Village. Walmsley started angling at the age of four and would fish the east wall or go out on his dad’s boat. (I remember his grandfather, Samuel Walmsley, when I was growing up in the Village — he...
Everlasting

Martha Ball

Thu, Mar 26

Category:

Island Notes

I t is March and it is 43, the sky is cloudy and gray, the wind is blowing from the east, the sound of it rising and falling, blocking out birdsong and the dull thunder of the white-capped ocean. I do hear the dog, moving between the yard and the front lot, barking at whatever she has decided it is...
Our little island

Martha Ball

Thu, Mar 19

Category:

Island Notes

W e live on an island. It is not the Block Island of 1918, already sliding from the Glory Days of early tourism. A war was winding down while another trend was emerging: transportation was starting to shift away from the rail and steamers that had fed the great hotels all along the New England...
Celebrating seals and the Vernal Equinox

Kim Gaffett

Thu, Mar 12

Category:

Ocean Views

As we teeter on the cusp of spring we may find ourselves suddenly in a day where the wind has abated, and the afternoon sun feels so warm that it is like a Siren’s call to sit, and loll, on the lee side of a favorite stone wall while taking a little rest. If we are lucky, and let ourselves succumb...
Information and voting

Martha Ball

Thu, Mar 12

Category:

Island Notes

In the fall of 1986, it was becoming more difficult for my mother to ascribe to “arthritis” the visible impact of the terminal bone cancer that had been diagnosed in January 1981. She told us, my brother and me, at the outset that she would not be making it public, she didn't want people asking her...
VIDEO

Nature Walks

Lars Trodson

Tue, Mar 10

Category:

News, Video

(VIDEO) Follow along on Editor Lars Trodson’s walk through Payne's Dock, Town Beach, and Win Dodge property. Video was previously taken on Monday, March 9. Note: Turn up the volume to fully immerse yourself in the environment, and pause, and click on the video to drag it around for different...
A noontime phenomenon

Martha Ball

Thu, Mar 5

Category:

Island Notes

M y father was a roofer. It seems odd, now, that back in the 1950's and 60's, when work was so scarce, there would be any specialization of labor and, in retrospect, I suppose when push came to shove there was none of the “I don't paint” sort of talk one hears today. Still it is roofs I remember...
Breaking nice

J. V. Houlihan

Thu, Feb 27

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

“I don’t like Walter, and the writing is weak since Gus died. I don’t like this program, anymore.” This is how the hit series “Breaking Bad,” ended in our household. It was not a negotiation for the bride to continue for a few more episodes to see how the writers would wrap up the hellacious...
Februarymarch

Martha Ball

Thu, Feb 27

Category:

Island Notes

I t's one of those years again, one of those divisible by four years wherein February has an extra day, and still remains the shortest month. Except, of course, for those years which are also evenly divisible by 100 unless — wait for it — they they are evenly divisible by 400. And while George...
360 Video

Walk the Hodge Preserve

Rosemary Connelli

Tue, Feb 25

Category:

News, Video

(360 VIDEO) Walk through the Hodge Family Wildlife Preserve on Corn Neck Road, courtesy of The Block Island Times. Watch the video all the way through, to see the landscape open up to Middle Pond and its surrounding diverse environments. Note: Turn up the volume to fully immerse yourself in the...
Behind the Barn

Martha Ball

Thu, Feb 20

Category:

Island Notes

W hen the area around the old barn foundation was opened up in preparation for the arrival of the Icelandic horses two years ago I had cautions, hidden stones and steps in one field, an old cistern behind the barn. Strangely, only recently has it struck me that it was never known as more than The...
360 Video

Walk the stairs at the Mohegan Bluffs

Rosemary Connelli

Wed, Feb 19

Category:

News, Video

(360 VIDEO) Walk the stairs at the Mohegan Bluffs, courtesy of The Block Island Times. A sunny and warm day by the bluffs, with slight winds blowing overhead. Note: Turn up the volume to fully immerse yourself in the environment, and pause, and click on the video to drag it around for different...
A New Purpose

Martha Ball

Thu, Feb 13

Category:

Island Notes

H ow long has it been since the Champlin's case began? Sometime near the start, the end of 2003 or the start of 2004, I answered my landline, my phone of choice as I tried to keep the minutes on my town-issued cell down. It was a friend in North Kingstown, who told me to go to the Town Hall and “...
The things we remembered

Martha Ball

Thu, Feb 6

Category:

Island Notes

I t was from the 1960s, a time when a heavy snow could shut down the Neck for two days. There was more snow and much less equipment, one tireless little bulldozer inched its way north from the Breakers, where the deep snow began, slowly breaking through the feet-deep drifts. The school staff was...
To windward, charge! (Or, how did we make it this far?)

J.V. Houlihan

Thu, Jan 30

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

This coming year of 2020 my wife and I are both charging on the quick step toward our 70th trip around the sun, and sometimes we have little discussions about how we got this far — in one piece. We both came up in Scotch/Irish/Yankee working-class families in Pawtucket, R.I. in the 50s. We came of...
Threads of Gold

Martha Ball

Thu, Jan 30

Category:

Island Notes

Ed. Note: Martha is out sick this week. We found this column that was published 20 years ago on Jan. 29, 2000: T he sun was a reluctant player on the first day in eight the temperature crept above freezing. Statistically, they tell us, the week just beginning, the last in January, is the...

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