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Morning Broken

Martha Ball

Fri, Apr 1

Category:

Island Notes

Last night I wondered that it was so dark before realizing it was almost seven o’clock in the evening and remembering it was March, yet. Later, there was a great wind and, again, I was reminded: March. The sun is moving to the north, spring is real. Easter morning I woke early, even before the dawn...
The bank on the Block

Fraser Lang

Sat, Mar 26

Category:

Trips Abroad

When I worked for The Spring House in the early 1960s, I occasionally had to do some banking business for the hotel. That would require taking a trip to the credit union located in the building that now houses The Darius Inn. As I recall, that credit union was open very limited hours. In the late ‘...
Justin Abrams

J.V. Houlihan Jr.

Sat, Mar 26

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

“Back in those days we’d sail our Pearson Triton out from Greenwich Bay, we’d take the kids out to Block Island, and that’s how we came to buy The 1661 Inn,” said Justin Abrams. In the latter part of the summer of 1970, I worked for the Abram’s family. They had a little sandwich shop next to The...
Don't be fooled by Mother Nature

Hank Hewitt

Sat, Mar 19

Category:

Fishing Report

The days are getting longer with the sun setting later. The air is warming, and the birds are singing a spring song. These late winter happenings have me awakened from my winter dormancy and seeking the harbingers of spring, signaling the return of the fish I so eagerly pursue with rod and reel...
“He's a Farmer”

Martha Ball

Fri, Mar 18

Category:

Island Notes

It was mild last week and the sweet night music of peepers rose from the low places in the early evenings. They were singing everywhere, all over the island, in other New England states and down the coast. Reports of them was widespread and joy-filled. Dawn came late, a line of deep rose, hovering...
Docks

J.V. Houlihan, Jr.

Sat, Mar 12

Category:

News, The Ferry Dock Scribbler

In 1938, on Sept. 9, a storm was forming off the coast of Africa. Subsequently, it developed into a Category 5 hurricane, and it spun up the east coast of the United States. After this storm crossed the Atlantic, it hit the coasts of Haiti and Cuba. Then, it changed course off the tip of Florida...
Time to plant the peas

Renee Meyer

Sat, Mar 12

Category:

Gardening Report

There has been a somewhat dubious advertisement playing over the airwaves of late. To the background song of “Food, Glorious Food,” from the musical “Oliver,” the Cox cable ad would have us believe that in future years we will all be able to use a 3-D printer to print out exactly what we wish to...
There was Land

Martha Ball

Fri, Mar 11

Category:

Island Notes

March 2010 — These days of high tides and high surfs make the last stretch of Corn Neck Road, the southern end, out beyond the protection of the dunes, feel like a bridge the water is so near. We have two roads that tempt the sea, this short stretch where the telephone poles bend,...
Fishing Report: The Best Time

Capt. Chris Willi

Sat, Mar 5

Category:

Fishing Report

One of the most asked questions for a fishing charter business by customers planning their vacation is “when is the best time for fishing?” The answer to this can be the snarky “anytime is a good time to fish,” to the specific “go to the Poop Chute one hour after the top of the outgoing two days...
The big con

J. V. Houlihan Jr.

Fri, Mar 4

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

A baseball-hatted man dressed in black is walking with a subtle degree of swagger–cocky. He is being escorted into a building while being hounded by photographers — it’s an aggressive scene. Suddenly, he nudges a photographer and he gets jolted back — hard — by another man with a camera. It was an...
No Good Wind

Martha Ball

Fri, Feb 26

Category:

Island Notes

There is no good wind in winter, there are only those days without wind that come as gifts, spreading over the land with the ever-earlier morning sun. They are to be met with gladness and thanksgiving; Sunday, a week after remarkable and unusual below-zero temperatures, was one, a "where-is-my-coat...
A memorable professor

J.V. Houlihan, Jr.

Fri, Feb 26

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

“Yon can’t focus in class and your head is all over the place. Your work is showing me nothing. Why are you taking my class?” said Professor David Gustafson. It was my final semester as a theater student at Rhode Island College, and this guy had just come down from Canada to teach an acting class...
Hey, Captain!

Capt. Chris Willi

Sat, Feb 20

Category:

Fishing Report

A few months ago we did an article on what to take into consideration when choosing the right charter boat for your trip. After all, if you’re going to drop a few hundred dollars you want make sure you’re going with a safe, experienced, and qualified individual. The preeminent qualification of any...
Breath of the Sea

Martha Ball

Fri, Feb 19

Category:

Island Notes

Sunday, I got out my heaviest wool sweater, scratchy and brown, and officially gave in to winter. It was a from-the-ground-up process, starting with the bulky Baffins, the big blue boots have sat in my bedroom since spring, never making it to the box in the closet — as if they could on their own...
For A Song

Martha Ball

Fri, Feb 12

Category:

Island Notes

The last Sunday in January came the sad news of the passing of Eugene Rankin, southern gentleman, accomplished pianist, teacher, beloved neighbor and friend. He was 93. Seven years ago this March, I wrote to my brother, idle musings on an approaching storm, then, because my heart could not contain...
Geeking out…

Capt. Chris Willi

Sat, Feb 6

Category:

Fishing Report

Every year the largest fly fishing show on the East Coast kicks off in the mid-Atlantic state of New Jersey. Held at the Garden State Exhibit Center in Somerset, the show brings over 400 fly fishing suppliers, retailers, guides, outfitters, authors, fly tyers, and educators under one roof and...
Garden Report: The art of pruning

Renée Meyer

Sat, Feb 6

Category:

Gardening Report

Last weekend gave us zero excuses not to get out of the house and do something around the yard, at least here on the eastern side of the island where all traces of the blizzard known as Jonas have disappeared. Well, not quite all of the traces — there were some tree limbs down, some minor, some not...
Buddy

Martha Ball

Fri, Feb 5

Category:

Island Notes

Last week, long-time mayor of Providence, Vincent “Buddy” Cianci, passed away, seemingly unexpectedly. In truth, he had been seriously ill and we had all known it, all of us who listened to WPRO radio, who gave even passing notice to politics, the blood sport of Rhode Island. Everyone in the state...
Students of the Month

Gloria S. Redlich

Sat, Jan 30

Category:

Inactive Columns

The Block Island School has initiated a monthly program of recognizing two students from the middle and high school grades for outstanding qualities and behavior. This month’s honorees are Chloe Weber, a sixth grader, and Bridgette Keane in grade 11. In statements posted on the main bulletin board...
Name-Worthy Stature

Martha Ball

Fri, Jan 29

Category:

Island Notes

Chili always tastes better the second night, but it really tastes better the second night when the power has not just gone off with no hope of restoration until well after morning light, leaving no talk or music, no mechanical rumblings of furnace or creaky heat or refrigerator motor, none of the...
'Cause you've torn your dress... and your face is a mess'

Zoe Estrin-Grele

Sat, Jan 23

Category:

Loose ends

On Jan. 10, I woke up to six text messages, all on the same topic. The first one read, I heard about David Bowie. Are you okay? I was not, in fact, okay. To explain why this hit me so hard, I need to go back to about 1973 when a skinny kid with big ears in Cleveland, Ohio, bought Bowie’s album “Pin...
Beyond the Hall of the Mountain King

Martha Ball

Fri, Jan 22

Category:

Island Notes

Snow was in the forecast. It did not bother the Pesky Pond Troll of Clay Head Swamp (aka PPT) one little bit, not this year. He had a nice heavy winter coat, he had — he always had — plenty of provisions on hand, and he could tell by the direction of the sun and the length of the days that it was...
Cash's Corner

Is 17 the magic number?

Cassius Shuman

Fri, Jan 22

Category:

Columnists

For the fifth straight year, Tom Brady and the New England Patriots will be playing in the AFC Championship game. By defeating the Chiefs 27-20 in impressive fashion on Jan. 16, the number two-seeded Patriots earned the right to play Peyton Manning and his number one-seeded Broncos in Denver on...
Fishy reading for the cold days ahead

Capt. Chris Willi

Mon, Jan 18

Category:

Fishing Report

Okay, folks, it's winter time and there’s no better time to catch up on your reading… and of course I mean about fishing. Here are three nonfiction books I recommend for anyone who fishes for striped bass. Each have a message, all of which are important, all of which any true sportsman should...
2016, two weeks in

J.V. Houlihan, Jr.

Sat, Jan 16

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

From the jump, things have been good with the New Year. The weather has been very forgiving at the docks, especially when we roll in to work at 0530 hours for the Monday and Thursday ferry trip. However, make no mistake, it’s still bleak at the docks at that Godforsaken hour of the day; Paradise...
Sand In My Socks

Martha Ball

Fri, Jan 15

Category:

Island Notes

Yesterday, the rain sheeted on the south-facing kitchen windows, but the southwest sky beyond was filled with the light of the sun on its early afternoon path. It appeared to be shining on white buildings around the harbor and, despite the rain, there were shadows, albeit with soft edges, on the...
Cash's Corner

Patriots host Chiefs

Cassius Shuman

Fri, Jan 15

Category:

Columnists

The Patriots revenge campaign may have fallen by the wayside after the week 12 loss to the Broncos, but it might be revitalized for the upcoming AFC Divisional playoff game against the Kansas City Chiefs on Saturday. In case you might have forgotten, the Patriots most embarrassing loss last season...
Kicking and screaming into the 21st century...16 years late

Zoe Estrin-Grele

Sun, Jan 10

Category:

Columnists

I wish I could nail down something about Block Island that encapsulates what’s “wrong” with it, but it’s not that simple. In thinking about things that I would love to see changed in the coming year — Block Island’s New Year’s resolutions, if you will — there’s nothing simple. I mean, don’t get me...
Mary Norris, the comma queen

J. V. Houlihan, Jr.

Sat, Jan 9

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

“The difficulty of literature is not to write, but to write what you mean; not to affect your reader, but to affect him precisely as you wish.” — Robert Louis Stevenson We are in the digital age and there is no turning back, and if u r in agreement with this, 4 sure u r a person who has...
Weather Station Window

Martha Ball

Sat, Jan 9

Category:

Island Notes

The glass panel in the west-facing entry door was covered with the uneven lace of frozen moisture when I first let the dog out this morning. The hole she has been digging or, more, the clay on the grass, the fruit of her excavations, was a different hue, more yellow than tan the under the low,...
Letting go

J. V. Houlihan, Jr.

Fri, Jan 8

Category:

News, The Ferry Dock Scribbler

One morning a few weeks ago at the docks, there was a draft on the back of my left leg. It felt damp. Had I sat in water? I pondered this while checking in a car for the eleven o’clock ferry. The draft was a result of a rip in my pants in an embarrassing place ― not acceptable. Moreover, for a...
Fifty-seven and foggy

Martha Ball

Wed, Jan 6

Category:

Island Notes

The Sunday morning after Christmas it was 57 and foggy when I left my house in the morning. There was little wind and the fog held us in its embrace of mystical magical mild made warm by the fact of it being in late December. Three hours later the temperature had dropped only two degrees but the...
"The Feast"

Capt. Chris Willi

Thu, Dec 24

Category:

Fishing Report

The Holiday Seasons are filled with various traditions and customs, most of which originate from religious, ethnic, or family beliefs. Culinary traditions dominate the holiday season and it brings the opportunity for family to enjoy a meal together –something of a rare occurrence in today’s world...
Martha Ball: Dear's Eggnog

Martha Ball

Wed, Dec 23

Category:

Island Notes

It all began with an innocent comment from Andre Boudreau — perhaps the first “innocent” comment of his life — “Ya know what’s missing during the Christmas season on Block Island? The old Town Hall Christmas parties, with the centerpiece, Violette Connolly’s ‘Martha Washington’s’ egg nog. The place...
Tennis Ball Trials

Martha Ball

Sun, Dec 20

Category:

Island Notes

As December moved from its second to third week, new record high temperatures were reached. They peaked, apparently, at an unusual time, on either side of midnight, the 14th and 15th of the month. Yesterday was foggy and mild, by 4:30 the sun was well below the tree line, the ambient light of a low...
Cash's Corner

Patriots clinch playoff berth

Cassius Shuman

Thu, Dec 17

Category:

Columnists

For the New England Patriots, what a difference a week makes. In the span of seven days the Patriots went from potentially hosting a wildcard game as the number three-seed to regaining the number one spot atop the AFC playoff standings and got back to their winning ways stopping their two game...
The other side of the world

Martha Ball

Sat, Dec 12

Category:

Island Notes

Going out the Mansion Road this morning I spotted a light golden dog standing on the walk to “his” house and waved to him. A split-second later I remember asking my mother what she thought she was doing, waving to the horses who used to inhabit a pasture on the same road. I cannot remember her...
The worst time of year

Cap. Chris Willi

Sat, Dec 12

Category:

Fishing Report

It’s coming. It’s almost here. A time that most New England fishermen try to delay as long as possible. The time that inevitably comes at the end of a season, no matter how hard it’s wished away. It’s the time when you have to hang up the rod and reel, stow the lure bag, and settle in for the...
Patriots suffer baffling collapse against Eagles

Cassius Shuman

Fri, Dec 11

Category:

Columnists

The New England Patriots' attempt to fool the Eagles in Foxboro on Sunday, Dec. 6, backfired as a costly error in judgment by coach Bill Belichick and company led to a Philadelphia onslaught that might have cost the Patriots a first round bye in the upcoming playoffs. On WEEI radio Monday morning,...
Loose Ends: Love comes slowly

Zoe Estrin-Grele

Sun, Dec 6

Category:

Columnists

Day 23-26 of NaNoWriMo Turns out, Thanksgiving is exactly the thing I needed for my novel. Or maybe my novel is exactly the thing I needed for Thanksgiving. I’m not sure exactly which way it went but I know that it was very helpful to have both at the same time. Getting away from Block Island for a...
The mighty cod

Capt. Chris Willi

Sun, Dec 6

Category:

Fishing Report

December is here and the water and air temperatures are unseasonably warm, giving hope to diehard surf casters that a run of striped bass will happen before Christmas. Otherwise it won’t happen at all. All indications point to a strong possibility of a shot of big bass coming through — a large bait...
Come December

Martha Ball

Sat, Dec 5

Category:

Island Notes

When I come home and open the door to find Autumn anxious to go out it is not, I have learned, because she “has to go out,” rather because she has gotten into something she should not have touched and she knows she has been some variation of bad. She must think if she is out of sight I will not...
Cash's Corner

Patriots robbed in Denver

Cassius Shuman

Fri, Dec 4

Category:

Columnists

The New England Patriots quest for a perfect season has ended at 10 wins after they lost a thrilling game to the Broncos 30-24 in snowy Denver in overtime on Sunday Night Football. On WEEI radio Monday morning, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady said that it was a “tough game. This one hurts. It was a...
Gift of Lester Dodge

Martha Ball

Mon, Nov 30

Category:

Island Notes

There is not a great deal in this town with the name of Lester Dodge written upon it. It is in the cemetery, on his gravestone, and beneath one of the long stained-glass windows in the Harbor Church, given by him in memory of his mother, Emmaline. He put her name on awards at school, and that of...
A rantum scoot

J. V. Houlihan Jr.

Mon, Nov 30

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

Wandering around with no agenda is one of life’s little perks as we get on in years. When we’re young we need to hustle and make our way in the world. We need to conform to certain protocols and do our jobs. Moreover, bills, kids, cars, houses and other things foster a sense of responsibility, and...
Dress for success

Capt. Chris Willi and Hank Hewitt

Sun, Nov 22

Category:

Fishing Report

Even as November presses on, the water temps are still quite warm. Sand eels have moved in good numbers at the Coast Guard Channel and in Harbor and Trim’s Pond. Schoolie bass are moving around New Harbor at night, congregating around the docks. There are decent bass being caught on the...
Loose Ends: Bad Life Choices

Zoe Estrin-Grele

Sun, Nov 22

Category:

Columnists

National Novel Writing Month: Day 11 Okay. I caught up. Sure, I was only 10 words over my goal for the day, but at least I wasn’t under, right? I’m feeling kind of uncomfortable with this novel but at least it’s still happening. One of the things they always taught me in my college writing courses...
Fading Fall

Martha Ball

Fri, Nov 20

Category:

Columnists

The colors of the fall have faded. The little vernal one-time pond now a vernal puddle by my gate has gone from several vibrant hues to a mass of bright red ilex . There is a maple up the road, that one afternoon a few weeks ago was...
Cash's Corner

Perfect Patriots tackle Bills Monday Night

Cassius Shuman

Fri, Nov 20

Category:

Columnists

Epic Patriots/Giants game! #HolyMoly That was my Facebook status immediately following the Patriots wild and thrilling 27-26 victory over the Giants Sunday night at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. I think that even casual fans had to marvel at the unpredictable drama that unfolded, which...
Fishing Report: Temperatures are perfect for striped bass

Sol Schwartz

Sun, Nov 15

Category:

Fishing Report

The conditions for large striped bass have been perfect for a few weeks already. Slightly higher water temps were probably what was to blame for their late arrival, but it looks like they’re here now. The stripers are not the only targeted species right now, either. There is plenty to do. Boaters...

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