Each month we post a writing prompt and pick an essay to highlight in this newsletter and on our website. Our August writing prompt was “Leaving the Vineyard.” Here is what Jen Keenan sent us.
At first sight of the Steamship Authority in Woods Hole I’m exuberant and filled with anticipation. As I sit in a neat line of cars waiting to board, the string of vehicles disembarking from the newly arrived ferry inevitably crosses my sight line. As I watch the cars drive away, I feel a tinge of sadness for their occupants. How much time will elapse before they can return? How long will it be before they stroll the streets of Edgartown, jump off the “Jaws Bridge,” or ride the Flying Horses Carousel? I know that in a few days another car will sit in my place and its occupants will watch me drive away … and I know how I’ll feel in that moment. So I make a mental note: Don’t waste one precious minute of this trip.
As the ferry forges a path through the choppy waters, tears well up in my eyes in response to the sights and sounds around me. I’m so happy to be here. With joy in my heart, I soak up the view, embrace the wind, and look forward to the days that lie ahead.
Leaving the Vineyard is basically the polar opposite of arriving. The tears are the same, but the emotions behind them are not. As the ferry carries me toward the mainland, I mourn the fact that a year or more will elapse before I return. I have joined the ranks of the travelers with whom I empathized upon my initial arrival in Woods Hole. In these moments, a kind of homesickness grips me, not for my actual home, but for the Vineyard. When we dock, I know I’ll look with envy upon the rows of cars whose Vineyard adventures have yet to begin. So as we approach Woods Hole, I comfort myself with the knowledge that I’ll return.
Off-Island, I subsist on memories, The MV Times, and books with a connection to the island. This year, for example, I devoured Geraldine Brooks’ new memoir, “Memorial Days,” within days of its release. Martha Hall Kelly’s “The Martha’s Vineyard Beach and Book Club” is currently on my reading list. My own Vineyard-centric stories also help. Writing and editing them inevitably results in research and recalled memories that carry me back to the Island, at least in my mind. –Jen Keenan
Wonderful essay, Jen! I could certainly relate to your essay where I summered in the 80s as a child and the anticipation in both arriving and leaving were like night and day. Hope you are still enjoying your time on the Vineyard.
Thanks so much, Jill!
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