On My Way: Reflecting on the Red Trail
The Red Trail is not the hilliest trail. In fact, it is flat. Nor is the Red Trail a long trail. The trail of which I speak is a stretch of not even a...
On My Way: Riding the gravel trail
The gravel ride from the meadow of Quansoo Farm to the meadow of Nat’s Farm, with all sorts of surprises in between, was fun the entire way. The All Star All Gravel course, slotted...
On My Way: Kayaking the Chop and beyond
I have long been enamored of the small, circular Oak Bluffs Harbor that summer folks flock to in droves. The numerous million-dollar yachts tied up to the slips along the concrete wharf are always...
On My Way: Life is good
I took a long sip of the large Cumbie’s iced coffee flavored with a shot of amaretto — the indulgence a reward for a hard and sweaty ride.
An hour and a half earlier, I...
On My Way: Cross-Island hike
An electrical current coursed through the cool air.
I leaned against a tree and stretched my legs. Folks congregated outside the Trustees building. We had looked forward to the day. Even a conversation about the...
On My Way: Poking around the pilings
I paddled out from the shore. A seagull swooped down in front me. I heard the wash in the water. I had made the right decision.
A few days earlier I had the idea of...
On My Way: The climb
The Battell trail was a climb from the start. Right away I was working. I was planting my poles and making steps. My blood was pumping. The trail wasted no time weaving upward. I...
On My Way: Looking for the cut
The sound of the surf, the chill in the air, the blue sky and the yellow sun, the tan beach and the Atlantic Ocean were reasons enough.
I drove to the left fork of South...
On My Way: The Ocean View
South Road. Middle Road. North Road. Fulling Mill Brook. Peaked Hill. And just for the heck of the double hat trick: Ocean View Farm.
The first time I did this hike — with my trusty...
On My Way: A frolic in the pond
A sunny sky with temperatures in the low thirties and 0 to 5 knots of wind. These were the conditions I was looking for to take my kayak out on the pond on a...
On My Way: The surprises of Chappy
Chappaquiddick Road was paved in yellow bricks. The road was level and straight, with low brush on either side. Becham, my trusty terrier-mix companion, walked by my side. I felt a sense of Oz-like...
On My Way: Sepiessa and Long Point
We heard the waves crash at Sepiessa Point looking out over Tisbury Great Pond. We saw the waves crash at Long Point looking out over the Atlantic Ocean. I met my brother Douglas at...
On My Way: Bike ride euphoria
The bleached-white tree trunks worn smooth by wind and water over the many years sprouted up from the otherwise green carpet of forest on either side of the trail.
The eerie beauty of the dead...
On My Way: To the fair
I wheeled my bike out of the shed. I took my helmet from the peg. My water bottle was full, and I was wearing sunscreen.
Ahead of me, not more than a 45-minute bike ride,...
On My Way: Adventure on the water
On a recent sweltering Saturday, my cousin Anne and I set out in our kayaks across the waters of the Lagoon.
I was in a 30-plus-year-old approximately 17-foot Aquaterra sea kayak — a heavy beast...
On My Way: Cross-Island Hike
The 2022 Cross-Island Hike, sponsored by the Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank, was as much a celebration as a 19-mile trek.
For the uninitiated, including myself until a week and a half ago, the hike is...
On My Way: A carpet of pine needles
A few weekends ago, on a hot day without a whiff of wind, Becham, my 7-year-old terrier-mix pup, and I left my parents’ home for a walk in the Southern Woodlands.
We are spoiled on...
On My Way: Biking Pennywise Path
I had wanted to be back in the saddle for some time. It had been a few months. Usually, a few times over the winter on a Sunday afternoon, I bundle up and set...
On My Way: Walking King’s Highway
We came to the end of the yellow trail of the Middle Road Sanctuary, and were confronted with three options: We could turn back on the yellow trail and make our way to the...