From my mother's shelf came this collection of seasonal short essays on the people of Martha's Vineyard and its natural delights throughout the year at a time in the pre-Clinton early 70s. Less known then, the island was unselfconscious and unpretentious, while filled with lively minds who set out to enjoy languid, beautiful summers. Meras writes appreciatively of the island's continuing magnetic charms and the gifts from the sea and nearby meadows, bogs and ponds.