Observances

At Random, Here and There Around the Island

The sun rose at 7:03 this morning and will set at 4:31 this evening. I’m happy to see the days lengthening each week, if only by minutes. Six months from now I’ll be sitting on a beach somewhere on the north shore, testing the water to see if it’s warm enough for swimming.

But today it’s cold. Freezing cold. So cold and for so long that some of the great ponds have frozen over enough that there’s iceboating. We’ve certainly had the wind for it.

Is a Freeze Up in our Future?

Looking at the weather forecast, low temperatures are projected to remain between 21 and 29 degrees for at least the next week. Salt water freezes at 28 degrees. If it stays this cold, we could see the harbor begin to ice up. That’ll be a problem for the boats, and for those of us trying to get off island.

January, with its shorter days, is typically the month for ice-ups when we have prolonged deep freezes. It’s been about ten years since this has happened, but it was a common occurrence fifty years ago and even further back. Photos from the NHA archives tell the story of people disembarking from the ferry onto the frozen harbor and walking to shore.

The configuration and north-facing orientation of Nantucket Harbor is such that when we have winds out of the northeast and the ocean freezes, the wind pushes the ice into the harbor, packing it in.

Years ago, my husband was assistant coach of Whaler high school basketball. On one off-island trip he was coming back on the boat with the team when the harbor was iced-in. The boat made slow, laborious progress through the ice across the Sound, but when they got to the entrance of the harbor, the ice was packed so thick the Steamship Authority’s boat couldn’t break through.

The boat had to turn around and head back to Hyannis where the team spent the night. One of the Coast Guard buoy tenders had to be sent over the next day to break up the ice so the SSA could operate. Such is island life in the winter.

Caffeine Withdrawal

On this cold island, in the dead of winter, there is plenty of time and incentive to meet up with friends for coffee. The problem is, there’s hardly any place open. Long gone are the days when we had The Bean and The Espresso Café, two spots that were always open for us year-round and great gathering places.

Born and Bread on Centre Street is the only place open now where one can get a coffee and sit down with friends. B&B is my go-to spot for a great cappuccino and maybe a blueberry scone.

The problem is that Born and Bread is currently the only game in town and there are limited tables. If you are lucky enough to find a seat, you wouldn’t want to be discussing anything unless it is something you wouldn’t care if the whole island knew. Tight quarters mean conversations become community property.

I’m grateful they are open and Kim and Kevin Anderson do a great job turning out delicious bread, baked goods, soup and sandwiches. But the island needs more than one coffee shop.

Handlebar Café is closed until April, another coffee shop off the grid for now.

December 21 the Corner Table posted a sign that it was closed until March. That is especially frustrating because when Wendy Schmidt’s ReMain Nantucket bought this building and created this space, it was supposed to be open as a coffee shop/hangout year-round, seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

When Joy and Greg Margolis ran Corner Table, they stayed pretty true to that model, but when their lease was up and they moved off island, ReMain put out an RFP for a new tenant. Some of the people from Ventuno and Pip and Anchor teamed up to rent the space and have changed the operating hours, staying open only until 5 p.m. and closing one day a week. And now it’s shuttered for nearly three months.

There are more people living on Nantucket year-round than ever, yet we have fewer places in the winter where we can get together. I don’t know what the answer is, but the skinny offerings in January and February are a real disappointment. It wasn’t always this way.

Sticker Shock

Here’s a question for you. What costs $35 and takes four hours – if you’re lucky enough to get spot in line. Answer: An inspection sticker.

Since January 2, I’ve gone to Don Allen’s inspection station multiple times every day hoping to get a spot in line to get my car inspected with no success. We were supposed to take the car off island on Wednesday morning, and I’d planned on getting an inspection sticker in Hyannis. A lot of people are doing that. But then we cancelled our trip. I thought I’d give the local guys another try. I couldn’t see spending several hundred dollars just to get a sticker.

Finally, a little after 8 a.m. on Wednesday morning I drove to the Polpis Road location and managed to wedge my car into the end of the line so I wasn’t sticking out into the road. After nearly four hours, consuming a bag of Cheetos I had found in the car for breakfast, and reading the entire editions of both The Washington Post and The New York Times on my phone and doing all the puzzles, it was finally my turn.

At 11:45 I was next in line and by noon I had a blue sticker fixed to my windshield.

Getting a sticker wasn’t always this difficult, but over the last few years a lack of manpower at Don Allen’s, coupled with new laws that grant licenses to people who are undocumented who previously weren’t eligible for a driver’s license has meant more cars on the road and greater demand. At least that’s what the folks at Don Allen’s told me.

This is one of those problems that seem easy to solve but that isn’t easy to solve. We need a second location for an inspection station. But where? And who would run it? For now, I’m happy I don’t have to worry about this for another year.

Lastly, look for another art gallery moving in to town by spring, occupying a space that has been at varying times a sandwich shop and a real estate office. I think I’d rather the space be a much needed coffee shop or sandwich place, but there’s more money in art, I’m told.