A Nor'Easter

IN a departure from typical fall weather, there are near blizzard conditions at home; I understand that the snow is piling in significant amounts in western Massachusetts. Here, on Martha’s Vineyard, we are weathering a Nor’Easter of epic proportions. I am watching the usually placid Town Beach churn into a cauldron of waves and foam. Rain is falling, horizontally. In the mid-day darkness, it is difficult to conjure the memory of a day of crystalline clarity. A day where the piercing blue brightness of the sky almost takes your breath away. In the midst of this fierce storm, I threw my entire body weight into holding the front door steady against the wind while my friend applied weather-stripping to plug the drafts. However, it was like plugging a leaking boat. Where do you begin? The wind found its way through crevices too minute to locate. It did help some to wedge foam where we could, but this fourteen bedroom house was bound to be subject to the wind’s brutal escapades. The roar of the madding wind drove me out of my preferred Library Bedroom in the Oak House to the Innkeeper’s quarters. On the backside of the house where the Innkeeper might reside, the pounding surf, whistling winds and heavy rains are slightly muted. Sleep may be possible here.