My family's cottage, The Rookery, is located in the town of West Tisbury near the center of Martha's Vineyard. West Tisbury, like Chilmark and Aquinnah, is considered "up island."
It's a rural community that embodies the charm of an old New England Village. The town hall, shown below and surrounded by red maples and a white picket fence, epitomizes this charm.
Swans are regular residents of the town's Old Mill Pond, shown in the top photo. While they look pretty, their personalities are anything but. They have been known to chase bystanders, including my mother and me when I was a child. A swan at full height with his wings outstretched is not a friendly sight, trust me.
The pond gets its name from the textile mill that was built next to it in the 1850s. Workers at the mill manufactured a variety of materials from island wool and, while the mill itself is no longer in operation, sheep farms are still prominent in the Vineyard's up island communities today.
My A-Z of Martha's Vineyard theme is inspired by my book, The Ghosts of Aquinnah, which is set on the island. Click here for all the info on the book.
