The day begins on a cold, blustery, February morning in 2002 on the Falmouth Harbor pier of Patriot Party Boats and Vineyard Ferry. I was anxiously awaiting the early morning departure of the ferry M/V QUICK WATER. The QUICK WATER is a small, fast, able vessel, known as the Vineyard Shuttle. She carries light freight and workers commuting to and from the island for day work. She also carries the Boston Globe 365 days a year, bringing the news to the many Islanders that love to read the paper edition. Unlike the Steamship Authority ferries out of Woods Hole, QUICK WATER runs daily no matter the weather. She will also make emergency trips on call 24/7.

The passage across Nantucket Sound was bumpy, the salt spray coming over the bow had that familiar, distinct  smell, feel and taste. It had been years since I lived in Edgartown, setting hooks for cod in the winter months out of Menemsha Harbor onboard F/V LAURA. In the summer months it was shellfishing in the many Great Salt Ponds of Edgartown in a small skiff with a hand rake. When the weather permitted it was a two day trip to Georges Bank for sea scallops onboard F/V LAURA.

Standing alone on the deck outside, I couldn't help thinking of how things had changed in the two years that had passed since I left the island to attend Fisher College in Framingham, MA. I left the island unemployed, broke and homeless to attend college under a government sponsored  Fishermen's Retraining Program. The government paid tuition only. I felt like a fish out of water when I left Martha's Vineyard my home for over thirty years. Now here I am returning foot loose, fancy free, with a degree in law, and a pocketful of money. It occurred to me what good is money without "A Way of Life"?