Lessons of Nantucket

staggering through the hedges at least once. And then, just as I am contemplating freezing balls of bacon fat and peanut butter for the winter (with gravel), the behavior stops. The lights go out around ten o’clock. Rihanna uses her ear phones. Nobody staggers past the driveway.

I don’t think anything magical has happened. I don’t think anyone has gone to the neighbors with a list, a stern look, and the words “Now, see here, my good man...” on his lips. I think Nantucket happened.

My neighbors are from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Newton. Their worlds operate under certain rules of physics which do not apply to the island. Off-island, everyone passes each other inside BMW’s and Kia’s. They glance over the steering wheel, nod from the front seat, but never quite acknowledge that there is anything connecting the two people that a good goose of the accelerator won’t cure. They won’t see their neighbors at the Starbucks or at the SubWay or even at the Whole Foods on Saturday when they have the organic wine tasting. Nor will they meet at Kiwanis or at the Fireman’s Breakfast or even at church on Sunday morning. They go from house to car to office to car to house without anything but a nod at the stop sign at the end Golfview Drive.

In short, they live in a world governed by rights. They have rights to the trash, rights to the dog walk, and rights to the front yard. They live in gated communities with binders full of rules and regulations. Traffic lights and stop signs govern their interactions with each other, whether they are in automobiles or not. This decorum seems rooted in politeness—“We’ll just let them sort this out themselves”—but really comes from a sort of selfishness. I don’t want their drama: I have enough drama of my own.

Now they come to the island, without binders full of duties and requirements. Instead of those rules, comes consideration. They can stand on the accelerator as often as they’d like, they aren’t going to get past ‘Sconset. And, at the end of the day, they still come back to their houses with their neighbors. They see us at the beach and at the Stop and Shop, at Hatch’s and at the hospital, and it occurs from page 7 continued on page 22

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