Author: Taryn McBryde

Island Science

Stop the Spread… Invasive Scotch Broom

It’s that time of year again when a swath of bright yellow blooms can be seen across the island on bike paths, road edges, and conservation land trails. The non-native invasive Scotch Broom is loved by many, but is a nuisance to others. We are now finding it is becoming more invasive over time, particularly with climate change.

Nantucket Essays

“Disney World” After the Pandemic

My mother wanted to go to Disney World.
For most of my young life, she had expressed this wish, although in her own Irish tongue and manner. My father was a skier and felt that any trip in February had best be about snow and chairlifts, not sand and roller coasters. As a result, our vacations tended to involve heading north instead of heading south. Even after her sister took my cousins to Disney World three times—a normal, middle class rite of passage—my father would not relent.

Plein Air Festival
Nantucket Arts, Nantucket Events

AAN’s Plein Air Festival Continues

The Artists Association of Nantucket’s Plein Air Nantucket Festival, founded by AAN artistic director Robert Frazier, has shifted for 2021 to a six-week festival. The event began on May 11 and will continue through Wednesday, June 16. Open is open to all painters at any skill level, the festival features […]

Golden Girl - Elin Hilderbrand
Nantucket Arts, Nantucket History & People

You Could Get One of 5 Golden Tickets

It’s not a Nantucket summer until the “Queen of the Beach Reads,” Elin Hilderbrand gets us a new book in our beach bags. Golden Girl release date is June 1, and this novel tells the story of Vivian Howe, author of thirteen beach novels and mother of three nearly grown children, who is killed in a hit-and-run car accident while jogging near her home on Nantucket. She ascends to the Beyond where she’s assigned to a Person named Martha , who allows Vivi to watch what happens below for one last summer. Vivi also is granted three “nudges” to change the outcome of events on earth, and with her daughter Willa on her third miscarriage, Carson partying until all hours, and Leo currently “off again” with his highmaintenance girlfriend, she’ll have to think carefully where to use them.

Sanford Farm | Nantucket, MA
Nantucket Essays

We Are Born Lucky

My boon companion and I make a habit of walking Sanford Farm out to the barn, at which point, I sit down and he surveys the scents and smells. In the “R” months, he is able to travel around unabated; those who come walking by are familiar with an unleashed dog, or, at least, they are familiar with this unleashed dog. He tolerates a scratch on the head, or if he is in the mood for something more intimate, the travelers can scratch him on the hindquarters or on the belly. As they leave, his eyes follow them. Then, like a philandering husband, he returns to his longtime partner; he knows where the treats are. I was born lucky.

Dream Catcher
Nantucket Events

Annual Dreamcatcher Auction Opens May 27

From a grassroots effort by parishioners of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in 1980 to start a local hospice organization, Palliative & Supportive Care of Nantucket (PASCON) has grown to offer physical, emotional, and spiritual services to Nantucket patients and their families. On Saturday, June 5 from 7 to 8 pm, […]

Protecting the Island’s Pollinators
Island Science

Protecting the Island’s Pollinators

April showers bring May flowers and hopefully those flowers are bringing in the pollinators! As the weather warms and the skies clear, Nantucketers are feeling like spring is truly in the air (finally!). Many of us are cleaning up our gardens planning and planting for the season ahead.

Lunafest
Nantucket Events

Lights. Cameras. Advocacy. Lunafest Returns May 29

LUNAFEST, the national traveling film festival presented by nutrition bar company LUNA, showcases films by, for, and about women. The Theatre Workshop of Nantucket first brought Lunafest to the island in 2010: the festival is now a signature event of NCTV18, Nantucket’s Media Arts Center. LUNAFEST 2021 will be a […]