One of the volunteers, Ulrike, was spending her first summer as a retiree living full time on the island. She was very gracious to lend her time to help me in my monitoring efforts. Ulrike visited one of the sites several times a week and really had a grasp on what was going on there. This saved me time, but also provided a lot of relief knowing that the site had such close eyes on it. We -seemingly easily- hatched and fledged four chicks from a nest there. We discovered Ulrike had a hidden talent for birding/ecological work! As the summer went on Ulrike became one of my best friends. She even made orange marmalade that I hadn't enjoyed since I lived in Austria 4 years ago!
One of my favorite moments was after an afternoon of data entry in a stifling conference room. Ulrike suggested we go to Ice House Pond for a "reward" swim since I had never explored this famed pond. After a 1/2 mile trail in, a dip in the beautiful water surrounded by an amphitheater of trees made the hot conference room melt away. I remarked how the pond reminded me of the Wรถrthersee - the Alpine lake I lived by in Austria. Then we started talking about the fish nibbling my feet and the vats of 'pedicure' fish in Budapest. I started thinking how few people I have encountered that have been to both of those places and could understand what I was talking about. Then I reflected on how strange it was that we had both ended up on this little island, one a retired psychiatrist and the other a biologist just beginning her career, but could share such similar experiences in this hidden pond.
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Ulrike and her husband Dave invited us sailing as a "bucket list" island activity! On Emily's last day we got to sail aboard a beautiful boat around Vineyard Sound. Wow. What a cool experience to cap off our island time!
Oh, and there is casually a sailboat next to the one we rode named the Angelina
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