The Oak Bluffs Friends of Circuit avenue committee has been meeting regularly to address the new ongoing parking configurations, reduction of spaces, widening of sidewalks and the replacement of trees, first by pear and then by silk.

The committee concluded that the bottom half of Circuit which will be for parallel parking only poses the greatest challenge for drivers.

Unless you hail from San Francisco backing down a hill, especially in a standard, creates a sense of limbo when the car is not totally under your control but floating backward. The next challenge stems from the need to eyeball your intended space and determine whether your Barracuda will fit into a space just vacated by a Beetle, or a Cheetah by a Bluebird, Jaguar by a Road Runner etc. Then one must, in classical form, proceed beyond your space before you can slither in backwards snake-wise into your space. But here reality sets in because of the Island’s growing custom of tailgating — whether it’s while traveling at 50 mph on Barnes Road or merely 40 mph around Ocean Park, any vehicle on Circuit avenue, especially in July and August, will find someone on its tail.

Many of the just-arrived, even though they may not be staying in Oak Bluffs, will insist on driving up Circuit avenue at least once to let everyone know that they have arrived.

There will also be the usual traffic of those who wish to show off their new trophy car or trophy. This combination of backup traffic may force the ferry to only operate out of Vineyard Haven in the summer months.

At the top of the hill, parking changes from to parallel to diagonal. This elevation change here and on neighboring Kennebec was formed when woolly mammoths roamed New England and locals favored this area for their burying site; hence the hump.

The tusks disappeared from the Island’s early European interactions and ended up either sold in Amsterdam for scrimshaw or eaten by mice. Please note, the other new humps on the Island are usually formed from clearing sites for new airbnbs; the older bosky mounds usually contain nothing more exciting than bundles of brittle beaver bones. Sadly, our beavers undoubtedly became someone’s hat or coat or part of our annual Island game dinner.

Next month’s meeting will discuss the need for sidewalks for the Circuit avenue extension and to raise the harbor and environs two or three feet to counter the future flooding from the rising of the seas.

Much of the history for this report was gleaned from The Secret History Of Martha’s Vineyard, Vol 2, edited by Bartholomew Snodgrass IV, Montpelier Press, 1943.

John Crelan lives in Oak Bluffs.