By Eleanor Harte
On the Vineyard, there are treats almost anywhere you look. I watch longingly as people walk by the store where I work and I’m envious as I see them enjoying ice cream cones piled as high as the length of my palm. The smell of fresh baked Back Door Donuts wafts directly into the door at work. These treats are great, but only when you’re on vacation. When you’re living here, it’s another story. I’m not on vacation – I’m living here for the summer. If I eat treats like a tourist – which means in great quantities, and often – I’ll need a new wardrobe by the end of the summer.
So I bought a bike. I made a promise to myself to get in either some running or biking every single day. So far, I’m doing pretty well on that promise. I’ve started biking to work, a journey of five miles that leads me past State Beach, across the Jaws Bridge, past Oak Bluffs Town Beach, and onto Circuit Avenue, the main shopping stretch of Oak Bluffs. And then I do the reverse on the way back. At the end of the day, I’ve clocked in some exercise, I’ve breathed fresh ocean air, and maybe I’ve gotten a little bit of a tan too.