Seasons, I’ve been thinking about seasons. Pretty hard not to when you live and work in a region that is ruled by the seasons, in a town that is influenced strongly by the seasons, with a waterfront that ebbs and flows with the seasonal migration of a marine species, on an island that is only open for 6 months of the year. A lot of us get asked “what do you do in the off season?” Funny thing is, there is no off season, just an off-island season :) So, here’s a little layout of what happens the rest of the year when we’re not actually on the Island.
Teddy hard at work.
Come May, our mainland office really does clear out as most of us migrate out to the Island with the start of the season. Ask Julie, she gets nervous when all of her “chickens” leave the roost that time of year and she can’t keep tabs on us. We’ve had 2019 on the brain since the middle of the summer and start booking programs for the following year while we’re still enjoying life on the Island. Almost all of the logistical plans that make the island roll - what school is coming when with how many people – are planned this time of year. We still head out to the Island to keep tabs on our aquaculture site, the research we’re doing, and make sure that the Island stays tucked in tight through the cold and storms. We’re attending a lot of conferences for research, education, and development work and spreading the good work of who we are and what we do on Hurricane. Jenn even made it out to the Teton Science School in November! The Facilities team is scheming new sustainable ways to keep our island growing and thriving. We spend a lot of time in meetings together visioning for the future, reflecting on the season, creating new opportunities and partnerships, and enjoying working together as the creative, innovative, thoughtful, enthusiastic team that we are.
Our view of the harbor.
Right now the big excitement in the office is that we’re gearing up for our annual office cleaning day, followed quickly by our annual holiday party. Yes, we do a very serious clean of the mainland office once a year…is that too much?! The holiday party is always a fun time to learn about food traditions of our year-round staff, NOT talk business, and exchange gifts that are really things that we just want to unload on someone else as part of our Yankee swap. One year Sam was sad he did not walk away with a singing Taylor Swift Christmas ornament and Caitlin got a new dive tank…you just never know what you’re going to get.
If you’ve never been to our mainland office, you should definitely stop by. We’re down here in Journey’s End Marina, on the water and listening to the wind in the rigging of all of the boats put to bed for the winter season. We have a full and beautiful view of Rockland Harbor, keeping us in time with the tides and a wary eye on the changing weather. Some of my favorite mornings are those wicked cold mornings when the whole harbor is socked in with the sea smoke rising up from the water. So, even though we’re off the Island, we still mark time by the same measures here in the office. The off-Island season is a time for all of us to be together. It sounds corny, but it’s true. Our organization is made up of people who really enjoy their time together, there is A LOT of laughing that happens in this place…it’s pretty much on par with the amount of work we do! Again, please come and say hi and see what the off-Island season is like :)
- Written by Phoebe Jekielek, Program Director
Mid-morning light.
