Editors, Vineyard Gazette:

I have been going up to the Vineyard on a regular basis for the past 22 years, spending several weeks each in the spring, summer and fall. Early fall is my favorite time of year; the water is still warm, a lot of shops are still open and the huge crowds are gone.

I was fortunate to have inherited a home built by my parents in 1970 in the town of Oak Bluffs. I just love the Island and find it a healthy retreat to decompress and completely relax.

Ah, but I digress.

In all the years that I’ve been going to the Vineyard, I always felt something was missing. However, I could not put my finger on it until recently — it is the sound of horns. You don’t hear them! (And that’s a good thing).

Drivers are considerate and patient, waving you through some of the difficult intersections, or letting you cut in from a business parking lot. It is such a pleasure to constantly experience this, as opposed to the manners and temperament of my home state, Connecticut, and prior to that, New York. In fact, they say the definition of a nanosecond is the time it takes someone behind you to blow their horn when the light turns green. Sometimes it seems the beeping occurs first.

I always stay for several weeks, and the first thing I do when I get off the boat in Woods Hole is to test my horn to be sure it still works. As a matter of fact, the habit of being more patient and not leaning on my horn follows me home and stays with me.

For that I am grateful.

Karl Pirnat

Greenwich, Conn.