EVEN ON A COOL, gray and cloudy Sunday morning, a slow stroll around the Church O’ The Island is rewarding. The view from high atop Moonlight Ledge is outstanding, while down the cliff-face pale pink corydalis flaunts its pink and yellow blossoms. White-throated sparrows and yellow warblers sing their hymns. Near Jackpine Point the blueflag iris shows its colors, and sweetgale—one of my favorite Northwoods teas—spreads in aromatic profusion. Out on the Point, the namesake jackpine succumbed last summer to the passing years, but still stands as a sort of wild sculpture; while the young white pine that has long been biding its time now claims the rocky throne. Further along the trail, wolf’s claw creeping club moss shows its newest growth (hence the name) and blueberry bellflowers say that yes, we will have berries a few weeks hence. On the sheltered back side of the island, near the old dock, reindeer lichens, bearberry and shield lichens adorn the rocks, while on the semi-retired dock itself, ferns sprout from the spaces between the ancient boards. A glacial erratic boulder, split in two several summers ago (after ten thousand years of stillness) broods over the entire scene. On the whole, nothing much important is happening on the island, which means… everything important is happening on the island. Our congregation wishes good sabbath to all…