A letter-less Island?

Islanders must have had a fun and/or busy holiday weekend because when Monday rolled around, the Reporter had received not a single letter to the editor.
The weather was spectacular — some Islanders commented on the last time a long July 4th weekend arrived without a drop of rain or at least the chance of a summer squall in the forecast; they couldn’t recall a recent one.
But even when considering the gorgeous holiday weekend, the lack of letters is not typical. With more people on the Island, some summer issue or other will spur readers to call for action or just vent their frustrations.
So why is this happening (or rather, not happening)? Are we suddenly an Island of completely complacent souls? At least one issue has been addressed: the Town of Shelter Island’s first flood mitigation project. Most seem satisfied that the town hit the right balance in using public money to remove floodwaters from private property, although the help came too late to prevent damage to soaked basements.
The oft debated 4-poster project has receded from the front burner and a sense of acceptance has taken over: the town will get through this third and final year of testing required by New York State. The debate will arise again thereafter, but no need to opine on it now.
There seem to be no new controversies bubbling up. Rumors have ebbed and flowed, but no newly recognized threat to the character of the Island has washed ashore in recent weeks. Even the post-recession resurgence of Sunset Beach as a celebrity hot spot, and the resulting inundation of yellow umbrellas and $16 cocktails on what is supposed to be a public beach, a typical Independence Day issue, is not registering on the Island radar.
What’s an editor to do? How about a fill-in-the-blank letter form at the bottom of the opposite page? Nah, that would be cheating.
Stirring the pot is an option, but sometimes there’s just not much in the saucepan to swirl. How about emailing some of our regular letter writers, just to see if they’re OK? No, disturbing the normal letter-writing cycle wouldn’t be fair to them or to our readers.
So we simply must wait for either the electronic or shorts-clad mailman to deliver. After all, our mail@sireporter.com inbox filled up over this long weekend — maybe a bounced letter will make its way back. And of course we had no mail delivery on Monday. Our box at the Center Post Office might be bulging by Tuesday.
Or maybe we should just enjoy a temporary mellowing of the usually opinionated populace. Sometimes, it seems, we can all get along.
Or not.
The editor’s Mac just chimed — a letter to the editor has arrived.