"Sustainability" is on our lips but the economy is in shambles, desperation nips little chunks out of our hearts, and the champagne, as General Petraeus put it, is in the back of the refrigerator. Our airplanes are grounded and our gas prices are soaring.

And yet I reenter the world knowing that there is a man who lives in a rabbit warren of a house on Martha's Vineyard, heated by a wood stove.

Tom Osmers does a lot of things for dough—he fishes for cod and striped bass, lobsters and oysters and sometimes he moves houses—but never so much at once that he's ever been compelled to open a bank account.

He knows his trade, he knows the politics surrounding it and works to influence them. He knows his mind and his proper role in his community. He knows the change he wants to see in the world, and he does exemplify that change. And all with grace, wit and humor.

I culled oysters on Osmers' boat and stayed a night in that warren. I ate his oysters and I ate his venison, cooked in that stove. And I'm not too eager to wash the smoky smell out of my clothes.

Thanks, Tom.

(As if he'll ever see this.)