West Tisbury

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The sun is pouring into our house, making patterns on the brick floor, highlighting tabletops, window sills, chair seats — all the horizontal surfaces. Is it my imagination that it feels cooler and lower in the sky? That long shadows and darkness come earlier? That leaves appear fading to yellower greens, to mahogany or rusty reds?

It’s the best time to survey your garden (while you can still see things and remember) for plants that looked good, did well, failed completely. It’s a great time to plant. When I saw Mike Saulnier the other day, he told me he was having a 50 percent off sale at Heather Gardens. All the garden centers usually begin their sales about now. The Polly Hill Arboretum is holding their Fall Plant Sale on Saturday, September 15, from 10 to noon.

If you are curious about the odd brown tufts dispersed through some of the trees around the Island or about trees that are dying completely, look at the Arboretum’s website: http://www.pollyhillarboretum.org/science/cynipid-wasp-information/.

The library is preparing for the beginning of their construction project. Anyone who has a strong back, a truck, and some free time to volunteer, they would love your help moving boxes of books to the storage shed at the airport. Nelia Decker asks that if you are interested to please let her know. She would like to have a list of people she can call when the stack of boxes gets too big. There’s nowhere to store them at the library. The target date is mid-October for moving out of the building to temporary headquarters across from Conroy’s in North Tisbury.

The Friends of the WT Library have had both book sale sheds moved to the West Tisbury School property. Drive in the main entrance, turn left at the end. The shed with a book drop in an open window is on the left. Please don’t bring books to the library anymore; there is nowhere to accept or store them.

A great idea that the library has come up with is having a dig-your-own plant sale, as many of the plantings will have to be gotten out of the way before the bulldozers arrive. The event is planned for Saturday, October 13, 8 am to 1 pm; rain date Sunday, same times. Bring your own shovels and pots or buckets. Plants will be free through the following week. The money raised will go to support the building project.

Please remember that bricks are still available for purchase at the library. They will make up the new walkway in front of the remodeled building. They would make great presents for holidays, birthdays, or just to commemorate a friendship.

And the daily work of the library still goes on. The Monday Night Movie will be “Roman Holiday.” It begins at 7 pm. The MV Breast Cancer Support Group will meet at 6 pm on Wednesday, Sept. 19.

Charlayne Hunter-Gault will be the guest at the Library Foundation’s Speakeasy Series Tuesday evening, September 18, at the Granary Gallery. Ms. Hunter-Gault, a wonderful writer, speaker, and commentator, will talk about her latest book, “To the Mountain Top; My Journey Through the Civil Rights Movement,” written for young adults. Light refreshments will be provided by State Road Restaurant. Tickets for the program, from 5:30 to 7 pm, are $75, and may be reserved by calling Carol Brush, 508 693-3489.

Dr. Wendy Chabot will speak at the Howes House this Saturday morning, September 15, 10 to noon, a program sponsored by Women Empowered. Her topic is “Stress and Pain: How You Can Help Yourself.” Tickets are $15. Pre-register by calling 508-696-8880 or there will be tickets available at the door at 9:45 am.

ACE MV is planning several health/health care-related courses and collaborations for this fall’s semester. I am always amazed when Lynn Ditchfield sends me her announcements. She has really developed ACE MV into a top-notch learning center for Islanders. Her healthcare programs run the gamut from preparing students to take the TEAS Test, a prerequisite for nursing or other health career courses; an American Red Cross series that will qualify participants to be registered as a MV Disaster Trained Volunteer who can be called on to assist during disasters from hurricanes to house fires; Understanding Medicare; a Yoga Teacher Training course, Using Alexander Technique to relieve chronic pain and tension; a workshop combining creativity with mindful movement; and “Stress: How it Affects the Body and What You Can Do About It.” You can find out more about these and other ACE MV offerings at acemv.org or 508-693-5364. Schools and libraries have copies of the fall course schedule.

It’s perfect weather for painting landscapes outside and walking on a sandy beach. I intend to spend the rest of my day doing both.