Town Column : West Tisbury
By Hermine Hull
Published: June 23, 2011
As the weather continues to be erratic, everyone at Cronig's seems drawn to the displays of plants and flowers. Many of the shopping carts were filled with colorful mixed bouquets and pots of daffodils. Maria Moody had gerbera daisies, cyclamen, and miniature roses - hot pink, orange, and red - arranged across the top of her cart. It reminded me of a summer garden. We all need color at this time of year.
I am excited to report that Nicole Galland's latest book, "Crossed," has just come out this past week. Karen Colaneri told me that Laurie Higgins of The Cape Cod Times had done an interview with Nicki. It appeared in the Feb. 3 Sunday Home Section, so I went up to the library to read it.
"Crossed" is a story of the Fourth Crusade, set in 1202, the period of Nicole's earlier two books. She spoke about being interested in the similarities between that historical period and our own current one. In her novel, the Crusaders invade Constantinople "to unseat a secular government run by a tyrant and return the rightful heir, Prince Alexius, to the throne." They expect this to be a moment's diversion from their appointed journey. Their mission is quickly and successfully accomplished, however with no exit strategy, they find themselves stuck in Constantinople and unable to get out. Sound familiar? I can't wait to read the book.
Rosalie Powell attended a baby shower for her granddaughter, Shannon Larsen, last weekend at the Edgartown home of Dan and Marie Larsen, Shannon's in-laws. Rosalie enjoyed the party and the company of her daughter-in-law, Susan, who came to stay for a few days and attend the shower.
Linda Hanover is expecting a visit from her daughter, Robyn, who will be taking a break from her eventing studies in Ocala, Fla., where she has been training with Darren Chiacchia. You can follow her progress at her website: hanovereventing.org.
Emma Kiley is justifiably proud of her sister, Sarah, who will be presenting her Master's thesis on Feb. 21 to the American Academy of Forensic Anthropology in Washington, D.C. The subject of her thesis is "The Taphonic Effects of Agricultural Practices on Bone." Being curious, I have just looked up "taphonomy" and here is the definition from my Oxford English Dictionary: "the branch of paleontology concerned with the processes of fossilization."
There will be a jazz concert this Friday afternoon, Feb. 15, at 4 pm. The JC Trio will perform. Their monthly concerts have been a wonderful addition to the library's calendar of events. Anyone who enjoys good jazz from The American Songbook will find this a pleasant hour on a winter's afternoon.
Last Monday, Beth Kramer, Dan Waters, and I took a tour with Anne Larsen of the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners. It was the second in a series called "Small is Beautiful." Anne is in charge of building projects for small libraries. On this trip we saw new library buildings in Lakeville and Blackstone, and a renovation/addition in Norfolk. Anne focuses on analyzing everything from the turning radius and plantings in the parking lot to layout of the interiors for easy management by library staff to the lighting in the stacks and the comfort of the chairs. She is terrific! It is as useful to know what doesn't work as it is to know what does. Learning how to look critically at a structure and how it can function better is really interesting. We all came home full of enthusiasm and eager for the next trip. We are planning to rearrange the stacks in the basement to allow for better visibility and to make the space feel more open.
Don't forget the Spindrift Puppets production of "Cupid and Psyche" on Saturday, Feb. 16, at 5:30 pm, at the Unitarian Church in Vineyard Haven.
Don't forget also that today is Valentine's Day. I was reminiscing the other day about last year when Mike and Bill Haynes installed a new toilet in our downstairs bathroom for my "Valentine's present." I can't imagine how they will top that this year.
