Town Column : West Tisbury
By Hermine Hull
Published: April 16, 2009
Daffodils, forsythia, and Lydia Olsen's magnolia tree all came into bloom in time for the holiday weekend. The pear trees lining the cemetery path have a pinkish glow. Another few warm sunny days and they will be in their glory. I can hardly wait to go outside in the morning to inspect the garden to see what is coming up.
Unfortunately we are at the mercy of a wily rabbit. He appeared last summer and has been living under our garden shed. Talley and Murphy are obsessed. They have dug around the foundation of the shed, leaving concrete piers and little else. The rabbit continues his merciless ravaging of anything green and delectable. Daylily shoots, crocuses, pansies, tulips, lettuce, herbs: flattened.
Worse, this rabbit is annoying. He sits on the front lawn or in the garden just off our porch steps, taunting the dogs until they bark and fly off the steps in pursuit, as the rabbit runs into the woods past the boundary of the electric fence. Then he sits down looking back at the dogs, knowing he is beyond their reach. I feel like I'm living in a Bugs Bunny cartoon or the children's book "Rabbit Hill." Keep in mind this frenzied barking begins around daylight, which is getting earlier every day. The dogs come in, Mr. Bunny hops back onto the lawn, wiggles his ears, and the game begins anew.
Despite these setbacks, I am eager to get into the garden and have high hopes for growing enough to supply both of us and the rabbit. Oh, the optimism of spring.
Next week is spring break. If you plan to be here and are over nine years old, sign up at the library for the annual sleepover Thursday night, April 23. There will be pizza and a movie, books, games, lots of fun.
Stan Richards will be remembered at a memorial service Saturday, April 18, at 2 pm at Abel's Hill Cemetery. Please join Nancy and her family at the graveside.
Henry and Louise Bessire celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on April 4 with a houseful of family and friends, 24 in all. You may have noticed the cars along the Edgartown Road last weekend. Louise described the scene as "chock-a-block. We partied all weekend." As everyone arrived Friday night, they were greeted and fed with homemade bouillabaisse made by the young Bessires. Saturday night dinner was at the Lambert's Cove Inn. The weather cooperated on Sunday for a walk on the beach before guests left late in the afternoon. Louise and Henry had the house to themselves for the rest of the week, although when I spoke to Louise mid-week, she was still doing laundry. Happily.
If you noticed new construction behind the French's house on Lambert's Cove Road over the past year, they built a small barn/guesthouse for themselves, anticipating the arrival of their daughter and son-in-law. Ellen and Doyle Bunch have moved here from their long-time home in Denver, Colo. Ellen was a summer kid some time ago. Recent visits had been brief and focused around family time. Now that they are full-time West Tisbury residents settling into the lovely old family home alongside Uncle Seth's Pond, they are anticipating their first town meeting and making new friends. Mary and Jim invited Mike and me over for dinner to see the new house and to meet Ellen and Doyle. We had a wonderful time with lots to talk about and lots to admire about the little house, ship-shape like a boat. Mary chose beautiful colors for all the rooms, warm salmon, yellow, soft green. Her studio has storage space, good light, a comfy reading chair, and a view of the pond.
