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Monday, February 13, 2012

By Hermine Hull
Published: June 4, 2009

Pollen season has arrived, coating everything and everyone with a film of yellow dust. Vehicles, windowsills, furniture, leaves, hair (animal and human) - nothing is spared. Mike showed me photographs of pollen; it looks like a medieval mace with protuberances all around. No wonder it is so irritating and tenacious.

Still, it's a pretty spring. Our first poppies have opened, orange punctuation marks soon to become a colorful mass beside equally bold purple iris. The variety of birds in our yard is notable. I can only hope they will eat the worms that soon will emerge from their egg cases. So far, the newly leafed out trees give a quietness and sheltering cover overhead. It is sad to see how many have been lost from the worm infestations of the past few years.

We have two friends who will be walking in fundraisers for cancer support. Blue Cullen will walk here on the Island this weekend. Cheryl Holenko will walk in Millis on June 13. Donations for Cheryl may be left at The Plane View at the Martha's Vineyard airport. Art Hughes at the West Tisbury Cottle's is also collecting donations. Please give them, or any participant you know, any donation you can. It helps more than you know.

Ellen Weiss is back for the summer at her home on Old County Road. She has resumed her seat on Alley's porch and at fashionable dinner parties around town.

Margaret Logue has as a houseguest for the summer, her grandson, James Logue, from West Hartford, Conn. James is working at Larsen's.

Another new resident is Buster, Sue and Jim Mullin's three-month-old border terrier. He is busy guarding the Mullin's James Pond home, playing with his favorite toy, and looking unbelievably cute.

"Watch Out for Wolfgang" is the new book illustrated by Paul Carrick. Copies are available at the Red Barn.

Gregory Drake has moved off-Island to Colorado Springs after a leisurely trip across the country. He sounds quite enthusiastic about his new home, "the most dramatic landscape," and recommends that people see the area.

George and Mary Lu Hough had guests over the holiday. Their grandson, Neil Greene, with his wife, Amy, from Brighton, and their granddaughter, Lydia Harmer, from Cherry Point, N.C., visited their grandparents on Indian Hill Road. All three of them ran in the 16th Annual Oak Bluffs Memorial Day 5K Road Race. Neil was awarded a trophy for second place in his age division. Lydia's husband, Lance Corporal Patrick Harmer, is a U.S. Marine serving in Afghanistan.

Finn Hall spent the holiday weekend here with his dad, Ron Hall. Finn joined his former Tisbury School classmates in the March to the Sea and at the Tisbury Town Picnic. He and Ron did some fishing and took several beach walks together.

Ben, Violet, Dan, and Nancy Cabot have returned from a trip to New Jersey, where they attended the high school graduation of Tyler Cabot. Tyler will begin his studies at Washington College in the fall. Nicole Cabot stayed home tending the garden and flock of 50 chicks, still under lights in a fancy pen that Ben built in their backyard.

Paul Karasik seems quite proud of having taken a pie in the face. It raised an additional $100 for the Martha's Vineyard Public Charter School at their recent auction. Laura Sargent-Hall made the offer and Sarah Aliberti bid on and won the prize for the unusual add-on to a Farmers' Market gift package. It was reportedly the hit of the evening, a '70s Disco Dance and Auction that raised over $30,000 for the Charter School. Paul is the school's development director, an all-around good guy, and good sport.

Phoebe Hersh will begin her studies this fall at Centenary College in New Jersey.

Maxwell Nunes will move to Washington, D.C., to attend George Washington University.

Elizabeth Lockhart Taft exhibits her paintings at the West Tisbury Library throughout the month of June. Liz is a plein air painter of Island landscapes. Her work is a delicious combination of colors and patterns within the landscape that will open your eyes to see our world in new ways - what good art does. Take some time to look.

If your dogs are rambunctious or you have a young puppy, some training might be in order. We have two superlative dog trainers in town, and both offer private and group lessons. Karen Ogden's Positive Rewards at 508-693-3708 is year-round. Karen has trained search dogs for Dukes County Search and Rescue. Laura Caruso, Glenn and Linda Hearn's daughter, will spend the summer as she did last year. Her All About Dogs groups were a familiar sight in the field opposite Eric and Debby Magnuson's (Laura's uncle and aunt) house on State Road. All About Dogs: 781-983-7350. We, and our dogs, have benefited from both Karen's and Laura's efforts. Besides, it's fun.