Town Column : Aquinnah
By Molly Purves
Published: December 24, 2009
Well, that was a lot of snow. And a lot of wind. How apropos for Christmas. Sunday morning we all awoke to about a foot of snow with more to come throughout the day. Of course, some of us awoke in the night to the howling wind or the power going out, but by morning Aquinnah did look beautifully wintry. Hopefully your power was back.
The snow did cause some snags in holiday plans. Of the three parties I was going to, two were cancelled and one I couldn't get to or rather I wasn't sure I could get back down my road and into my driveway at night without sliding into a tree. My son had a great time in the snow until his mitten fell off and in five seconds his hand was nearly frozen. He burst into tears and had to be carried home and then bundled into a blanket in front of a football game, which finally calmed him down.
I love the snow but found it rather isolating, and I already live in Aquinnah so I really don't need more isolation. I think I had a hard time adjusting from the idea of a very social weekend I thought was going to happen, to seeing very few people.
The Town/Tribe Christmas party was cancelled a bit prematurely. It was called off on Friday and the snow did not come until late Saturday night. No word yet on rescheduling.
The Tribe did have its staff party at the Ocean View on Saturday night, getting it in just before the snow came. Ken Wentworth and Liz Witham said that the screening of their film on Saturday went great, a good crowd despite the impending doom of the forecast.
If you are Vineyard bound this weekend, The Martha's Vineyard Film Festival is hosting Family. Film. Feast. Saturday night at 5 pm at the Chilmark Community Center. Food is being prepared by Heather Gude and the film is a series of short films from around the world, appropriate for ages five and older. It's a great time; the one Thanksgiving weekend was a lot of fun for both parents and kids. Go to tmvff.org for all the details.
Happy third birthday to Sasha Gerhard and happy second birthday to Claus Smith. I hope you both got a lot of presents even though your birthdays are so close to Christmas.
If you are thinking ahead to New Year's already, ACE MV has classes starting on January 8. I know that Jannette Vanderhoop is teaching again and I believe David and Saskia will be doing some salsa dancing instruction.
There is a new artist endeavor happening at the Chilmark Tavern through the winter. If you go by and see lights on, stop in. It sounds like it is a workshop/exhibit/artist support/café place, but go see for yourself.
Now it is Christmas Eve and if you haven't done it by now, do you really need to? It's still a present even if it's not wrapped (I love gift bags, just drop it in and slap a bow on it). Maybe we should all just sit back, relax, enjoy the beautiful scenery and watch "It's A Wonderful Life" for the hundredth time.
