Town Column : West Tisbury
By Hermine Hull
Published: January 28, 2010
Moss lines the path we walked along this morning, a glowing green rivulet winding through winter-grayed woods. The intensity of the color seems surprising, discordant. If I painted it, it would push forward unnaturally, and need to be grayed down to make the composition work. In real life, it exhilarates.
I'm glad to have only happy news to report in this week's column: a wedding, two new babies in town, accomplishments, milder weather, and snowdrops.
Jonathan Belain and Pamela Leite were married on January 9 in a private ceremony with their parents, siblings, and grandparents in attendance. The families gathered at a country inn in Ledyard, Conn. for the weekend. Roe Belain called it "a very winning weekend for everyone." Not only did Jon and Pamela celebrate their wedding, but everyone seemed to win at Mohican Sun casino. The night before the wedding, Jon's brother, Harold, turned 21, his 21st birthday party at The Hard Rock Cafe taking the place of the traditional bachelor dinner. Congratulations and best wishes to the newlyweds. Happy birthday, Harold.
Dylan Isabella Hart was born on January 5 to Richard and Kaysea Hart of West Tisbury and Boston.
Emma Kiley and Justin Bryant are the parents of a daughter, Tessa Rae Bryant, born January 17 at the Martha's Vineyard Hospital. Her big brother, Eli, welcomed her home.
Emma Gorenberg has been accepted at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, where she will begin her studies in September 2010. A 2003 graduate of MVRHS, Emma earned her bachelor's degree from Amherst College in 2007. She is currently completing her master's degree in creative writing at the University of Michigan. We are all so proud and excited for you, Emma, and look forward to seeing where your love of animals and poetry will take you.
Muriel Bye needs to replenish her list of volunteers to work at the polls. Please call her at 508-693-9720 if you are interested.
Several people called or stopped me to ask about last week's paean to limpopos. "What are they?" some asked. I looked up the word in my Oxford English Dictionary and could find nothing, no description of the light, airy doughnut rolled in granulated sugar that I wrote about. I thought they were French or Italian sweets, so unlike our dense American doughnuts. Anna at State Road Restaurant told me the chef gave the name of a river in southeastern Africa to her confection for the joy of hearing people say it. "Limpopo" does bring a smile to one's lips.
Ann and Prudy Burt were at State Road Saturday morning, having breakfast and picking up their box of limpopos, pre-ordered to go into their freezer at home, a preparation for the month-long closing of the restaurant. I was doing the same thing, having breakfast with Helene Barr and taking home my box of treasures. Ann told me she was the source of information that limpopos freeze well, having experimented with the freezing/thawing/warming/ and eating of them at home. So, although I thank and credit Ann for her information, it does me no good. The box I brought home was emptied and eaten by my husband before it ever got near the freezer. They were still warm.
The milder temperatures over the weekend have been a delight. Kathy Logue and I took a walk at Lucy Vincent beach on Sunday. Surprisingly, there was no wind. With plenty of sun, we were hot after a few minutes of walking. Both of us had our coats off and tied around our waists before we had gone very far.
On our way home we stopped off to visit Kathy's mother, Margaret, stretched out on a chaise lounge in her sunroom, the New York Times in a partly-read disarray by her feet. Margaret pointed out a patch of snowdrops blooming under a tree outside her window. Earlier, I had stopped at Bessire's to check on the progress of the snowdrops under their hedge. It is always a sign of spring for me, watching them bloom, open to the sun during the day, closed up against the night's chill. Tom Hodgson had already claimed title to the first snowdrops of the season, blooming outside his house on Tiasquam Road and pictured on the front page of last week's Gazette. We all agreed that we were glad to live in a place where early snowdrops were front-page news.
