Oh, we’re almost there… Christmas is on Sunday and then we just have to get through New Year’s. If anyone has any resolutions they want to share, let me know. Or does no one even bother with that anymore? Do we just sip coffee or wine, complain, and try to remember to stay in the moment by going to yoga or noticing the sunset? I think the latter might be the case. In any event just in time for the holidays, some very cold weather stopped by, and while I have seen some snow flurries, it looks like the Vineyard will not be having a white Christmas, at least not according to my iPhone weather app.
Mitzi Pratt’s studio, The Bindery at 5 Moshup Trail, is open now through December 24 from 10 am to 6 pm (4 pm Christmas Eve) for the last-minute shopper looking for journals or sketchbooks or anyone seeking an estimate on book restoration.
Christmas Eve Services will be held at 5 pm at the Community Baptist Church of Gay Head. Christmas Day Services will be held at 9 am on Sunday. Everyone is welcome to attend. For more information call 508-693-1539. If you want something more extravagant, Christmas Eve services with the West Tisbury Congregational Church will be held at the Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Hall in West Tisbury with caroling at 4:30 pm and Christmas Pageant and Service at 5 pm. A candlelight service at the First Congregational Church in West Tisbury begins at 10 pm. Christmas Day service begins at 10 am. Everyone is welcome.
Saskia Vanderhoop reminded me that she is holding special workshops over Christmas break; they are: Crafting and Skills on Dec. 27, Cooking with Wild Foods on Dec. 28, and Games and Stories in the Dark on the 29th. Call at 508-645-2008 or 774-563-0628 for all the details.
Among all the holiday notices, there were two disappointing news items for the Aquinnah community: the Shellfish Committee met on November 28 and voted unanimously to recommend to the Selectmen that only family scalloping be allowed this season. Apparently there are not enough adult scallops to harvest. If the committee finds an area with a lot of marketable scallops, they will reconsider their decision. This must be very frustrating for all of our scalloping families who depend on this resource for winter income.
The second item was the closing of the Menemsha Café last Friday. It was the only up-Island restaurant open year-round, and Josh Aronie had done such a great job there. Thank you Josh for giving us a nice hangout with good food. I hope you find another place soon. Sometimes I find living here discouraging, it seems like a simple thing: keeping a casual breakfast/lunch place up and running up-Island, but it is fraught with so many factors here — rent, the winter, food prices — that when you look at the bottom line it seems impossible.
Not only is it Christmas this week but there are quite a few birthdays this week, Claus Smith on the 20th, Theresa Manning on the 22nd, Christmas baby Christina Montoya on the 25th, and Lang Gerhard on the 28th. Happy Birthday to you all and I hope with this reminder that you are not forgotten in all the Christmas drama.
I really do wish everyone the very best and most peaceful holiday filled with friends, family, and good food.
