Listen carefully, everyone, and remember the following: This summer, when the temperature and humidity rise higher and higher, and we are all feeling like oversoaked sponges, exhausted as the heat saps us of all energy, no one, absolutely no one, is allowed to say, “Oh, I can hardly wait for winter and colder weather.”
Meanwhile, half of what used to be our free time has been eaten up by shoveling our way out of our houses and to our cars to enable us to be mobile again. But just be grateful if your job does not involve having to be able to access the streets and side roads across the Island, perhaps to deliver heating fuel, packages, mail, or even medical assistance. If I had to write an essay on “How I spent my winter,” it would read: “Look out window, sigh, shovel, work on jigsaw puzzle, read four books, cancel appointments, build wood-stove fire as subfreezing temps cause my heat to fail every few days, keep letting dog out, keep calling and looking for dog who is enamored of all the snow and apparently feeling she has to check on every tree in the woods in back of the house, and of course, open refrigerator door every hour on the hour.”
The work on the new Oak Bluffs Fire Station is creeping along, and how they are able to work in this weather is beyond me, but working they are.
Carol Carr Dell and a few friends decided to head to the Plane View Restaurant at the airport last week. Suddenly, one of the group said, “This is the first time in a month I have been out of Oak Bluffs.” I am sure this has happened to many people these past months. They were treated to a few humorous signs when they arrived at their destination. The first was a sign on a snow-covered bench outside the entry to the Plane View looking toward the runway that read, “No sitting on bench until summer.” Then someone told them that the previous sign read, “Snow View Restaurant.” At least some still have a sense of humor in this mess.
School has reopened after winter break, and students have returned to school and town. On Tuesday, March 10, there will be a professional development day; all students will be dismissed at noon.
Our Oak Bluffs library offers some interesting programs. At 1 pm on Tuesday, March 10, you can enjoy Movie Afternoon, featuring the family comedy, The Boxtrolls, which is rated PG.
Also on Tuesday, the Graphic Novel Book Club will meet at 7 pm. This month’s selection is Kill My Mother by Jules Feiffer.
And you can enjoy more movies at the Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse on March 9 at 7:30 pm, with the film Desk Set, a delightful 1957 comedy about a TV research department being replaced by computers. A battle of wits ensues between the department head and the computer firm’s engineer.
There’s a couple of great events coming up for the animal lovers out there, courtesy of the Oak Bluffs Council on Aging. On Monday, March 9, the OBCOA hosts a “Service Dogs Demystified” program at 1 pm. Service dogs are a valuable tool for helping those with disabilities, but do you really know what defines a dog as a service dog? This is a one-hour presentation on what makes an animal a service animal under the current regulations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), as well as on some of the tasks service animals can be trained to perform. Then on Monday, March 23, at 1 pm, the OBCOA will host a program about ”Building Simple Mental Enrichment Toys for your Companion Animal,” which will show you don’t have to spend a lot of money to create toys for the animal friend in your home. Both programs will be led by animal handler Karen Ogden.
Pat and Kerry Alley, accompanied by their niece Kati Alley, traveled to Glastonbury, Conn., last week to visit their daughter and son-in law, Sarah and Jack Lavolette, and their children. They too have been inundated with snowstorms this winter. After a few days in Connecticut, the group went to South Hadley, where they were the guests of daughter Rachel Alley, Greer, and their children, Jonas and Drew. Former Oak Bluffs residents Charlie and Gaynell Downs joined them for dinner one night, and everyone had a fun evening catching up on the latest news.
We send birthday smiles to Bill Rankin on the 9th, Vicky White on the 10th, and Cindy Krauss on the 11th. Willie deBettencourt, Pauline Gregory, Janice Rose, and Molly deBettencourt share the 12th. Enjoy your week. Peace.
