Finally, a few cool days and cold nights. No white Christmas, though. A return to mild temperatures is predicted, with Christmas Day in the 60s. I can’t say I’m not enjoying these mild days, but it feels unnatural, and I truly wish for snow on Christmas EveTalley and I went for a walk on Lucy Vincent Beach. I was on my way to Chilmark Chocolates, and the day was too beautiful not to pull in for a short walk and a look at the ocean. When I describe the day as beautiful, I mean it was a soft, misty rain, pleasant to feel on my face, and the beach was deserted. Waves crashed and wind blew. Both sky and sea were gray. Talley gamboled and sniffed as I watched her and the oncoming waves.
So far, the look of the season is subtle. No high contrast of snow and dark evergreens. Berried hollies and winterberry bushes, multiflora rosehips, long panicles of colored pieris buds, all the evergreens that show their best in winter still make a statement, but it’s more of a whisper than an all-out shout. They are there to clip for wreaths and decorations, but the landscape has an overall sameness to it. I’m still cutting herbs from the garden. It doesn’t feel like winter.
I just spoke with Olivia DeGeoffroy about her recent concerts in New York City. Olivia is a junior at Westminster Choir College. The choir is part of her college curriculum, and it is incredibly impressive to hear about them performing with world-famous orchestras. On Nov. 21 the Westminster Symphonic Choir appeared at Carnegie Hall with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Sir Simon Rattle. They performed Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. They have just completed five sold-out performances of Handel’s “Messiah” with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Jane Glover. This was at the newly named David Geffen Hall, formerly Avery Fisher Hall, at Lincoln Center. Olivia’s parents, Karen Overtoom and Louis DeGeoffroy, drove to the city for both concerts.
Mary Lu Hough has planned a memorial gathering for her husband, George, who died in October. It will be at the West Tisbury library, “a place he loved and spent a lot of time,” on Tuesday, Dec. 29, at 2 pm. The family is looking forward to seeing his many friends there and to sharing memories and stories. George and Mary Lu’s daughter, Mary Pat Hough-Greene, will be coming from off-Island. So will grandson Neil Greene, and granddaughter Lydia, with her husband, Patrick Harmer.
Don’t forget the Christmas Eve pageant at the Ag Hall at 5 pm. Later, at 10 pm, a candlelight service will be held at the West Tisbury Church. Plan to arrive early to park and get seated inside, as both services are heavily attended.
The library will close at 2 o’clock on Christmas Eve and remain closed Christmas Day. There will be DIY craft projects for kids, tweens, and teens set out during the week of school vacation, every day from 10:30 to 3. Make crowns and noisemakers for New Year’s Eve and create a journal for 2016. There will also be a family movie on Wednesday, Dec. 30, at 1 pm. Enjoy a free movie, “Shaun the Sheep,” and free popcorn, too. Then plan ahead to get your books and DVDs out early, as the library will be closed next Friday, New Year’s Day.
Last Christmas Eve, Pam Glavin placed a small tree with solar-activated lights on her husband, Carl Widdiss’, gravesite in the Aquinnah cemetery. She asked people to remember Carl and all the helpful things he did for neighbors and for anyone who needed a hand. People came and placed something on the tree as a symbol of their promise to do a kind deed for someone. The tree stayed up till spring, covered with promises and ornaments. It elicited such a response that Pam has decided to make it an annual tradition. This year’s tree will be up and lit for Christmas Eve. She asks everyone to once again visit Carl’s tree and make a promise to help someone in need. For Pam, it’s a way to continue to spread Carl’s “Christmas magic” throughout the Island.
Hopefully, by the time you read this, the lights will be up, the tree decorated, the presents wrapped beneath it or delivered to loved ones around the Island. Many of us will gather with families and many will spend the evening alone. May everyone find moments of joy and peace through the rest of this holiday season.