Heard on Main Street: Ignoring the facts does not change the facts.
Sometimes I feel as if I am taking baby steps. But I am still afraid to eat meals inside a restaurant. I am grateful, though, to all the restaurants who offer outside pickup. Though mealtimes can be lonely, I look forward to my son’s arrival for a few days this week.
What do you know about haiku? The M.V. Haiku Club invites you to their monthly meetings in the next three months. These Zoom-based sessions, led by Caroline Joy Adams, are hosted by the Vineyard Haven library. Each session will have a specific theme, and participants will receive a helpful PDF file with suggested reading and writing assignments for that meeting. To sign up, email Anne McDonough at amcdonough@clamsnet.org.
Adams is the author of five books, including “The Power to Write: Seven Keys to Discover Your Writer Within.” A college professor of writing for many years, she has taught many creative writing workshops.
This short form of poetry has many variations and flexible guidelines, rather than strict rules or adherence to one rigid, traditional form. You will be encouraged to write haiku that ranges from the serious to the whimsical.
Remember you can do your 5K for the library through Sunday, Oct 18. The 5K goes from the Vineyard Haven library at the corner of Greenwood Avenue, up Main Street to the Lighthouse, and back. There is no fee, but a $25 donation will help support the library.
Our library also offers you the opportunity to watch online the earlier sessions of Professor Weinstein’s seminar on the works of Toni Morrison.
“A Dollop of Trollope” is offered beginning Sunday, Oct 4, or Monday, Oct 5, on Zoom. Book groups will be led by Myra Stark and Dee Leopold. To sign up, email Dee at dleopold@clamsnet.org.
My nephew sent me an email with pictures illustrating “strange facts about the USA.” Two of those brought back some memories. One photo showed smoke rising from yards of some houses in a small town. The caption noted that the small “town of Centralia, Pa.,, has been on fire for 55 years.” It really has. I’ve driven through that town several times on my way to visit a friend. The underground fires in the coal mines are amazingly close to several homes, and people are still living in most of them.
Another caption stated, “There’s a town in Washington with treetop bridges made specifically to help squirrels cross the street.”
I wrote back that my husband Donald and I enjoyed suddenly spotting the squirrel bridges. I forget the name of the town; while visiting the state we drove all over the place. It was a big town. We parked on a road along one edge of a square downtown park that was in the center of a major crossroads. And the bridges came across the roads through the trees in the square, connecting all the roads. The squirrels were using them, as well. It was an unusual sight. And the picture was a nice trip down memory lane.
More from the Vineyard Haven library: At 7 pm on Tuesday, Oct 6, marine biologist and professor Jelle Aterna offers “Catfish: Sense of Smell and Taste.” And weather permitting, library patrons may browse and check out a selection of new books outdoors in the courtyard behind the library. By appointment only. Register for Saturday, Oct 3, and the library will call to confirm an arrival time.
I wonder if any of those Islanders planning bike paths have talked to any bikers. I don’t know many serious bikers who would use them. Those bicyclists we drivers get nervous about usually seem to be very careful to ride singly and well to the side of the road. Considering all the sand on this Island, I am not sure I could do that.
As a teenager in Connecticut, I had a nasty, bloody spill on sand at the side of a town road. Wearing shorts that summer day, I fell and skidded along the sand quite painfully. It wasn’t much better after the mile or so trip home. My mother had a friend visiting. Both were nurses, and spent what seemed like hours digging out each grain of sand from my well-scraped legs. Definitely never rode that street again on my bike. At least I learned that. And I assure you, the sandy edges of Island roads never appealed to me.
Happy anniversary today to Sofya and Sandy Nadelstein. Congratulations tomorrow to Jane and Chris Chandler.
Big bunches of birthday balloon wishes go out tomorrow to Nore Clark. Happy birthday to Mya Houston on Sunday. Wish the best to Donald Childs on Tuesday. Pat Benway parties on Wednesday.
Heard on Main Street: It’s those small daily happenings that make life so spectacular.
If you have any Tisbury Town Column suggestions, email Kay Mayhew, tashmoorock@gmail.com.
