As we approach the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year, lights are going on earlier in the evenings both inside and out. Trees and porches, lamp posts and fence posts, all are wrapped in strings of white or colored lights. They make the nighttime drive home magical.
Kenny Mastromonaco organized his fellow 721 crew members to decorate Fire Station 1 last Sunday after radio check. I can see the station with its outline of colored lights from my house, a welcome sight that signals the start of the holiday season for me every December. It inspired Mike and me to do the same. Sunday afternoon, we went outside to untangle strings of icicle lights, make sure they still worked, strung them along our garden fence, set up the heavy extension cords and timers. Voila! Christmas lights that would welcome our homecomings every evening.
I was so inspired that I went inside and brought up the electric candles from the basement. They are now arranged on their appointed windowsills throughout the house. Hanging above them in every window are the little preserved boxwood wreaths I found at Morrice’s a few years ago. Next will come my collections of little villages with trees, houses, carolers, and other tiny figures and animals. I have collected them for over 50 years. It all looks so festive and cheerful. This early in the holiday season it is all feeling possible, easily doable in plenty of time. Maybe this year I really will get everything done by Christmas Eve. We’ll see.
Then there will be the three cats to contend with. Nelson, in particular, is fascinated by all these new attractions that he considers toys set out just for his amusement. I wish I could add fake snow to some of these miniature vignettes, having admired it at Jeff Bryant’s Christmas Town display, but can you imagine what a mess a curious cat could make with easy access to fake snow? He is sleeping quietly in his wing chair now, looking for all the world like an animal who could never contemplate such mischief, let alone orchestrate chaos and ruin on my carefully constructed displays.
As Thanksgiving was this year, Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, and New Year’s will be different. Houses full of family and guests, tables set for 20 or 30 people, and parties with tightly packed crowds, are likely to be eschewed. The normally overwrought season with too much to do in too little time may give way to a more relaxed approach to the holidays. There will be time for the things we can do. I have been looking at new cookie recipes and pictures of decorations and gifts to make. Maybe this will be the year to slow down. Maybe this will be the year to take a walk on the beach, to finally read a book that has been set aside for months or to try some new craft that may become an abiding interest. Maybe different will be okay.
Out in the bigger world, shotgun season has begun across the Island. Keep a close eye on your animals and wear orange yourself. Many of the places we are accustomed to walking in are closed to pedestrians for the next few weeks. Ticks have been rampant, too. Be aware. Be safe.
If you have any West Tisbury Town Column suggestions, email Hermine Hull, hermine.hull@gmail.com.