West Tisbury: Winter tea parties

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—MV Times

The end of January already and still no snow other than a few wind-blown flakes, just enough to get me excited. By the time I have run to the window, it is over.

Kathy Logue called to tell me that snowdrops are blooming in her mother’s garden. Margaret has a protected spot against the south-facing wall of her house where drifts of snowdrops bloom early every year, a most welcome sight.

Old New England gardens were often laid out like that, choosing sunny places shielded from the wind for early or delicate specimens. It seems like common sense to me, much like orienting houses for passive solar gain from windows along their south sides. We modern folks are so focused on expensive building materials and heating/cooling systems, yet fail to consider free sunshine for heat gain in the winter, and planting deciduous trees for cooling shade in the summer.

I am missing my friend Joanne Scott’s winter tea parties. A group of us would gather around Joanne’s fireplace once a month in January, February, and March, ostensibly to celebrate one of our birthdays. January was Marie-Louise Rouff’s birthday month, and I wish her a happy one.

Joanne used to joke that these get-togethers were an excuse to eat cake. That was certainly part of the agenda. Our January cake was a sour cream cake with chocolate chips that I love. Joanne had given me the recipe, so I decided to make it myself. It was nothing like Joanne’s. I won’t call it a disaster; Mike and I did eat it all, but I wouldn’t call it a success either. Still, it was cake and it was full of chocolate. I’ll have to try again.

The cusp of January turning into February is a big birthday time in the Haynes family. Hannah’s birthday is Jan. 31. Her grandmother Betty and Aunt Janice have the same birthday, Feb. 1. There will be celebrations for each one. Happy birthday wishes to you all.

It still feels odd not to be able to get together for birthdays with friends or even for an unplanned, informal cup of tea. I know it’s been almost a whole year since the pandemic has isolated us in our own homes and pods. On the Island, we are beginning to get vaccinated and eventually the weather will turn warm enough to gather outside again. No one knows yet how these new variants of the coronavirus will affect us. I don’t expect to be browsing the shelves at the library any time soon, or stopping by the Haynes’s to give Betty a birthday hug.

Our annual town meeting will be at the Tabernacle in Oak Bluffs again this spring. The date has been set for May 18 at 5 pm. Our town election will be April 15 at the Public Safety Building. Anyone may apply for an absentee ballot. There are applications in the lobby at town hall or on the town’s website: westtisbury-ma.gov.

If you haven’t done it yet, don’t forget to fill in and return the town census forms that arrived in your mail recently. Applications for dog licenses are also in that mailing.

Abby has her shiny, new 2021 tag. Mike dropped off the application and payment at town hall and it arrived in the next day’s mail. She had her stitches from being spayed out yesterday, so she is legal and ready to go, looking forward to beach walks again, and a return to her regular routine. Mike and I were surprised to realize that she has enjoyed having us leash her and take her out in the yard instead of sending her out on her own in the fenced part. It was like having her be a puppy again. I have taken the plastic cone down to the cellar, hoping we will never need it again.

Sue Silk, a member of the Affordable Housing Committee, wants voters to know that there will be an article on the Annual Town Meeting warrant asking that a piece of town-owned land be designated for a new affordable housing project. The Silva lot at the intersection of State and Lambert’s Cove Road was purchased by the town in 1987, a 3-acre parcel that has sat unused ever since. Initially, it had been considered a possible site for Fire Station II, then a new police station, and last for a larger library. It was always intended to be used to meet a community need, stated as a requirement in the deed. The AHC mandate to enlarge our stock of affordable apartments would certainly qualify. Historically, voters have chosen to keep that property undeveloped. It will be interesting to find out how town residents feel about developing it now.

Everyone I know is talking about Amanda Gorman, the amazing young poet who read her work at President Biden’s inauguration last week. In words and delivery, she couldn’t have been more perfect. Once again, I feel great promise in our younger generations.

I am also happy to see two handsome German shepherds moving into the White House. A 12-year-old, Champ, is the senior member and Major is a 2-year-old who was rescued from a shelter by the Bidens. Dr. Biden has been photographed walking the dogs across the White House lawn, also bringing homemade chocolate chip cookies to National Guardsmen or Secret Service members. I have forgotten which. Lovely, homey images for “the people’s house.”

If you have any West Tisbury Town Column suggestions, email Hermine Hull, hermine.hull@gmail.com.