Heard on Main Street: Ever wonder? Why is it lemon juice contains mostly artificial ingredients, but dishwashing liquid contains real lemons?
The issue of sea level rise may be one of the most pressing for our Island. We know that the high school and Charter School kids are gathering with folks from Mass Audubon Felix Neck as part of the Island Climate Action Network, discussing and seeking ways each of us can make a difference.
This group, ICAN, has a list of things you and I can do. But are we paying any attention? A few suggestions are: Eat more plant-based foods and less red meat, replace paper towels with washable cloths, compost food scraps, buy fewer things, use less plastic. They don’t require much thought, just good intentions and follow-through. Do you even think about whether your own actions are solving or causing the climate issues?
ICAN also suggests that our towns have a bylaw requiring all new construction to use all-electric energy for heating, cooling, and hot water. This seems fairly simple. Are any of our towns thinking about this? Have you thought about how to make a plan that shows what you can do to make your house fossil-fuel-free?
There will be a benefit concert for Navigator Homes of Martha’s Vineyard for building the new nursing home to replace Windemere, in collaboration with the M.V. Hospital’s new affordable housing project, in which 30 units are reserved for nursing home staff. The concert will be Sunday, Jan. 15, at 3 pm at the Federated Church. Tickets are $25 at the door. Bach composed unaccompanied sonatas and suite, six each for violin and cello, in 1720. Featured will be Renée Hemsing and Guy Fishman, specialists in the performance of these masterworks using instruments of the period, and performance techniques that Bach would have found familiar.
I don’t like putting Christmas away. So I have decided to take as long as I like about doing it. Who can complain if I have a few happy reminders of the holiday still hanging around the house? So far I’m not only enjoying it — no guilt feelings — but rather finding it sort of fun.
A few friends and I planned a pizza party last Saturday for early afternoon. But it was Saturday morning when we discovered both pizza places in our town were closed. The cleverest of us came up with the idea of getting a delicious cherry pie as well as a tasty chocolate treat from the Black Dog. We all enjoyed not only the food but also the company. Well, especially me.
I can only leave the house to go to the doctor once a week, with help. The VNA has someone come here each weekday. I’m told I am improving; it’s just not obvious to me yet. Even my walking in the house is limited, but this too shall pass. Thankfully I have good friends, library books, and Meals on Wheels, which enliven my day.
Big bunches of birthday balloon wishes go out tomorrow to Donna Paulson, and on Saturday to Tyler Paulson. Chuck Downing parties on Tuesday. You could also celebrate Benjamin Franklin’s birthday on Tuesday: Go fly a kite.
My favorite bit from the news this week was a quote from a federal judge in South Carolina: If you see a turtle on top of a fence post, you don’t have to ask how it got there.
Heard on Main Street: Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Life’s most urgent question is, What are you doing for others?” Do you have an answer to that?
If you have any Tisbury Town Column suggestions, email Kay Mayhew, tashmoorock@gmail.com.