Just as I was ready to complain about our lack of rain, the heavens opened. Thunder and lightning sent Abby pacing, and Mike spent the night running back and forth to alarm calls and a lightning strike. Nelson yowled to be let in or out, depending on which side of the door he was on. Abby ran to wherever he was crying from. Every time I was near to falling asleep, something happened. I hope the ground is soaked now, and no one has to water for a few days.
I was sitting outside the other night on our porch with Mona, our antique cat, and saw the first fireflies flickering in our yard. Only two or three. Am I imagining that there are fewer fireflies this summer? I looked up when they are usually here, and read that it’s from mid-June to the end of July. So I wasn’t imagining that they are late. I also learned their botanical name, Photinus ignitis. Doesn’t that sound just like it should?
The zinnia field at Ghost Island is starting to show some color. The plants are still short, but I am already anticipating the colorful bouquets that will decorate my house very soon.
I finally got up to the library to see the hooked rugs exhibition. It is amazing. I can’t imagine walking on any of them; they are truly works of art. There are Labrador retrievers, abstract patterns, flowers of several types and colors, leaves, seascapes. The artists are Nancy Weaver, Debra Grant, Patty Kirwin, Sandy Broyard, Lynn Marquedant, and Susan Silk. I urge everyone to go to the library to see them before the end of July. They are more than worth the trip.
At the library this week:
Thursday, July 20, 11 am, all ages are invited to a collage poetry workshop with writer, editor, and educator Rachel Roskind. Participants will go through magazines and newspapers to cut out words and images, then paste them into multimedia collages and cross-out poems. At 4 pm, Morgan Baker will talk about her memoir, “Emptying the Nest; Getting Better at Goodbyes.”
Friday, July 21, 3:30 pm, there will be a mushroom ID and watercolor class for kids, with a reading of “Mason Goes Mushrooming.”
Saturday, July 22, 3:30 pm, Lizzie Stark will talk about her new book, “Egg: A Dozen Ovatures.”
Wednesday, July 26, 11 am to noon, come to meet handler Carl and Buster, a 9-year-old West Highland terrier and certified therapy dog.
Tom Wetherall’s daughters and their families will be on the Island next week, and invite everyone to remember and celebrate Tom’s life at a gathering on Thursday, July 27, at the Ag Hall, from 4 to 7 pm. If you knew Tom, he always spoke about his daughters and grandchildren with such pride and affection. It will be nice to meet them.
It was only marginally less hot last week, and I think the rain made a bit of a difference. I was on the phone with my brother, Mike, both of us complaining about the heat. He told me he was watching a YouTube video of snow. I had been working on my computer, so clicked right to it, and together we sat, watching and listening to lovely snow falling in the woods somewhere. It looked just like our childhood memories.
If you have any West Tisbury Town Column suggestions, email Hermine Hull, hermine.hull@gmail.com.