For some reason, during the month of October, my thoughts turn toward collaboration, reciprocity, and symbiogenesis. Taking care of one another is how we survive and thrive.
I joined the CROP Hunger Walk team at the Chilmark Community Church. The three-mile walk is Sunday, Oct. 15th, at 1:30 pm, and starts and ends at St. Augustine’s Church in Vineyard Haven. Our team includes Hal and Ann Noyes, Shirley Kennedy, Kathie Carroll, David and Mary Lundgren, Emily Broderick, Charlotte Wright, Sarah and Andy Carr, Marie Wise, and Pam and Clark Goff. Our team hopes to raise $1,500. Every dollar counts.
I am training by walking trails through the woods near our home with my dog. Bow hunting started Monday, which means pulling out our orange vests.
Tuesday Pizza Nights, 6 pm at the Chilmark Church, returned this week. I love how these meals followed by rollicking games of Bananagrams turn strangers into friends.
Colin and Nettie Ruel’s gallery has shifted to fall hours, Thursday to Sunday, 11 am to 5 pm. Their oyster knives are high on my presents list for friends and family.
Sunday at 5 pm, Native Earth Teaching Farm held a tree planting of a golden larch from Polly Hill in honor of Buster, their baby goat, who died two weeks ago. It is heartbreaking and a financial hardship when farmers lose an animal. I encourage us to help Randy and Rebecca by stopping by and slipping a donation into the box on the porch of their stand.
Every month I spend time at the hospital, and am cheered to see works by Priscilla Warner. I heard and am not surprised that the recent wedding of her son, Jack(son) Warner to Jordan Larsen, included tables filled with cookies made by family members. Mazel tov on their wedding.
I’ve blocked out Saturday, Oct. 7, at 4 pm at the Chilmark library, for Priscilla Warner’s “Tibetan Singing Bowls for the Ever-Changing Times We Are Living In.” Sound healing has been practiced for thousands of years. The Tibetan singing bowls Priscilla plays are hundreds of years old, and were ethically sourced from small villages in the Himalayas. We are encouraged to wear comfortable, loose clothing, bring a yoga mat, and whatever props we might like to use to settle in for the experience, like pillows or blocks. The session will be about 40 minutes long.
I am sorry I have a conflict on Wednesdays, because Kathy Elkind’s “To Walk It Is to See It” talk at the Chilmark library sounds engaging. She will speak on Oct. 11 at 5 pm. Walking day after day for 98 days brought sickness, accommodation struggles, language barriers, and storm-shrouded mountains in the Alps. As the days unfolded, however, she discovered her own wise strength, and came to the gratifying realization that a long marriage is like a long trail: There are ups and downs, and it takes hard work to keep going, but the beauty along the way is staggering.
I find the same can be said of life, and the beauty of the Chilmark community. A stop at Allen Farm, 421 South Road, for lamb so we could make a healing stew for friends gave us the chance to visit with not just adults, but children, who gave us carrots to feed the horses.
Wishing us all a healing and inspiring week.
If you have any Chilmark Town Column suggestions, email Claire Ganz, cganz@live.com.
