We like to take a walk to clear our heads and stretch our legs around sunset, and were delighted when the light continued and the colors deepened.
Steps from the front door, three generations were able to clearly see the sky filled with northern lights. We talked and watched, wished on shooting stars, and when they faded, stepped inside.
It was a delight to find on Instagram Larry Glick’s stunning photograph of the lights behind Jay Lagemann’s sculpture.
A few hours later, we gathered blankets and walked up the hill, grateful we hadn’t put the Adirondack chairs away for the winter. By then, we couldn’t see colors, just undulating swaths of light and shooting stars. Apparently you could see the colors with your phone’s camera. I have never photographed the night sky, and didn’t know how to set my phone to night mode.
There are apps, and NOAA has an aurora forecast. They predict it will happen again in the not-too-instant future, and I would love to have a camera set up and dance with the light.
Anne Ganz and Virginia Stone’s show of drawings they made of the Chilmark Church is at the Chilmark library Oct. 12 to 31.
We continue to gather to honor many who brought the light. I miss Gus Ben David; sting sharply from the shift of a dearly anticipated October reconnection with Vince Chahley and his wife Patty Irwin to the reality of her absence and gathering in her memory. Patty was a brilliant and vibrant soul with a terrific sense of humor. Creative and funny and smart. A tax lawyer, exceptional cook, reader, and athlete and Vince’s soulmate. She was someone who took an interest in others. She was a fabulous human being, and my heart is with her entire family.
I note that Noreen Baker’s obituary is in the papers, and her memorial is set for 1 pm, Oct. 25 at the Whaling Church in Edgartown.
Jesse Bright (“Riggs”) Parker’s farewell graveside service with military honors will be held on Saturday, Oct. 19, at 1:30 pm at Abel’s Hill Cemetery in Chilmark.
And a celebration of Susan Murphy’s life will be held at 2 pm on Oct. 19, at the Chilmark Community Center. Donations can be made in Susan’s name to the Friends of the Chilmark Library, P.O. Box 434, Chilmark, MA 02535.
We are going through shelves of books and flipping through them, looking for marginalia and underlines. This morning a scrap of paper fell out of one of my notebooks with this: “‘The best thing for being sad,’ replied Merlin, beginning to puff and blow, ‘is to learn something. That’s the only thing that never fails … you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honour trampled … Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting. Learning is the only thing for you. Look what a lot of things there are to learn.’” —T.H. White, “The Once and Future King”
This week I finished Phillipa Perry’s latest, “The Book You Want Everyone You Love to Read.” She writes an advice column, and her book references these as well as her readers’ comments. We learn from one another. To a naturally giving person feeling guilty about doing something for herself, Perry wrote, “One reader of this column once left a comment saying that if you have to choose between guilt or resentment, choose guilt — wise words. And this is what I urge you to do, choose guilt.” It is one of those books I am going to mine, because it contains ideas that help me.
If you have any Chilmark Town Column suggestions, email Claire Ganz, cganz@live.com.
