This year’s going to be different. So many changes.
“Life is hard, the old well … the furnace …” I said.
“Things are always hard for you,” said the friend in a caring voice, her confidence piercing my concerns and allowing me to see the habit.
Things are better. Water is flowing. The house is warm. The lights are on. I love it here.
I love it here, I whisper, grateful for the time I get to spend with the kids in Sunday school.
Warmest wishes on Callum McQueen Hart’s baptism. Looking forward to watching Callum grow into the unique and beautiful person only he could be.
I love it here, I whisper to the completely dark, late afternoon, rainy winter sky.
I love it here, I whisper while loading the trash barrels into the truck.
I love it here, I whisper when I see Katie Carroll’s, Margaret Maida, Julie Flanders, the Martha’s Vineyard Savings Bank, and the Chilmark Community Church’s lights.
I love it here, I whisper when I see the tree and the pots stacked and lit up like a boat on the docks.
I love it here, I whisper when I see the lights on at Copperworks and Jane Slater’s home and Colin Ruel’s gallery and the fishing shacks and Marshall and Katie’s Texaco station light and the wreath on Larsen’s fish market.
I love it here, I whisper when I see the OPEN sign on the Menemsha Fish Market.
Chilmark kicks off Christmas early. Every child from birth through fifth grade is celebrated by a host of volunteers, including Katie Carroll, who organizes, cheers, and sends out email reminders, and the Chilmark Volunteer Firefighters’ Association.
Thursday the Chilmark Community Center stage was filled with presents. The potluck was bountiful, delicious, and satisfying. Photographer Tracy Jones brought a gorgeous backdrop, and transformed Santa’s Corner into a winter wonderland with snow-flocked trees strung with lights, and large, white white boxes tied with bright red ribbons. The Christmas tree, festooned with ornaments and colored lights and topped by a bright red ribbon, had reindeer dancing across its red skirt — perfectly accessorized, with the top complementing the bottom. Fashion, always a mystery to me, was on display.
A sturdy chair covered in a green blanket was the throne. Katie Carroll posted a fabulous picture of Margaret Maida transformed by the setting into the Queen of Christmas. I want a copy.
Thank you, Ellen, Tauras, and Kestutis Biskis, for playing songs for Santa.
Pam Glavin phoned to say that she’d put up the Blessing Promise tree in the Aquinnah cemetery in memory of her beloved husband, Carl Widdiss. The cemetery is on the left off Rosa Meadow Way, which is off State Road, after the town hall and library, and before you get to the lighthouse. Carl’s grave is on the right, next to the stone wall. Climb under the chain blocking cars from parking on graves. We are invited to bring a decoration and commit to doing something kind or helpful. Let’s all help decorate it with ornaments and a promise. Let’s not forget the families and friends who are grieving. My heart especially holds the families and friends of Riley Ignacio, Waylon Sauer, and Yossi Monahan. I love it here, I whispered as I walked among the graves of the ancestors and beloveds of many I remember.
Life isn’t easy, and we rise.
If you have any Chilmark Town Column suggestions, email Claire Ganz, cganz@live.com.