It has been mild and freezing, windy and still. The sunsets have been spectacular, streaks of orange slashing through purple skies. I have already noticed the lengthening daylight through the bare branches of our winter woods.
I was thinking about the seasons, the changes throughout the year, and decided that winter and spring are my favorites. I love the spareness of winter, then watching the daily changes as the world comes to life again. Even as early as this, the beginning of January, I know that snowdrops will appear any day now. All we need are a few warm, sunny days.
I have gotten spoiled by the early deadlines for my Christmas and New Year’s columns. My New Year’s resolution is to write on Thursday and Friday, then to have the weekend free with no deadlines hanging over my head. All the years of Monday deadlines feel baked into my body memory, so it’s a challenge to get myself together, and get it done. And I procrastinate.
Mike and I spent a lovely afternoon last weekend with Richard and Carol Tripp. You probably know the Tripps from seeing Richard on the porch of the Grange Hall on Fridays with his display of antiques, and Carol selling her yarn and weaving at the Artisans Festivals and in the Fiber Tent at the Ag Fair. They both have a respect for “the old Vineyard,” for craftsmanship, for learning, for books. Richard has written one himself, “Lessons Learned in Zuni: A Pueblo Memoir,” about his time teaching at a Zuni reservation in New Mexico.
Being in their house always makes me happy. Besides being with them and eating Carol’s excellent trifle, their house is, to me, the epitome of a Vineyard house: small, cozy, handbuilt, personal. I can’t understand what more anyone could want. It makes me sad to see the loss of so many of our lovely old homes, bought to be torn down, a loss of our history, a loss of scale and priorities.
I am sad to report the passing of Sydell Rabin, formerly of West Tisbury. Sydell was a bright light of enthusiasm, energy, and intellectual curiosity. I have missed seeing her and Arnold since they left town; now it is forever.
Nicola Blake reported the installation of EV chargers outside the West Tisbury School near the basketball courts. The project was funded by a Mass EVP Public Charging Incentives Program grant the energy committee applied for, and money voted on by town residents at the April 2023 annual town meeting. Thanks to both, as well as Eversource, Artis Energy Solutions, Maverick EV Services, and ChargePoint. Payment is made with an app on your phone.
There are some special programs at the library this week. Tomorrow, Friday, Jan. 10, Laura Hearn will teach “Needle Felting For Beginners” at 4 pm. Saturday has “Ballroom Dancing” instruction at 11:30 am, help learning to use a new computer, tablet, smartphone, or printer at 1 pm, and “Crystal Healing” at 3:30 pm. The Second Sunday Jazz Concert begins at 2:30 pm on Sunday with the Jeremy Berlin Trio, and guest Bill Vint on tenor sax. “Writers Read” is on Zoom Monday night at 7 pm. Email Niki Patton at gaia1muse@gmail.com to sign up. Wednesday, a half-day at school, offers “Karaoke for Kids” at 1:30 pm.
I just went outside to poke around in the myrtle looking for snowdrops. There they were, gray-green shoots a couple of inches high. That’s the spot the earliest ones bloom, but there are other places around our yard that warrant my inspection. I don’t want to rush time away, but it is always a thrill to see anything coming up.
If you have any West Tisbury Town Column suggestions, email Hermine Hull, hermine.hull@gmail.com.
