In a letter to René Char, Albert Camus wrote, “The older I get, the more I realize that one can only truly live with those who set you free, who love you with an affection as light to bear as it is deep to feel. Life today is too harsh, too bitter, too draining to endure additional constraints from those we love. That is how I am your friend: I cherish your happiness, your freedom, your adventure — in a word — and I wish to be the companion you can always rely on.”
This week, Sunday, March 9th, we turn the clock forward, and I’m wondering if I’m the only one with timepieces that don’t automatically connect to the internet and reset.
My father taught me that when we are aware, we are noticing, and stay curious rather than rushing toward familiar solutions or placating answers; our view expands and so does the quality of our decisions.
Our noblest power comes when our instinct is to bear witness unhampered by preconceptions and expectations, and learn. We cannot predict the future, but we can make ourselves resilient by refusing to turn on and away from one another.
We are looking forward to attending a history lecture at the West Tisbury library with Bow Van Riper, Saturday, March 8, at 2 pm. Bow is the M.V. Museum’s research librarian, and a terrific presenter.
Following the lecture, all are invited to the opening of the “Celebrating Mill Pond: Sustaining Serenity Together” exhibit, 4 to 5:30 pm. Come see the wonderful art, old photographs, maps, and a cartoon by my mum, Anne Ganz, honoring Joan Jenkinson on the event of her retirement as W.T.’s animal control officer. Anne’s family lived on the pond in the ’50s.
Thanks to Avril Espy and Katherine Gagnon for chairing this exhibit and monthlong series of events.
Beetlebung Farm has changed the days it will be open to Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, 8 am to 5 pm, and the bread comes out at 9 am. There is something lovely about picking up a loaf when it is still warm from the oven.
Friday, March 7, 7 pm, Pathways opens its doors for Abby Bender’s “Where Am I?” It’s a collection of songs, dances, musing, and other urgent experiments, a multimedia collaboration assembled by the inimitable Abby Bender.
Also at Pathways, Saturday, March 8, doors open at 6:30 and from 7 pm, father and son duo Brian and Aiden Weiland play Celtic music on fiddle and guitar, followed by Bruce MacNelly and John O’Toole playing electric guitar and vocals.
Pizza Night at the Chilmark Church returns Tuesday, March 11, at 6 pm.
March 11, Pathways hosts “Island Tales,” a night of writing set on Martha’s Vineyard. Doors open at 7 pm, and readings start at 7:30.
Valerie Sonnenthal, who offers us yoga, sound healings, Rev6 Vitality, and more is facing health challenges, and has added a Healing Journey Blog on her website, PeakedHillStudio.com, where she will post once a month. Her first is titled “Not A Letter to Nora Ephron,” and I encourage you to sign up for her classes and to read the blog. Valerie, I continue to hold you in the light.
Thank you, Joan Bainbridge, for the news that Kathy Coe’s burial at Abel’s Hill and memorial service at the Chilmark Community Center will be on Saturday, May 17. I don’t know the time, but expect to have full details by May. Kathy was an outstanding person.
If you have any Chilmark Town Column suggestions, email Claire Ganz, cganz@live.com.
