I’m looking out my windows, not wanting to miss a moment as spring changes from its early subtlety to the thickness of summer. We have had just the right combination of sunny days and rainy days to make new leaves appear overnight through our woods, and everything seems to bloom in a rush before it gets too hot. Or too dry. Or too whatever the summer will bring.
Harriet Bernstein invited me over to see her cherry trees. It’s always an iffy pleasure. There are years when a late frost turns the flowers from pink to a desiccated brown. Thankfully, this was not one of them. They are full, gorgeous, over-the-top pink. Hard to believe there are only three trees, as they span the entire front border of Harriet’s yard. We measured 25 feet between them, and their branches have grown together to almost shut out the sky. I can’t wait to paint them from the ground looking up. It was misty and rainy, making everything soft, almost obscured from a distance, but dramatic from my vantage point.
I am happy to announce the birth of Summer Larsen Gately. She was born on April 6, a perfect day for a birthday. Her parents are Michael and Olivia, and her big brother is Michael, too. Summer has two sets of Island grandparents, who will be a constant part of her life, as they have been for her brother. Michael and Betsy Gately live here in West Tisbury, with John and Susan Larsen just down the way in Chilmark. Congratulations to all of you, and welcome to Summer. Congratulations, too, to Michael (the grandfather), who has just become the new harbormaster in Vineyard Haven. We look forward to having Olivia back behind her desk at the library. Love to you all.
Don’t forget the Center for Living’s 5K Benefit Walk, for dementia and caregiver services, this Saturday, May 17. Meet at the Little Bridge in Oak Bluffs at 10 am. Rain date is the 18th.
Beach Befrienders put out a call for everyone to help clean up the South Shore beaches, where an abundance of trash has washed up. Bags are set out at Philbin, Squibnocket, and Lucy Vincent.
I ran into Tom Hodgson the other day at Vineyard Gardens. He was carrying a good-size Viburnum carlesii, a gift for his wife, Christine. After some discussion about the merits of Viburnum carlesii, especially its delicious fragrance, our conversation turned to vegetable gardens.
Tom and Christine have maintained the most extraordinary garden, which feeds them all year. Tom claimed they are downsizing this year, a combination of aging, which we both complained about, and the appearance of the most noxious plant known to man, bindweed, or wild morning glory.
I have it, too. It has been the bane of my gardening life, since I was a child weeding my mother’s garden. It has roots that go straight through to China, and even the tiniest trace left in the ground will resurface overnight as a full-grown plant just like the one you had thought you had eradicated. I was so happy never to see the stuff in my garden until about two years ago. I suppose birds dropped the seeds. It took over in no time, and no matter how much I weed, cover with thicknesses of newspaper, it comes back through any tiny spot where the edges don’t quite meet. I have already seen the miserable stuff coming up this year, and have started digging and pulling it up, knowing it is a fruitless exercise.
Tom did have a solution. He suggested black plastic — before adding, “but the only possible foolproof tactic would be a small tactical nuclear device.” I suspect it might be worth considering.
If you have any West Tisbury Town Column suggestions, email Hermine Hull, hermine.hull@gmail.com.
