Ruth Folchman writes that her husband, Richard Wagner (our own Santa), is recovering from total knee replacement. Send him some healing thoughts. She also wants you to know that there will be no meditation practice at Town Hall on Jan. 28 or Feb. 5. I’m sure she would encourage you to proceed with your practice on your own.
With almost everything closed and the ocean too danged cold, you might be beginning to get bored. If so, you aren’t taking advantage of the wide range of things still available. Here’s a quick reminder. First, check out the library. In addition to great reads, and free coffee, with your library card you can read more news than you ever wanted. There’s free online, at-home access to the Washington Post, the New York Times, and/or the Boston Globe. That library card also gives you free access to Mango Languages, an easy-to-use online and app-based program for learning more than 70 languages (yes, you can), and access to Libby, an app that gives you free access to magazines, audiobooks, and best-selling e-books. Contact the library for help in getting tuned in to any of these, and more. Your mind awaits.
If you don’t want to cook, there are alternatives. Juli still has the Orange Peel open, and a peek inside often finds goodies to tickle your fancy. I’m delighted that State Road in West Tisbury is holding special winter hours. They’re hosting burger nights every Thursday, dinners on Fridays and Saturdays, and, on Thursdays through Saturdays from 11 to 2 they are offering up soup, sandwiches, salads, coffee, and delicious pastries. Menemsha and the West Tis. center both have possibilities as well. The Up-Island Council on Aging, together with the VTA and HAMV, is hosting a free shuttle service to their older adults’ weekly luncheon at Howes House. The shuttle will pick you up at your bus-accessible home, bring you to the 12:30 lunch, and return you home afterward. And, of course, the Up-Island Council is also holding its free monthly luncheon for seniors at the Aquinnah Town Hall on Wednesday, Jan. 28. Call the COA to register at 508-693-2896.
I’m most excited to tell you that on Saturday, Jan. 24, from 4 to 6 pm, the M.V. Museum is opening an exhibition about something that had a brief, but unforgettable, Aquinnah run. Held each fall from 1979 to 1982, what was known as the Crunch transformed the lands around what is now the Outermost Inn into a roaring, crashing, hilarious spectacle. People stripped out glass, relocated fuel tanks, and made last-minute cosmetic insults to old cars before smashing them into one another until only one remained running. Through photographs, artifacts, and firsthand stories, “The Crunch” promises to capture both the mayhem and the community spirit that made this event a legend. Go to the exhibit and see if you can find your parents or your aunties and uncles in the photos. If they were young then, and local, they were probably there. The exhibit is free, and the museum is always a good stop.
On Jan. 14, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz gave a beautiful, Churchill-worthy speech to the people of his state. He spoke of the need to defend law and order, justice, and humanity. He praised his fellow citizens for helping their neighbors, for recording the truth of what was happening there, for staying nonviolent. He said that it would not be like this forever. He described his state as an “island of decency, of justice, of community, of peace,” and asked that the people protect each other and not let anyone take away the goodness of who they are. I stand with them. My heart breaks that this is happening in my country. If you get a chance to listen to that speech, do so. It is history in the making.
Jan. 25 is the birthday of Ivan Vanderhoop, and on Jan. 28 we will remember Carl Widdis. Let me know your news by writing aquinnahcolumn@gmail.com.