Autumn will officially arrive this week. Colors have begun changing, fading, or intensifying, turning the landscape into something other than green. The shortening hours of daylight are already noticeable.
The Horse Council held a show on the Ag Hall grounds this past Sunday morning. Horses had been braided and beribboned, brushed until their coats gleamed. Riders sat erect as they guided their horses through a series of walks, trots, canters, and jumps. I enjoyed watching the girls and their horses who had worked so hard to prepare for the show.
It turned cooler as the day progressed. By the time Iyla and her cohort competed, it had begun to rain. Those wiser than I had brought coats, raincoats, rainhats, umbrellas, and blankets. I was chilled through by the time I got home, grateful for a hot cup of tea as I settled down with my cat and notes to write this week’s column.
From Jen Rand: The town of West Tisbury is offering the large pine at the intersection of Old County and State roads to anyone with a machine capable of moving it. Interested applicants must provide a certificate of insurance to the town, and must be able to move the tree within two weeks of notification of the award. In the case of more than one applicant, the winner will be chosen by a blind drawing. If interested, please send an email to townadmin@westtisbury-ma.gov, and put “tree removal” in the subject line. If you don’t receive an email confirmation of receipt, please confirm the office got your email. All emails must be received by noon on Oct. 13.
Yes, this is the tree lit with colored lights at Christmas, the tree the Estrella and Pachico children decorated with their grandparents, the tree that welcomes everyone coming from Vineyard Haven during the darkest nights of December. I have sent an email to Jen asking for information, and was surprised by her response. Does anyone remember that an evergreen there has been removed and replaced four times over the years? I didn’t. Jen said a smaller tree will continue to light our way home every December.
This Sunday, Sept. 27, the Barnes family invites everyone to celebrate the life of Trip Barnes. Arrive at 2 pm with a favorite potluck dish, and your best stories about Trip to share. There will be plenty of them.
The Martha’s Vineyard Museum has just opened an exhibition, “The Two Worlds of Denys Wortman.” Wortman’s work spanned his life in New York City, where he was a renowned cartoonist, and his life on the Vineyard, where he lived from 1941 until his death in 1958. He still mailed his daily “Metropolitan Movies” cartoons to the city, while also drawing, painting, and photographing people and places on the island. If you went to the Thomas Hart Benton show at the museum, you may remember seeing the portraits that Benton and Wortman painted of each other in their respective studios, a highlight of that exhibition. The show runs through Feb. 21.
Also at the museum, 12 animal portraits painted by Eleanor Hubbard. It’s called “Menagerie of Marvels,” and tells a wonderful story of the artist’s commitment to the welfare of animals in her art. It remains on view through Jan. 17.
At the West Tisbury library, artist Susan Bienem Johnson will speak about her work at the reception for her show, “Stone Walls, Graves, and Fishing Shack Windows,” on Tuesday, Sept. 29, noon to 2:30 pm.
I was sad to read that Nancy Nitchie died earlier this month. Her obit mentioned the plantings of daffodils, azaleas, and daylilies she left behind. I can’t imagine a lovelier legacy. Condolences to the Nitchie/Parker and Meegan family.
