Sunday morning. The snow is quietly, softly falling. Walking through the flakes is an exercise in gentleness. For now. We are warned that, after a day of accumulation, icy rain will enter the mix this evening. Here on our homestead, we’re prepared. We have candles and matches, wood for the woodstove, freshly baked bread and scones, ample supplies of food and water. I trooped to the library yesterday and loaded up on reading material. Isaac has draped our car with a tarp to make it easier to remove snow if and when we need to go somewhere. He and his team have tested their plowing equipment, and prepared the sand pile for spreading. Our cat is safely inside our house; Rosie the dog is safely inside Noli and Isaac’s house. Both animals are already bored, but they are out of danger and that’s a good thing.
Me? I love snow and the hunker-down spirit of winter. Baking, books, beloveds, birds, and quiet. It’s a lovely time of year.
One of the things that I like about winter is the drastically reduced danger of tick bites. Here in Aquinnah you don’t have to go far to find someone who has, or had, a tick-borne illness. Right now, there are lots of us who have succumbed to alpha-gal, the allergy to mammal protein you can get from a tick bite. Having the allergy means no more mammal meat or dairy, or mammal products. Goodbye to cheese. Goodbye to ice cream. No more pork chops or beef stew. Both Charley and I have alpha-gal. I whined a lot as I cleaned out our freezer and refrigerator. I wept as I threw away medications encased in gelatin capsules. I grumped as I tried to figure out how to vary our menus. I got desperate enough to start mining the wealth of recipes available on the internet and in cookbooks. Revelation ensued. I learned how to make pretend Parmesan cheese for our pasta, and frosting for our cake. I learned many ways to prepare lentils. I learned the joys of nut milks. Recipes gathered in piles all over my kitchen. Our palettes became more sophisticated. Then, in order to share what I was learning, I threw the recipes together into a cookbook that I could sell at the Aquinnah Artisans Fair. It sold out. Afterward, I caught a hilarious typo in the cookbook. AI had changed the word “peanuts” to “children,” so if you purchased the book, please note that you are not to sprinkle children onto the Dumplings and Smashed Cucumbers with Peanut Sauce on page 8. And if you throw together something to print and disseminate, be afraid of AI edits.
Last week I told you about the “Crunch” exhibit, opening at the M.V. Museum last Saturday afternoon. I told you the exhibit was free! And the opening was free! However, if you missed the opening, MVM says, there is — “unfortunately,” they say — an admission charge to visit the museum, and “Crunch,” during regular museum hours. (The Aquinnah library has free MVM admission passes available.)
Island Health Care and the Aquinnah library are part of the safety net that keeps on being there for us. Together they are sponsoring a set of free, virtual, Winter Wellness sessions designed to support your health and well-being during the colder months. The first session will be held on Thursday, Jan. 29. It’s a discussion on winter eating and mental well-being. I know that some people get depressed by the cold and gray of winter, and think that this could truly be a helpful discussion. For more information and to register, go to your browser and enter ihimv.org/winterwellness, or call the Aquinnah library at 508-645-2314.
If you’re looking for something to read, I suggest a look at the U.S. Constitution and the seemingly forgotten Bill of Rights. You can find them online or at your local library. If our beautiful country ever needed an educated citizenry, it is now. Educate yourself.
Stay warm. Watch your step. Slow down when driving. Tell your beloveds that you love them. And wish happy birthday to David Vanderhoop on Jan. 29, to Chris Murphy on Feb. 1, and on Feb. 3 to Tysonnae Aiguier-Bolling and Wunotuway Vanderhoop Powell.