The cold wind blows my face, and blows Its frosty pepper up my nose.
Black are my steps on silver sod; Thick blows my frosty breath abroad; And tree and house, and hill and lake, Are frosted like a wedding cake.
From "Winter-Time" by Robert Louis StevensonToday it is snowing. Here's a photo of my cottage this morning.
The next three photos are of a house around the corner from me, snow covered ivy, and the harbor in Vineyard Haven. It's definitely a time to be indoors...when I went out the wind-driven snow pelted my face with crystals that felt like little pieces of glass.
In my cottage again, I am settling in for a week before Laurie and I leave for Africa. I have my visa back from the Ghanaian Embassy in D.C., so I'm set to go.
There's no doubt I've taken this picture before, but I couldn't resist taking the crescent moon between the silhouetted branches of the tree outside my front window. It really is an obsession.
No writing today, but I got a number of items checked off my to do list (looking up info for my cousin to help him start his Civil War museum, sending a card to a 90-year old boyhood friend of my dad's to say how many times I've heard her name spoken with fondness, some business letters for my aunt, etc.). Tomorrow I'll try to settled back into writing.
My last day in Maryland was spent mostly in Virginia. My cousin Karen took Aunt Gladys and me for a quick tour of Colonial Williamsburg. Well, we mostly went for the tea room and for the antique mall. We weren't there long enough to actually spend time going into the working shops in the colonial town where George Washington and James Madison both had pews in the church that has been there since 1715. (This isn't a photo of the church, but of one of the little homes in the market square area.) We had great fun and the weather was unbelievably balmy. Tomorrow I take the train back to Martha's Vineyard.
Having some uncompleted business here in Maryland, I've delayed my return to Martha's Vineyard until Monday. While here, I'm enjoying both the human and the non-human members of the family. The family cats having come from Kitty Hawk, NC are aptly named Wilbur and Orville. Orville, however, didn't do the younger brother justice, so he's been nicknamed "Imp" or "Impy." Just like kids, the cats often love the box more than the contents. With a hole cut in the side of this box, Impy has a new castle where, at least for now, he's king!
I'm having a terrific time with my family this week doing nothing but the usual shopping and running around. We exchanged gifts this morning, and I was so very pleased to receive an original watercolor still life from my cousin Lisa. She is not only a talented artist, but is a history major with a particular interest in 20th Century American Craft. She been offered an internship at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History in Washington, DC, and when she was visiting New York recently, she was approached by the curator of the Museum of American Design for an internship there.
No pressure whatsoever, I'm sure, but I was also given a beautiful portable watercolor set by my cousin Greg's family. I look forward to using it.
Sunday morning at 8:30 we had a surprise birthday breakfast for my cousin Rob. He was so thin when he was growing up, that he was nicknamed Ribs. My dad adapted it to a Spanish version when he came to visit in New Mexico - Ribbo - so he's known by the family as any of the above.
Rob is one of the premiere experts on the Civil War, and particularly the Confederacy. He is currently building what will be a Civil War Museum near Petersburg, VA. He's funny, extremely smart, and definitely one of my favorite people. I was happy to be able to join others in the family to wish him a happy 50th birthday!
(Me wearing jeans, Vineyard t-shirt, LL Bean comfy sweater, right hand pulling roll aboard suitcase with stuffed Gap bag acting as purse balanced on top, left hand holding laptop in soft case with handle. At the entrance of the line to go through security. Enter stage left Generic Male Airline Guy.)
Generic Male Airline Guy (GMAG) to me:That suitcase looks too large.Come with me, we need to see if it fits in the carryon measurement bin.
Me to GMAG:I have a coat in there so it looks large.
GMAG:Why don’t you take it out and we’ll see if it fits in.
Me (taking out the coat):I was just trying to make it easy on myself.
Walking up to the two of us, a Generic Female Airline Woman (GFAW) to me:If you take that coat out, you can’t put it back in.
(I look confused.)
GFAW:If you take it out to fit the bag in the bin, you can’t put it back again.
Me, thinking “whatever” but saying:OK
GFAW:Now you have four carry on items, and you’re only allowed two.
(I look confused again.)
GFAW:You have the roll aboard, the bag, the laptop, and the coat.
Me (starting to get irritated):Can I put the coat on?
GFAW:Yes, you can put it on, but it will probably be hot.You still have three items.
(I put on my coat.)
GFAW:You’ll need to take the laptop out of the case and put the case in the roll aboard.
Me (definitely starting to feel a little like Kafka in ‘The Trial’):What?
GFAW (as if I hadn’t heard or was too stupid to have understood the first time):They’ll charge you if you have more than two items to carry on.(Points to the sign above the bin stating the rules)
Me:Where will they charge me?I’m going to change things around several times before I actually board the plane.
GFAW (ignoring my question):You’ll need to carry the laptop because it has to be put in the bin outside the suitcase, but you’ll have to put the case inside the roll aboard before going through.
Me (getting admittedly testy):Fine, I’ll take the laptop out before I get to the front of the line.
(GMAG stands by silently in case he needs to intervene and body slam me to the floor.)
GFAW:Look, Ma’m, I’m just trying to save you money.
(I look at her blankly, drop my head down as I shake it back and forth, and get into line.)
10 minutes later
I’ve made it through the first stage of the security check with no incident, and I’m sure thanks to GMAG and GFAW, no extra charges so far.I am to the x-ray belt with bin #1 containing my coat, liquids under 3 oz. all in one quart-size clear plastic baggie, and my cell phone, bin #2 containing my laptop (out of its case), and my shoes, and my roll aboard all on the table waiting to go through the x-ray machine.An airline pilot of some type asks politely if he can go ahead of me.I tell him that’s the most polite anyone’s been to me today.We agree it’s a sad state of affairs and he tells me all will be well after I leave the airport.As soon as he gets his 60 bags onto the belt in front of me, a woman in a coat barges in front of me and without saying a word begins to unload her cargo.She takes her coat off to reveal an airline uniform just in time to avoid whatever wicked, cutting remark I was about to come out with.Immediately following her, another GFAW pushes in front of me, ushering a young British couple through.Perhaps they were about to miss their flight…who knows, no one said a word except the guy behind me who was beginning to get as irritated as I.When the British couple’s belongings are all on the belt, I look back around the line and ask, “Anyone else?”No one comes forward, so I push my items through the car-wash-nylon strips and into the x-ray space.I go through the walk-through x-ray and wait on the other side for my items to emerge.
(Belt stopping)
Airline Security X-Ray Guy:Bag check on Lane 3.
(One, two, three, four minutes pass, and I wonder what kind of contraband the British couple are trying to smuggle on board)
Airline Security X-Ray Guy:Bag check on Lane 3.
(Airline Bag Check Guy arrives and pulls my Gap bag of the belt.)
ABCG (looking at me):Is this yours?
Me (wondering if they’re finally going to bust me for carrying my 4 oz. tube of Udderly Smooth Hand Lotion in my bag):Yes, that’s mine.
ABCG (thrusting his hand in and fishing out the can of ginger beer soda I had purchased yesterday for my cousin Greg – I had forgotten it was in there):If you want to drink this, you’ll have to go back on the other side of security and come through again.
Me (feeling both stupid and angry, and swearing a little more loudly than I had intended):No, that’s alright.It was a gift for someone else.
I gather the rest of my belongings and drag over to the re-load bench with tears in my eyes.I hate the terrorists in the world who have nothing better to do than ensure that I never get to give my cousin the can of ginger beer I bought behind the lines yesterday.Behind the lines where it’s legal to purchase something that contains more than 3 oz. of liquid.
After de-icing, slipping and sliding toward the runway to take off, and sitting in the plane being buffeted around in 40mph winds, more sensible heads prevailed and we returned to the gate. "Does anyone want to get off?" Yeah. Definitely me. (Many others unbelievable stayed on in hopes that after another 2 hours in the plane, they would be cleared to fly to NYC.) Me, I'm scheduled for the 4:40pm flight to D.C. tomorrow.
Staying in the Hilton in a $279 room and having an $18 cheese steak sandwich. But, happily, because I'm safe and in a warm, comfortable bed.
I'm posting this entry from row 19 seat C of the Delta Shuttle from Boston's Logan airport to New York's LaGuardia. Yes, that's snow under and around the plane. I snapped this photo as we were boarding. The Captain just announced that we will be delayed leaving Boston for at least an hour while, 1) they open another runway in LaGuardia, and 2) they reopen Logan after it being closed at this moment for snow removal.
It won't be long before I start to think there's no easy way to travel to D.C. from Martha's Vineyard, but for now I remain an optimist. Today I was to fly from the MV airport at 1pm to Logan and board a plane at 2:45 for a 4:30 arrival in Regan National in D.C. When I arrived at the MV airport, the Cape Air attendant informed me that all flights were canceled for the day in anticipation of the major snow storm headed our way (expected to leave 10-12" in its wake). Since I booked through Expedia, they weren't able to reach me to let me know. So, it was a call to Expedia (dot commmmm), a taxi back to Vineyard Haven to catch the noon Ferry (with 3 minutes to spare!), then a taxi from Woods Hole to Logan ($140 plus tip), and after one canceled and one very delayed flight, here I sit waiting for it to be safe enough to fly to LaGuardia to connect to D.C. I'll most likely arrive closer to 10pm. The price for living in a secluded place, I suppose.
Well, I'm happy and satisfied with my life, my family and my friends. I'm lucky enough to have time to enjoy the good things. Who could ask for anything more? :-)
While in the Post Office standing in line the other day (a daily activity), I heard several people talking about how beautifully the neighboring town of Oak Bluffs was decorated for Christmas. I took the bus over after dark tonight to see for myself. I was somewhat disappointed...it seemed rather subdued in my opinion, but here are a few of the nicer displays.
...kidding. It was a misty, foggy day, though. A quiet day and productive as far as my writing went. I wrote today about my dad's maternal grandfather, about how he still worked a team of four horses cutting timber and hauling the trees to the sawmill at age 70. And today for the first time I realized that my dad passed away on the same date that his grandfather had - September 24th. Great Grandpa Lucas died at 71 in 1926 when my dad was not quite six years old, and 81 years later, my dad died on the same date just one week shy of his 87th birthday. Who will remember what day I died?
Random photo: Vineyard Haven Cemetery this afternoon
Nothing beats the winter blues better than a massage and facial! The Mansion House Inn is on Main Street in Vineyard Haven, just 4 blocks from me. This afternoon I spent several hours being pampered...having all the kinks worked out of my back and shoulder, having the "fine lines" steamed, moisturized, and gently massaged out of my face. Of course, fine lines are the least of anyone's problem! Anyway, it was luxurious and I highly recommend it. Now I'm ready to hit the keys on my laptop once more in the hope of conveying the humor, tragedy, amazement, and adventure that filled my dad's early life.
Mansion House Inn at 5pm this afternoon. (I'll be happy when the days start getting longer!)
Lunch and a play. Very different feel about it than dinner and a movie, but taking myself out on a date was fun nonetheless. The day was cold but far from brutal and I needed some time away from the cottage after spending all morning writing. I went to the Black Dog Tavern for lunch. Those nine words seem so easy, but unless you're a woman and single, you can't appreciate their impact. If you're a man, single or married, fuhgetaboudit, you can never understand. If you're a woman but married and decide to take yourself out to lunch, you still know you are alone by choice and it's often a welcome change. But, if you're a single woman, you're there alone. It takes either lots of confidence or not caring at all. I'm happy to report that for me today it was the former. I took along "Writing from the Heart" written by Nancy Aronie who guided the writing workshop I attended on the Island when I first arrived two months ago. The codfish sandwich and a Pepsi looked the most appetizing, and I wasn't disappointed. The fish here (needless to say) is always fresh, light, and delicious. After taking my time enjoying my lunch and reading, I strolled along the dock watching the ferry unload its two-legged and four-wheeled cargo.
At 3pm, I went to a matinee of The Vineyard Playhouse's adaptation of Frank Capra's movie It's a Wonderful Life. The Playhouse performed it as a "live radio broadcast" version, so it was much like a staged reading with the actors at the microphones with their scripts in front of them. Sound effects were provided by a synthesizer and a variety of other objects. The production was brilliant. It amazes me each time I attend a live performance just how talented people can be. It doesn't matter that you see behind the scenes, you get carried away in the story and suspend disbelief for a couple of hours.
Coincidentally, I also just received the DVD of the movie version in the mail from Kathy (who often acts as my own personal Netflix). I'll watch the movie soon and as I always do, I'll cry at the end and sing "Auld Lang Syne" right along with all George's friends in Bedford Falls.
Today I'm very excited! I did something that I've never done before...purchased a painting. Well, I purchased 25% of it today and it will be mine in another 8 weeks. Laurie and I first saw the painting in Vineyard Haven when she visited last month. I fell in love with it immediately, but didn't decide to purchase until last night. This particular piece was featured in the Holiday 2008 edition of Vineyard Style along with the artist's profile. You can see her work at www.karataylorart.com I like many of Kara Taylor's paintings because she uses metallics in them...mostly gold, but sometimes silver or copper. They immediately reminded me of Gustav Klimt who has always been a favorite. See one of his most famous paintings - "The Kiss" at http://www.gustavklimtcollection.com/pages/thekiss.html Most all of Kara's paintings, however, unlike Klimt, are specifically dealing with nature.
She displays both photographic works and oil paintings. I bought "A Certain Kind of Madonna" - you can see it below.
Congratulate me, I'm a collector! :-)
Random photo: Blue ripples in Vineyard Haven Harbor today
I had been feeling pretty good about my writing progress. My goal is to complete a historically accurate novel about the first quarter century of my dad's life. My family is so lucky that Dad took time several years before his death to write many little stories about his childhood. Not only are they an insight into his personality and family, they are a treasure of information about early 20th century rural American life. My job is to weave the little scenes Dad left into a coherent story that covers the period from 1920 to 1945 or '46 when he completed his tour of duty with the U.S. Coast Guard in World War II. I'm not finding it too difficult to tie the stories together, but I'm not at all happy with the quality of my writing. Hopefully I'm just being hard on myself. I am early in the process and have a number of rewrites ahead. At this stage I should be satisfied to gather historical information to intertwine with the sketches to give the story authenticity. I should be satisfied.
Today I mailed away to the Embassy of Ghana in Washington, D.C. to get the visa necessary to enter the country in January. It's so weird to have to mail your passport, but that's what's required. I used Express Mail, so hopefully all will work out.
During my walk through town today I noticed that more and more businesses are closing for the season. I understand from talking to locals that between January 1st and the middle of April, the town is very, very quiet. I hope I don't get cabin fever! I will have to make sure and shift my focus to include more exercise in order to chase away winter blues.
Random photo: Sunset in Vineyard Haven this evening from my front yard
I'm happy to report that I'm posting this entry from my bedroom. This in itself isn't remarkable, but the fact that the bedroom is the farthest room in the cottage from the landlord and landlady's wi-fi and that I actually have internet access is remarkable! My Verizon broadband connection works like a charm.
Today I received several packages. I've ordered a few things to prepare for the trip Laurie and I are taking in January to visit her daughter Shayla in Ghana, Africa. At 21, Shayla has already seen and done more than either her mom or I have done up to this point. She is majoring in journalism and I have no question that she'll be a success.
Constant rain all day today. I was only out 45 minutes to run some errands, but I was so happy to get back into my warm, dry home. There's nothing that makes you appreciate comfort more than misery. My heart goes out to all those who aren't as fortunate as I.
I made it down to South Beach this morning for about 2 hours. The wind was fierce but the temperature was comfortable. The beach was deserted, the waves restless.
The origin of the word knot to measure wind speed is thought to have come from the original technique of measuring the speed of a ship in "nautical" miles and then expanded to include the speed of any vessel relative to the substance in which it travels (such as a plane in the case of air speed or wind).
This morning while washing my hair in the shower it occurred to me that wind speed is definitely measured in knots because of the correlation between wind speed and the number of knots it puts in your hair!
Today is one of those days. It's all my doing (which is true of most people's "one of those days")...it's about how we perceive our surroundings. Though I'm not sure how else I could perceive the washing machine making me get up twice to rearrange the lopsided load other than just a nuisance. You have to understand, when I say "get up," I mean, take the laptop off my lap and balance it on the back couch cushions, throw the pillow that was under the laptop to the foot of the couch, uncover myself from the throw, and THEN get up. And when I return, I reverse the procedure so when it happens twice in a few minutes, it gets annoying. Anyway, then my printer kept jamming (that really was my fault because I was pushing the paper in further than it should have been). At least my experiment with using the toaster to cook a veggie burger went pretty well (I don't have a toaster oven and I don't like it soggy from the microwave). By pretty well, I mean I remembered to unplug the toaster when I had to gingerly lift the patty out with a knife and fork. And I suppose it really is my fault that I feel all sugared out right now because I bought some donuts from the grocery store bakery that said, "Best if eaten before 12/11" - no one can accuse me of not giving a donut the best chance it has to be eaten while still fresh and tasty.
Although it was very cold last night (9 degrees was the forecast), I stayed plenty warm. The cottage isn't drafty at all, and I was under a big heavy quilt. The temperature today feels tropical compared to the cold wind yesterday. We were supposed to hit 50, but I'd say it was more like 40. I thought about taking the bus down to South Beach, but it was about 12:30 and I couldn't get to the beach and back before it was dark, so decided to defer that to a later date. I did walk the Vineyard Haven Harbor and docks, but even the ferry whistle (which echoed off the hillside) seemed forlorn. Just one of those days.
Tiny snow flakes have been falling on and off this morning. It is the first snow of the season. No matter how cold it makes things and how tired we get of it in February or March, the first snow is always exciting.
I'm settling back into my routine here on the island. I've been rather lazy the last two mornings, however, and haven't been up before 10am. Yesterday I did some shopping at Midnight Farm (co-owned by Carly Simon who lives on the Vineyard). It has mostly natural products - beauty, some little food items, clothing. On Main Street I heard the jingle of bells and the clomping of hooves which will all my life remind me of Dad. The merchants in Vineyard Haven apparently sponsor free rides up and down Main St. during the Christmas season. Here's a photo of the horses and the girl who was leading the wagonful of passengers.
I spent 20 minutes on the phone this morning with Verizon. Even with the wireless internet booster I bought in Phoenix, I've had so much trouble with stable connectivity to my landlord's wi-fi that I decided to buy a USB modem and monthly access plan. By mid-week, I should see if it does the trick. I did my research and every rating sight I've read recommends Verizon as the most reliable wi-fi service. Thankfully I already have my cell phone plan through Verizon, so adding a line was easy and not terribly expesive.
I'm writing each day and am relatively happy with my progress on the book. A small excerpt from the draft of Chapter 15 (the first chapter about my dad vs. earlier relatives) is below. I've finished my first draft of Chapter 1, and have skipped forward past Chapters 2-14 to work on Dad's life for a bit. I'll go back and pick up the earlier chapters later. I'm doing my best not to think too hard about the fact that two of my 11 months off have already passed.
It was early in April 1924, and by now brother John was almost seven and brother Larry was five. Both were in school and it fell to Jim to help his mom with many of the chores at a younger age than either of his brothers had. Mrs. Hogan took Jim with her to the hay barrack in the barn. He climbed the ladder from the dirt floor up to the loft some 12 feet above the ground. Jim threw down some hay for the black cow to eat while she was being milked. He wondered why his mom didn’t throw the hay down herself, but he didn’t mind. Being that far up in the barn was exciting. Jim loved the smell of the hay and the way things looked from above. The black cow was wide in the middle and narrow at the head and tail. The straw scattered around the floor of the barn made a pretty pattern, and Jim noticed that when his mom straightened up from milking the cow, she looked like she had swallowed a big, round ball. Not long afterwards, Jim’s little brother Charles was born.
Random photos: caterpillar that crawled out from under my couch yesterday morning...note the dust all over his back!
As part of the research for the book I'm writing, I've been using the genealogy website Ancestry.com. This is the premiere site for research, and although I try to avoid the obvious and seek out information in all the obscure nooks and crannies of the internet, last night I spent a few hours building my family tree. What's nice about the site is that it gives you "hints" about documents or other family trees already on the site that might contain the person(s) you're looking for. I now have 176 people in the tree and that's only on my father's side of the family! This screen shot doesn't show it very well, but the generations keep going to the right...I have 10 generations back all the way to an ancestor who was born in 1670 in Germany. It's addictive.
(Totally unrelated photo I took today of my Shell Dish / Coin Bank!)
Home again on the Vineyard. I had such a wonderful Thanksgiving break, but I am happy to be back in my little nest in Vineyard Haven. Yesterday's journey from Aunt Glady's house to my door took 14 1/2 hours, so I was happy to crawl into bed last night. I left at 7am and still only caught the last ferry from Woods Hole to Vineyard Haven at 8:30pm. A saving grace was that my cousin Karen gave me an upgrade coupon for Amtrak so I was able to travel in business class instead of coach. More leg room and I had the row to myself. I wrote and slept and ate and slept and wrote and slept some more.
My foot has been remarkably cured! I went to Dr. Martin Flaum in Rockville, MD and he x-rayed and examined my left foot. He determined that there was no bone spur but that it was plantar faciitis. familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/healthy/physical/injuries/140.html He injected cortisone into my heel as close as he could get to the inflamed area without me jumping off of the exam table, gave me a prescription for anti-inflammatory drugs, recommended orthotics for my shoes (which I bought right away), and sent me on my way since I was to be in Maryland for fewer than 24 hours. Within a few moments, I was able to place a little weight on that foot, and by today you wouldn't ever know I was even suffering!
One quick note about our entertainment on Tuesday night. Aunt Glady, Rob and I took the Metro down to DC to see a performance of A Christmas Carol. It was so much fun, and it really did put me in the holiday spirit. I should see more plays. In fact, today I picked up a flyer for The Vineyard Haven Playhouse's next production - It's A Wonderful Life - which will begin on 12/12.
It was very balmy day today - 50 degrees and sunny. My landlord hired a couple of guys to help him and the three of them blew all the leaves into piles to be raked up and hauled away. Autumn has ended and winter is here.
Today it is snowing. Here's a photo of my cottage this morning.
