Margaret Knight>

508 627-8894

(margaret02539@yahoo.com)

All of a sudden the leaves are all off and the world looks like winter, except my marigold “tree,” which is still blooming in the garden. And I’m still picking green beans – granted they’re tiny and few – and eating the last of the tomatoes.

As I biked to the ferry last Friday, looking at the bare trees and enjoying being outside, I thought: winter’s not so bad. Then I realized it was probably 60 degrees, and besides, winter is still a month away according to the calendar. But what I think I felt was that I could stand the fact that summer is gone, that the trees will look gray and brown for the next six or seven months. I even feel some excitement about winter: seeing the shape of the land through the trees, being cozy inside on a cold day (that is, if we can get our stove working better), and embracing the idea of the season as a time of slowing down and doing less.

The birds at my bird feeder provide lots of entertainment in the winter, and a sense of liveliness when most of the world looks stark and lifeless. When I walked into my kitchen and looked out the window first thing in the morning, there were three plump mourning doves sitting on the bird feeder looking like fat politicians waiting for a handout. They kept even the aggressive blue jays away – mostly just by sitting there passively, refusing to move.

Usually, on the short trip across the channel on the Chappy ferry, there’s not a lot of time for communication, and often someone is waiting for you to get out of the way so they can get off or on. Sometimes there isn’t time to clarify a passing exchange, and you drive away trying to figure out what the other person has just said.

I feel that way often when Cap’n Bob tells me something. He has a colorful way of expressing himself, maybe because he’s a poet. Early Sunday morning when the sides of the slip were in need of some grease, a job delayed by Peter’s pneumonia, the ferry was having a hard time coming into the slip straight enough to put the ramp down. The third time Bob walked by me to see if he could lower the ramp, he said, “I haven’t finished my morning pre-flight yet, and she’s upset I haven’t gone down and scratched her back a little bit.” That one took some pondering.

Cap’n Bob is an accomplished photographer who has shared his work with us for several years. Now he has donated one of his wood sculptures — abstract pieces suggested by the shape of the wood itself ­— to raise money at the Christmas sale at Featherstone Center for the Arts.

Peter Wells is back on his feet, at least some of the time, probably more than he should be. It’s good to see him back tending to the ferries again, though.

On Saturday, Nov. 29 there will be an open house and sale at the Chappy Community Center, with hot cider and goodies served in front of the fire. All are welcome between 2 and 4 p.m. For sale will be: the 2009 calendar; the Chappy recollections book; crafts including cards by Lily Morris, items knitted by Shirlee Miller and Shirley Dewing, Nancy Slate’s folk art pieces; and CCC T-shirts and tote bags.

Nov. 29 at 7 p.m., the community center will host a free screening of the award-winning documentary, Flow: For the Love of Water. The film is available courtesy of Vineyarder William Marks, who features in the film and will be at the screening to answer questions. Robert Redford says of Flow: “Water is the sleeping giant issue of the 21st century ... Flow opens our eyes about the greatest threat of our time — the global water crisis.”

Lily Morris will offer Saturday craft workshops at the community center on Dec. 13 and 20. The first class will be rubber stamping and collage holiday card making; the second, candle decorating with colored beeswax. More information later. Happy Thanksgiving.