MARGARET KNIGHT

508-627-8894

(margaret02539@yahoo.com)

Now that the holidays are over, Chappaquiddickers settle in for some serious wintertime living. Those who can’t take it have already left or are leaving soon. When I was younger, I could never understand the exodus to Florida, but I’m definitely starting to get it. This year my understanding began with the big blizzard before Christmas, and has continued since then, fed by fears about more big blizzards and being snowed in at the end of our long dirt road for the rest of the winter without power.

Meanwhile, winter has been looking pretty nice lately, with snow — but not too much snow — defining the contour of the land through the trees, and some sunshine here and there. People who come for the summer wonder what we do here in the winter. One thing many of us do is enjoy the nature that is all around us.

At my house, we feed the birds, and I like to see the many different kinds that visit our bird feeder located on a post at the edge of the porch. Sometimes I look out the window and see the beautiful black-and-white-striped red breasted woodpecker eating at the bird feeder, and there on the porch below it are our four black-and-white-striped barred rock hens hanging out waiting for the wild birds to knock down some sunflower seeds. I’ve realized that wild birdseed is a lot more expensive than chicken feed, and now since they’ve hit the jackpot with the sunflower seeds, the chickens aren’t even interested in the cheap scratch grain that used to be a treat. It could be an expensive winter.

Last Saturday, a harbor seal spent the afternoon and evening lying in Peter Well’s Boston Whaler that’s moored off the point. Lots of kids got to see the seal, and I received a picture of it from Shirley Dewing, taken by her son Ernie. The picture shows the seal looking out from the boat as if it’s enjoying the view while taking it a bit easy for a change, or as Ernie suggests: “a seal waiting for a ride.”

Wasque continues to undergo huge transformations. I went out there last weekend to see the latest changes. The ocean is eating away at the bank just below the parking lot furthest to the right, the one next to Katama Bay. There are large surfaces of the peat layer exposed at the tide line that look like big flat rocks. The whole Norton Point on the Chappy side has widened and moved further in, and continues to curve into the bay. There was a small island off the end of the point, and also a new point was forming on the ocean side, where the curve into the bay was greatest. At the main swimming beach, the boardwalk is mostly all gone up to the bank, and the swan pond continues to be shortened and narrowed by the beach pushing inward. It’s hard to believe how long the boardwalk out to the beach was just a few years ago. It’s interesting to live in such a dynamic place — and people wonder what happens here in the winter. The earth is changing before our very eyes!

Kevin Keady’s band, the Cattle Drivers, is playing at the Wharf every three weeks this winter. The next show is Saturday, Jan. 23, starting by 8:30. Kevin will also be performing The Raven at the Edgar Allan Poe event at the West Tisbury Library on January 17 at 3:00. Kevin has the perfect voice in performing this quintessential Poe poem.

The Chappy path committee reports that through the donations of 20 Chappy families, they raised the $2,500 needed to cover the expenses of the Northeastern students and faculty leader for their engineering survey of the Chappy roads. An e-mail from Bob Colvin, committee chair, states: “We believe this will be a significant step forward in our understanding of the need and potential for bike/pedestrian paths on Chappy. The process will include open discussions and feedback from the entire community and apply the state-of-the-art civil engineering concepts.” The next step planned is an opinion survey to go to all Chappy landowners in late January or early February. The Northeastern students are working on this project as a real life exercise in design and planning.

Liz Villard and Pat Rose are on the board of directors of the Island Theatre Workshop (ITW), which, after 42 years, has found a home in the old West Tisbury Library, now owned by the Martha’s Vineyard Preservation Trust. The structure was built in 1870 by Jonas Mitchell as part of the Dukes County Academy. The first floor was a study hall, and the second floor was the school’s dormitory. ITW is looking forward to using that historic building for educational purposes again.

ITW is looking for directors for the March 2010 One Act Play Festival. Open auditions for the festival will be on Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 16 and 17 at the Music street location. Times will be posted in the newspapers. For information, call 508 627-3166 or e-mail vineyardtenor@msn.com.

ITW’s annual meeting will be Wednesday, January 13 at 7:00 p.m. at the Music Street location, and they’re seeking new members. For information you can call 508-627-3166. You can enroll in the Apprentice Players for this spring by calling director Brian Ditchfield at 508-9394244.

Don’t forget to save Wednesday, Jan. 20 for the Ferry Drivers Appreciation Potluck at the community center. If you have an anecdote to tell about the ferry through the years, you can contact Mary Spencer at 508-627-4011 or me, or bring it the night of the potluck.