MARGARET KNIGHT

508-627-8894

(margaret02539@yahoo.com)

Winter always seems a better season when I can get outside and enjoy some winter sports. With the changeable weather of the winters we’ve been having recently, one needs to snatch the moment of sport because whatever weather manifestation there is might not last.

This past Sunday when Lily and I were out walking, we passed Brine’s Pond and decided to check the ice, even though the previous couple of days had been relatively warm, after some days of cold. When we got close to the pond, we could make out some skate marks. Not knowing when they were from, we eased out onto the ice to check its sturdiness. I don’t recommend checking ice by this method unless, as is true in parts of Brine’s Pond, if you fall through you’re likely to get wet only up to your knees.

The ice didn’t crack, much, so we went home and dug out our skates and had a lovely skate, staying close to the edge, until just about sunset. Our old ill-fitting skates, and creaky muscles in my case, made it so we didn’t skate long, but it was enough to rekindle the old joy of gliding along the ice. I planned to skate early the next morning but woke to melt water dripping from the roof, and gave up the idea.

On the first day of 2009, that blustery, blue-sky day, I went out in the late morning for a quick ski on the snow that had blown in the last day of 2008. I wondered if I’d see anyone else’s tracks; it was frigid out there. As I skied on the path along the edge of the swamp, I came upon the belly gliding tracks of an otter. They went on and on, and it made me happy to think of the fun that otter must have had, pushing itself along on the good slippery snow. Soon that snow had turned to ice, and made the ruts in the dirt roads resemble twin luge tracks — there was no stopping going downhill.

A few storms ago, an odd looking contraption washed up onto the shore near the Point. It’s some sort of aquabike — a bike sitting up on purple pontoons with pedals that connect to a propeller to create power for moving through the water. On that warm Sunday past, while Lily and I were skating, other people found it the perfect weather to try out the aquabike. Peter Wells, a well-known aquabiker from the 1970s, Skip Bettencourt, and Roger Becker went out for short forays around Peter’s Boston Whaler that’s moored off the beach near the ferry. Nancy Hugger was about to try it out when the rusted seat broke off.

The On Time II should be back to Chappy by the time you read this — finally. Work took a couple of months longer than expected, because the in-depth overhaul kept revealing new areas for upgrading. We should now have a thoroughly reliable second ferry, which is a relief to us all, although the On Time III has held up nicely while being the sole ferry. There are still some last jobs to be finished on the II, but the hull and the main work is done, and the ferry’s welcome in the Vineyard Haven dry dock had worn out.

The Adult and Community Education of Martha’s Vineyard’s winter term runs from Jan. 12 through Feb. 13. There are some great courses and seminars being offered, and it’s worth checking out the catalog at the web site: acemv.org or picking up a catalog at any Island library or school. Classes are listed under the headings of arts and communication, business/computer, cooking, health/fitness/self help, history/government/community, Island living/home and garden, languages, parenting and education, and writing. Registration is online or on the first night of the class with an added fee of $5.

I will be offering a one-evening seminar as an introduction to the Alexander Technique, a mind-body way of making changes. It’s helpful in addressing issues of chronic tension, alignment/posture issues, and recovery from injury, as well as being a way to change any movement habits.

It seems that some holiday elf hung decorative balls of greens and ribbon in various spots around Chappy. Three were hung on a tree in front of the community center on Christmas Eve, another at the dike bridge, at fishermen’s landing and near the guard house at Wasque. Also, a box of the most beautifully decorated mouthwatering sweets was left on a table on the community center porch. We figured they were for the Christmas Eve dinner, but maybe someone using the wifi just forgot them there, and was disappointed to find them gone when they came back. This may not be the work of the same elf, but Sue Geresy noticed a couple of small evergreens planted in a few spots including the triangle of land at five corners.