HOLLY NADLER

508-274-2329

(hollynadler@gmail.com)

A couple of years ago in this column I promulgated the theory that Oak Bluffs held a record for the number of pink houses within a single township. My own rough count conducted during bike rides and dog walks around town put the figure at 14, and this represented only the all-pink houses, wall to wall, top to bottom pink. Other kinds of pinking could swell the ranks: cottages with pink shutters, dwellings with pink trim and gingerbread, and the half a dozen homes that are pink in front, and grey-shingled on the back and sides as if the householders thought that too much pink, like too much of the Valentine candy it resembles, could cause tooth decay.

Now we’re seeing a sad trend to de-pink Oak Bluffs cottages. First there was the three-story Victorian demi-mansion facing the Inkwell; not only was it huge and pink, and therefore hugely pink, but its miles of trim were painted a none-too-subtle shade of violet. If you consider that this row of houses with The Pink Lady in the middle, was the first glimpse of the Vineyard that people would behold sailing in to the Oak Bluffs wharf, you can imagine the scores of eyes bugging, jaws dropping and, if this had happened in the old days, smelling salts produced.

But a little over a year ago a new set of owners took over Madame Pink on the shore, and plans for remodeling centered on repainting the exterior walls a nice sedate buttercream with trim of black, beige and terra-cotta. Another pink cottage — this one sitting at the top of Kennebec directly across from Union Chapel, went from peony pink to hydrangea blue. Basically both pink and blue, as colors for houses, are still considered somewhat irregular, if not downright out of the box. So if we had to choose between pink and blue, I suggest that pink makes us happier.

Here’s an exercise I once came across in a woman’s magazine — maybe Glamour, maybe Cosmo. The idea behind it was this: If you’re feeling a little blue (see “blue” as a synonym for sadness?), take out a sheet of paper and make a list of six pink things. For example, pink ballet shoes, a pink backpack, Cinderella’s pink carriage, a pink toothbrush, a pink 1972 Buick Electra, a white Christmas tree with all pink bulbs. . . That’s my list, and if you sit down and write your own, you’ll find your spirits lifting like a. . . like a pink balloon!

So with the mood-elevating power of pink in mind, and if you’re planning to paint your house — inside or out — remember during tough times it’s great to see la vie en rose.

Meanwhile, the Minnesingers are planning a concert at the Oak Bluffs Council on Aging on Monday, Dec. 1, at 12:30 p.m. Refreshments will be served.

At the Oak Bluffs Library on Thursday, Dec. 10 from 6 to 7:45 p.m., Seasons of the Polly Hill Arboretum will be presented by Tom Clark, the collections and grounds manager at the arboretum. Refreshments will be served.

Happy Thanksgiving, all, and please don’t forget to shop for your Christmas gifts in beautiful downtown Oak Bluffs; for all our off-Island family and friends, nothing pleases them more than an item purchased on our shores.

Which reminds me of a cute story: Oak Bluffs selectman Ron DiOrio was visiting his daughter, son in law and grandchildren in San Francisco over the Halloween weekend. He took his five-year-old granddaughter out trick-or-treating along with one of her friends. Ron himself was wearing a pair of red corduroy pants imprinted with the Black Dog logo. When Ron’s granddaughter was asked about her small group’s costumes, she answered, “I’m a sugarplum fairy, my friend is an ice cream cone and my grandpa is dressed as Martha’s Vineyard.”