MARGARET KNIGHT

508-627-8894

(margaret02539@yahoo.com)

This past week of sun and warmer temperatures was a relief after the previous stretch of gray days that seemed to endlessly alternate rain and snow — winter’s reprise. People were inspired to get outdoors again, to rake up the dead leaves and branches in preparation for spring — which means more work ahead! The snowdrops, in full bloom, looked happy to be uncovered.

By the time the sun came out again, the angle of its morning rays in our kitchen had noticeably shifted. On the window sill, the forsythia blossoms are bright yellow in contrast to the blue bottle in which they sit. I took a couple of branches from the bush by the corner of the Heywoods’ former summer house, now land bank property slated for removal, overlooking Cape Pogue Pond. While the forsythia is a reminder of summers past, the cheerful flowers give a glimpse of what’s to come. Too bad we can’t force spring like we can forsythia.

The spring bulbs are out of the ground a few inches. This time of year I’m always reminded of the children’s book about the grumpets and trumpets, odd little creatures locked in the perennial conflict of good and evil. One illustration shows a trumpet person in an underground hollow below a tulip bulb, having connected the wires between a battery and the bulb. He’s thrown the switch and the tulip is blooming aboveground in the wintery landscape, right next to a grumpet guard. On this last weekend before the official start of spring, there are so many choices of things to do — off Chappy and all inside — that I hope the weather will be cloudy so I can stand doing some of them. The Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival happens day and night in Chilmark, and the Island Theatre Workshop’s One Act Play Festival takes place at Katharine Cornell Theatre. On Saturday morning from 8 a.m. to noon, the hospital’s annual Health Fair offers screenings, demos and information tables. I will be there talking about the Alexander Technique at a table somewhere in one of the corridors.

Liz Villard will be lighting the play for the charter school next weekend. The play is a modern version of Alice in Wonderland.

The final program of the Edgartown library’s Island Plan 101 series on Wednesday, March 17, is titled The Path Ahead. It will feature James Athearn, who chaired the Island Plan steering committee, and Christina Brown, current chairman of the Martha’s Vineyard Commission. The program begins at 7 p.m. and ends at 8, but the library remains open until 9 for those needing to catch the ferry.

The library is offering a free weekly class in Brazilian Portuguese for English speakers every Wednesday evening at 6 p.m., beginning this past week. Eladio Falcao, the instructor, will teach about Brazilian culture and history as well as the language. To see if there is still space in the class, call the library at 508-627-4221.

The Martha’s Vineyard Library Association has been presenting a Winter Reading Series. On Thursday, March 18 at 5:30, the Edgartown library will host poetry and fiction fellows from Provincetown’s Fine Arts Work Center, known as the leading long-term residency program in the country for emerging artists and writers. They will read from their work, and engage in a question-and-answer session.

In the beginning of April, Peter will be hauling the On Time II for repainting and cosmetic upkeep. Kim and Jonathan will be back to help with the work. The boat should only be out for about a week.

In preparation for the gardening season, our goats have been recycling two Christmas trees into manure for the garden. First they’ve eaten the needles, then the branches and finally the bark. We gave them another tree this past week, and they ate the tip and the bark on the trunk, but won’t eat the needles. Perhaps a tree keeping needles this long after Christmas is a sign the tree was treated in some way, and the goats can tell. Despite their reputation for eating anything, goats are surprisingly picky. In fact, if their hay falls on the ground, they won’t eat it. They’re always happy to eat grain or seeds, though, and they especially like it if I give them a nibble of the chickens’ laying pellets.

Since the sun came out again, I find myself reflexively looking up at the osprey nest on the pole along the road to my house. It may be awhile before the osprey return, but according to the information on Rob Bierregaard’s osprey migration Web site, some already have started north.