Bettye Foster Baker>

508-696-9983

(bdrbaker@comcast.net)

There are few times in our lives when we can witness the beginning of the life cycle to self-independence of a living creature. I was such a witness for over four weeks, and will be forever grateful for the small pleasure nature delivered to me in the corner eave of my porch.

Having spent every summer of my childhood at Girl Scout camps in Louisville, Ky., and across the country in the arms of nature, from the age of eight until I was a junior in college; after living over a half-century, I was gifted by a group of purple finches and it could not have come at a better time in my life which was shared and chronicled with my seven-year-old granddaughter, Julianne Frances Walker. The lessons we learned are the lessons of life.

Team work and cooperation: The finches worked together, each bringing fill for the nest. There were at least seven or eight laboring all day until it was finished. The piece de resistance was a long, white string fastened firmly to the nest which caught the breeze and moved freely as if to signal all that this was the goal — to move effortlessly in the wind.

Stamina to succeed: Once the eggs were laid, the one finch, which my granddaughter decided was the mother, sat day and night, never moving, except for an occasional threat from some outside disturbance. The team brought her food. They sang to her and perched on the hanging baskets on occasion to keep her company. We wrote this down.

Shared responsibility: Once the eggs hatched there were constant flights to and from the nest by the team to feed the newborn babies, which snuggled low in the nest until the regurgitated food was placed in their open, eager mouths. As they grew stronger, we could hear their sweet chirping.

Joy in accomplishment: One by one, they raised their heads higher in the nest, until Saturday afternoon last week, we saw only one small head, confident and peering.

On Sunday morning, when we returned home from church, we looked inside the nest and learned from Julianne’s grandfather that one, the last one, had flown away.

Do the birds know more than we? At a time when our communities and nation are being challenged by the disparate points of view that make up the one minute life or death news cycle, when political ideologues have our President under siege, perhaps a little bird-watching might offer a different perspective as to what “united” means, if not a more constructive alternative.

How could anyone forget that the blockbuster film Jaws was filmed on Martha’s Vineyard. That was 35 years ago. Are sharks a reason for concern off the Island waters? Greg Skomal of Oak Bluffs is the featured scientist in a Martha’s Vineyard Magazine July 2010 article, titled Unraveling the Great White Hype.

On Friday, July 30, from 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., the Cottagers will host the second day of their African American Cultural Festival. There will be a series of extraordinary fun activities for the entire family at Cottagers’ Corner, 57 Pequot avenue and in Hartford Park across the street. Beginning at 10:30, there will be line dancing with Kim Longino and Cheryl Grimes until noon. Tweens should come out at 12:30 p.m., and learn Afrocentric beading and jewelry making. From 2 to 2:45 p.m., Ed Rhodes, jazz researcher, will get you in the groove with such topics as What Was the Name of that Record? From 3:15 to 4 p.m., the Rev. Debbie Finley-Jackson will present Hope for Haiti: An Eyewitness Report. She’s been there. Come out and learn firsthand what it was like. But that’s not all. The evening will conclude with an interactive presentation, A Celebration of Anthropologist, Dancer, Activist Katherine Dunham by professors Dana-Ain Davis, Queens College, Rosemarie Roberts, Connecticut College, and Cottager Lynn Bolles, University of Maryland. Don’t miss this wonderful festival. There will also be vendors selling jewelry, clothing, and art. All are free, require no reservations and food by Deon’s will be for sale.

On Saturday, July 31, at 4 p.m. at Ocean Park is the Della Brown Hardman Day, Savor the Moment celebration, cosponsored by the town of Oak Bluffs. A committee led by Esther Hopkins has planned a series of entertaining events for the entire community to enjoy.

The main event will be held near the bandstand. Lou Myers, who played the feisty Mr. Vernon Gaines in A Different World, is the special guest. His Cabaret performance, Just a Little Bit of Somethin’ will be featured along with Della Brown Hardman essay winners followed by a cake reception. All Island residents and visitors are welcome to join this celebration which highlights diversity and speaks to the inspired life Della led as artist, professor, beloved Vineyard resident, former Cottager.

On Monday, August 2 the All-Island Art Show begins at 9 a.m. at the Tabernacle. The two-day event features art from around the Island.

On Sunday, August 1, at 10 a.m. the guest preacher at the Union Chapel will be the Rev. Hal Taussig, marking his fourth appearance at the historic chapel. The title of his sermon is Losing Balloons at the Beach. The service is nondenominational and open to all. Summer attire is acceptable.

On Sunday, August 1, at 9 a.m. the celebrant at Trinity Episcopal Church will be the Rev. Stephanie Spellers. A former Cox Fellow and minister for the Radical Welcome program at St. Paul’s Cathedral in Boston, Reverend Spellers is a consultant and member of the Episcopal Church’s standing commission on domestic mission and evangelism. Trinity Episcopal Church, a summer chapel, is located on Ocean Avenue, across from the Steamship Authority terminal in Oak Bluffs. All are welcome.

Renaissance House, a retreat for artists and writers, will complete its eighth year this summer, providing emerging artists in need of solitude and work space a place to create. Many of the artists have been coming since the first year, and many are new. Renaissance House operates under the Helene Johnson and Dorothy West Foundation for Artists in Need. In 1945, Helene Johnson, the Harlem Renaissancepoet said: “In order to write, a person must have time to stare at the trees and do nothing.” The late Dorothy West, her cousin and year-round Island resident, also a writer during the Harlem Renaissance, was working at the Harborside Restaurant until Jacqueline Kennedy spotted her writing in the Gazette and gave her the opportunity to simply, “stare at the trees and do nothing,” which resulted in the acclaimed best-selling novel, The Wedding, a novel based on the life of Helene Johnson’s daughter, Abigail McGrath, who founded Renaissance House in 2002. 

  OnWednesday, August 4, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m, Shelley Moore Christiansen will cohost WCAI Radio’s summer pledge drive. Please take the time to tune into 90.1 FM and helpsupport our wonderful Cape and Islands NPR station. Shelley makes regular Vineyard commentaries which air every other Friday morning after the 8:30news and again in the afternoon.