Follow the Breath

What a week! Finally, the end of the war in Iraq and the 42-year reign of Muammar el-Qaddafi. For me, last week’s editor’s note about me down with the flu was a small part of the story.

By LYNNE IRONS

What a week! Finally, the end of the war in Iraq and the 42-year reign of Muammar el-Qaddafi. For me, last week’s editor’s note about me down with the flu was a small part of the story. Yes, I did have the fever and chills but the big deal was a back injury which kept me in bed for four days. It seems I was careless the previous Saturday during the annual dispatching of our pigs. I will spare the tender-hearted of you with the gory details.

Every birder has a nemesis bird, a bird so frustrating you might consider tearing your hair out. Allan Keith’s nemesis bird on Martha’s Vineyard was a yellow-headed blackbird. Allan can now relax; he saw the yellow-headed blackbird at the Maxner home on Oct. 20 thanks to Joyce Thigpen, Matt Pelikan and yours truly.

Puppet Parade

The fourth annual puppet parade takes place in Vineyard Haven this Saturday, Oct. 29, beginning at 3 p.m. The parade course starts at the St. Augustine Church parking lot on Franklin Street, heads down Church street, takes a left on Main street toward the Capawock movie theater and comes to a rest in front of the linden tree for a puppet celebration before heading back along the same route.

All are invited to watch or join in on the fun.

For more details, call Bella at 508-292-1706.

Psychic experiences have arguably been around since before the caverns of Chauvet, and certainly by the time of the Oracle of Delphi. But whereas psychics were once the toast of the town, people blessed with the clairvoyant gene stowed away their gifts when “witches” and “diviners” fell to the flames of indignant Puritans.

Eat, drink and be scary is good advice on Halloween.

To terrify others is perhaps the best suggestion I can give you if you consider what could happen if you don’t invoke fear and loathing from everyone that you meet during the upcoming holiday.

A Scottish saying asks that the

Good Lord, deliver us,

From ghoulies and ghosties

And long-leggedy beasties

And things that go bump in the night.

The late great star of the stage, Katharine Cornell, who lies buried behind the theatre she bequeathed to the town of Tisbury, would approve of the choice of The Turn of the Screw for the Island Theatre Workshop’s Halloween presentation.

Island’s Embrace Of Halloween Is Welcome Treat

With the advent of fall, some weekends on the Vineyard can seem rather quiet. Not this weekend. The Island takes its holidays seriously and Halloween is no exception.

Most people watch Sesame Street and think how wonderful it is. Others watch it and wish they could join in on the fun. But Kevin Clash fell so much in love he eventually became its leading light. Mr. Clash is the creator of Elmo.

Doesn’t the word kraken conjure up the most wonderfully disturbing images. Mythical giant squids and octopi harassing sailors of yore, not to mention giving a full-sized whale a fight for its life.

Well, this Tuesday, Nov. 1, at 7 p.m. the Vineyard Haven Library is bringing in an expert to go beyond the horror stories and suction pod trivia and get to the truth about these mysterious ocean creatures. Turns out they are actually one of the most intelligent species of the invertebrates.