Monthly Archives: August 2013

Approach, with mist, with expectation

Indira Ganesan, Summer in Sepia, 2013

Overcast skies that break into sun when the four o’clocks open. A blue-mooned month. Night, and the streets are less crowded, but still lively, as the men laugh loudly, in a place they can call their own, and wed whom they want. Marriages on the beach; shark sightings, sail boats rides at sunset. Treasures of summer, a season that included two recent fatalities. One, a woman I had just met mid-summer at a reading, a librarian who loved books and writers. Mist-filled mornings and night,with fog so thick it lashes onto the glass. Summer calls, hurry, hurry, I am here momentarily, so seize me quick.

The edge of fall approaching

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It is there in the horizon, the coolness of the nights, the reach for a scarf or sweater at dinner. The garden looks slightly spent in spots; the fennel and oregano have been in flower for weeks now. Autumn winks, hints it won’t be long before pencils sharpen, fresh notebooks packed into backpacks. Summer, you are never more ravishing than when you are ready to slip away.

Bags and Bags of Books

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Chilmark Reception Site/Vineyard Gazette

When one comes back from a book festival, one’s arms are loaded with books. Mine were, along with a goodie bag full of chocolates, more books, and cloth bags. I also carried back a gallon of raw milk, and two large tubs of yogurt. Bliss. Of course I cut a comical scene with my bags slipping off each other every few paces, my arms threatening to fall off, but soon, I reached home, after one of the most invigorating and fun weekends I’d had in along while.

The Martha’s Vineyard Book Festival is offered up every two years, and this year was presented in two locations, in Edgartown, and in Chilmark. A heartfelt thank you to Suellen Lazarus and Bunch of Grapes Bookstore for organizing the events so seamlessly and so generously, and to Maggie Shipstead, Kitty Pilgrim, and J.Courtney Sullivan, plus our gracious tour-guide Howard for being such good company. And a shout-out to the lovely Joan Nathan who set the ball rolling.

Festivities for the authors included a number of receptions and breakfasts, including one in the very palatial yet discreet place that rumour has the Obamas staying at on their vacation. I sipped mineral water and wondered what it would be like to wake up with the ocean in one’s backyard.