Nothing quite like a rainy early morning on the Vineyard, when it is
just me up. I could sit here all
day.
But fortunately the sun came out, because as I overheard a mom on the
beach saying “if I have to deal with another rainy day . . . ” This, however, was a windy day on the beach,
which means strong gusts frost your towels and your book and you and pretty
much everything with a layer of sand.
We’re kind of stuck there because Bill has taken the car to Vineyard
Haven to get the glass fixed and it takes far longer than expected. We imagine him wandering around VH with just
his beach chair and a box of Wheat Thins but of course he is more resourceful
than that. He makes his way to the Bunch
of Grapes bookstore, where he runs into the unstoppable Phoebe Lewis, who is
relaxing on the Island between trips up Russian rivers and African safaris or
somesuch.
Maya, who is kind enough to give us a ride back to the house, says she
likes a sandy day like this. That’s
Martha’s Vineyard for me, she says, being all sandy. I get it.
You tolerate and even expect that sticky salty crackly sandy feeling
because it is the beach and the summer and it is best on this magical island.
The only reason we’re anxious about getting off the beach in time today
is that we’ve got a 6 pm reservation at the Red Cat, our preferred
pre-Sing-A-Long dinner spot. The Cat
doesn’t disappoint, although I’ll note that it is getting more and more
expensive and now all the menus are laminated and they match so you don’t get
one for today and one dated two weeks ago and others in different fonts. That’s what happens when the Obamas eat at
your place regularly, things get spiffed up.
Nor does the Sing-A-Long disappoint, although it feels like Master of
Ceremonies Bob Cleasby has a slightly harder time getting the audience
going. It’s a small group tonight, and
those age 40+ well outnumber the 40-.
Also, they’re getting fancy with slides and lyrics which is nice except when
someone has a hair-trigger on the clicker.
An attempt to sing Memory (yes, that one, from Cats) goes hilariously
awry when the slides start jumping all over the place while the pianist plays
on, blissfully unaware. Nothing that a
rousing rendition of the Swiss Navy can’t fix, however! While some may sing their way right home to
West Tisbury, we make a beeline for the Back Door, for apple fritter session
no. 2 of this trip. There may be more.
Bill feels that Bob Cleasby is perfectly named for his role. And with his red pants, you feel like you are
in a modern-day version of the Music Man.
We have started to notice that there is a burgeoning grammar crisis on
Martha’s Vineyard. Peter and Izzy are
seriously irritated by the Cardboard Box’s[1]
slogan of FOOD DRINK REVEL. They believe
that it should be FOOD DRINK REVELRY or EAT DRINK REVEL. They’re not wrong.
Peter is also practically undone by the new drawbridge, which is named
the Korean and Vietnam Veterans Bridge.
Is it for all Korean veterans, he asks, if so, should it not be Korean
and Vietnamese Veterans? Alternatively,
Korea and Vietnam? Or Korean and
Vietnamese Wars? Or Korean War and
Vietnam War? [2]
You’d think that on an island with a particularly high concentration
of writers, they’d do a little better with the verbiage.
[1] The Cardboard Box is a restaurant across the street from the Red Cat,
owned by the same people. It is now
famous as the The-Place-The-Obamas-Went-This-Year.
[2] Yes, we do actually know what they are getting at. But now that you’ve thought about it, don’t
you agree?
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