Commentary
A Different Kind of Visit
In August 1994, the last year the annual agricultural fair was held on the grounds of the old Grange Hall in West Tisbury, the fair was on, and I was crossing State Road by the town hall as two motorcycle escorts heralded the arrival of President Clinton’s motorcade.
Well, yes we did. At long last, my “darlings” have won a ribbon at the fair. A blue one (technically, pale blue — honorable mention), but blue nonetheless. A life dream now realized. And sweet it is.
Four years ago I chronicled the saga behind my own long-held ambition aroused in 1977 when I first spotted cherry tomatoes displayed in the exhibit hall at the West Tisbury Grange Hall.
Thinking Outside the Lunchbox
Apparently fifty-six million students are expected to go to school across the country this fall. They may have spent seven-plus billion dollars in family clothing stores and more than two billion in bookstores to get ready for the day. They may carry an apple in their lunchbox, or, if anyone still does it, one for the teacher; those would be some of the nation’s nearly ten billion pounds of the shiny fruit produced annually in America.
Labor Day 2009
The national holiday on Monday is a singular celebration of American workers, and it stands apart from most other holidays in its lack of ritual — there is no music, no traditional meal and no parade that accompanies Labor Day.
Preparing Oneself for Dying
Compulsively,
I strive to find a method
for a confrontation with what must be done
to save my children from the task of doing it when I die.
Make lists.
Make lists.
I sharpen pencils with an out-damn-spot intensity.
In shaded rooms,
on yellow pads,
I hide myself from sun
to settle my affairs:
No Rest for Chocolatiers
From Gazette editions of September, 1984: