Mark Twain said, “Everyone talks about the weather, but no one does anything about it.” In these days of climate change that’s no longer strictly true, but most people recognize the sentiment. And as much as weather, community is one of those things that everyone talks about and everyone feels strongly about.
Yoga was founded as a spiritual practice: the physical poses, or asanas, were merely one element of a lifestyle that also included vegetarianism, community service and meditation. Though all these may be desirable, none is necessary for someone who wishes to benefit from yoga — and there are many benefits to be had. Yoga has been shown to help treat cancer, diabetes, heart disease and stroke, which kill two out of three Americans; yoga also soothes depression, aggression and many other mental problems. Think of the class cost as health insurance.
Compassionate Care ALS represents a new, or perhaps ancient, approach to medicine. Focusing on health care rather than disease treatment, the Cape-based nonprofit seeks to improve the quality of life of people who have ALS. This degenerative and irreversible nerve decay was made famous by Lou Gehrig and then Stephen Hawking. Doctors can do little to treat it or slow its progress ive destruction, even as the mind and senses remain.
The group of children sat whittling pieces of wood that had been split from a log. Hot coals had been used to burn a hollow into each block, and the children were paring away the excess wood to turn the block into a spoon. Squatting in front of them was Saskia Vanderhoop, who runs this remarkable program called Sassafras. She had brought in a bag of bright green boiled leaves, and passed it around for everyone to taste some. I couldn’t believe it when she told us it was milkweed! Boiled in two changes of water, it was mild as spinach but almost meaty in texture and flavor.
I recently returned from a three-week hiking trip in the Ozarks, in time for a second springtime here on-Island. Spring here seems to be about a month behind where it was in Arkansas: leaf-out just beginning, poison ivy red and crinkly and pert, puddles announcing their presence with shrill frog choruses. (At least I assume they’re frogs: has anyone ever actually seen a pinkletink in the act of chirping?
Springtime’s probably my favorite season for biking on the Vineyard. The colors and sounds and smells are just the antidote to a long, gray winter; or, if you’re a seasonal resident like myself, it’s a great time to get reacquainted with New England. The weather’s cool enough to pedal fast without overheating, you don’t have to carry as much water, and the traffic is still relatively light. Of course, you do have the drawback that, of the vehicles that are on the road, most of them are landscaping trucks.
