Commentary
Art Alfresco
For a Good Cause
The cause for affordable housing is important, indeed vital, and many good people have been hard at work on this cause for a number of years now. Millions of dollars have been raised, countless hours of volunteer labor has been donated, housing has been built, and untold numbers of deserving Islanders who need the housing have benefitted.
This week is Bay State Bike Week, according to the press release that landed in my inbox this morning.
Everyone from Boston Mayor Thomas Menino to local commuters should do their part to raise awareness and keep Massachusetts clean, the press release said. I too should take action.
The thing is, I can’t.
I’m a 25-year-old Vineyard girl who cannot ride a bicycle.
As I write this, the lilacs are just about to bloom and the dogwoods are in full flower. So are the apple-family trees, which include crabapples, pears and quinces. (I wouldn’t know a quince tree if I saw it; I can only distinguish the others because last year that tree had pears on it.) Blueberry flowers are going crazy, blackberries not yet, and the young stems of sassafras are crunchily gelatinous and gooey. But the shadberries are a forager’s dream, because they signal two food sources at once.
How to be more environmentally responsible: we all approach it on many different levels. But every little bit helps. This year especially is important to take the threat to our environment seriously. You read about “going green” everywhere. But what does that really mean? Whether you recycle regularly and have a compost bin in your backyard or are just beginning to switch your lightbulbs over to the new more efficient bulbs, each of us can strive to make less of an impact on our already overburdened resources.
Dale (Goofy) Robinson died on March 21 after a prolonged battle with cancer. Goofy was Dale’s favorite Disney character and also his C.B. handle. In 1981 we teamed as occasional partners, at which time he bestowed upon me the handle of Wildflower.