Ronni Simon sits in the gallery she shares with her photographer husband, Peter, at 54 Main street in Vineyard Haven, and knits. She knits quite a lot.

“It’s such an easy way to express your creativity,” she says. She also practices more challenging ways: the jewelry she fashions from sterling silver, gold, pearls and semi-precious gemstones, and her wall art wrought from sturdy wire and large beads.

“Knitting is like setting the table — you can take the time to make the experience really valuable and beautiful and calming,” Mrs. Simon says.

A little over a year and a half ago, Om of Motion opened its doors on State Road in West Tisbury. The premise was a spinning class that brought a meditative aspect to a normally inert form of exercise. What could be a grind — pedaling in one place while staring at a wall or hyper-caffeinated talk show hosts and news anchors — became a way to wind down while still winding up the heart rate.

In the very beginning, when nobody knew anything, everyone was afraid. It was 1986 and Kevin had just been diagnosed as HIV-positive. Many of his friends were dying from AIDS.

“I went to visit my friend Larry in a hospital, who had pneumocystis [a form of pneumonia],” Kevin recalled. “He was at the very end of the corridor and the rooms on either side of him and across the hall were all empty. When I went to visit him I had to put on a mask, a gown, gloves and booties. And then I went into the room and he was in an oxygen tent.”

Admit it, you always knew the trees were talking to you. The branches sway and wave, the wind moves through the leaves whispering words of the ancients. But up until now you didn’t know how to respond beyond a bit of marveling or maybe some brushing of the bark. But this Saturday, Dec. 1, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. you can learn to deepen your connection with the green world at a workshop entitled Communing with the Tree Spirits

Meditation is Medicine with Wendy Chabot, M.D., begins again at The Yoga Barn on Nov. 27 and continues each Wednesday afterwards from 3:30 to 5 p.m.

Citing a community effort to counter teenage drinking, the Youth Task Force announced last week that a youth behavior survey shows a decrease in alcohol use by Island teens, though the rates are slightly higher than the national average.

But they also cited concern about a rise in marijuana use, saying that the legalization of marijuana has contributed to increased use by teenagers.