We really could celebrate anything. Imagine: Festival of the First Snow, or Cupcake Day, or Commemoration of Our First Kiss. We could make a lovely fuss about strawberry picking or Emily Dickinson’s birthday or the full moon. Or fireflies. Or the first kayak run of the season. Or the last kayak run of the season. Or the Blessing of a New Piano. I love to think of all the cakes, the banners, the fireworks, the champagne, the hugs and kisses and congratulations. Anything we love or that has special meaning for us is game!
Yesterday I got to take part in one such celebration in West Groton at The Clover Farm Market, one of my favorite places to get a sandwich, buy a bottle of wine, munch a Squannacookie, or chat with Jan, the owner. Jan is the coolest – artsy, friendly, welcoming, and a brilliant cook to boot. For a long time, she has dreamed of drawing attention to Edmund C. Tarbell, a 19th century luminary of West Groton who became one of the best-known and respected of the American Impressionist painters. To that end, Jan and my friends Nancy Beaudette and Christine Hatch, worked with local businesses to organize Tarbell Days, a week-long festival that commemorated Tarbell’s beautiful paintings and also the beauty, spirit, and neighborliness of West Groton. What a menu of fun they arranged, too! Outdoor painting, a photography contest, children’s activities, a wine tasting, and even a man carving a canoe paddle down the road at the Nashoba Paddler (which is a great way to taste the delights of kayaking if you don’t have your own boat, by the way). The festival culminated yesterday with music all day and into the evening, not only at the Market but also at the nearby Groton Nursery and Garden Center.
I just love how inclusive this is. Jan’s dream bore fruit in so many ways. We were educated about Edmund C. Tarbell whose art inspires us to even more deeply enjoy our beautiful area AND to look carefully for inspiration in everyday life (where he seemed to find it regularly – everything from children eating breakfast to watching his own sons and daughters on horseback in the woods). We were brought together with our neighbors and friends in the warmest, most casual way. Here are two of my friends listening to another friend, Louis Arnold, a guitar master and exquisite musician:
Carolyn and Margie listening to Louis Arnold
The Clover Farm Market and other local businesses got a little surge of attention and business. And we felt great pride and delight in our neighborhood, in the talents and ingenuity and spark of our friends and neighbors and even our ancestors here.
All of this can come from the simple desire to celebrate, to make a little fuss, to throw a party, to bestow honor, to cook up some fun. So hats off to Jan, Nancy, Chris, Pat at the Garden Center, and everyone at the Paddler, and to everyone who threw such a marvelous party for all of us. I feel inspired to follow your example! Here’s me below singing a May Day song, happy to be alive and celebrating art, friends, love, and the first of May:
Kate laughing at the Clover Farm Market
