The New Year has come and gone and I believe the Island has had two days of sun in a row in 2016. Not bad!
While last year was a bit of a challenge with a few breaks and bumps along the way, island mettle still had a few adventures. A brief summary follows. one could say this is my Annual Report.
As the name change to island mettle occurred the Winter found us exploring a new location... in a warmer clime. I found that mettle can develop in a variety of locations and indeed it did.
Lew was kept busy just as he would be on the Island at that time of year - indoors.
He renewed old friendships - here with Pastor Frank Maxwell - and made new ones, watching, listening, and learning. Paying one's dues, is the same here as on the Island.
Location is everything sometimes and this year being in the warm meant we could get an early art fix on the way back to the Island when we stopped in Atlanta to observe Doug as he competed in Olmstead Plein Air Invitational. Proud is a good word to use here. Many of you can relate to the excitement, satisfaction, and awe of seeing your child(?) do what he loves. (Oh, and the painting shown here sold...even better!).
Art figured in a couple of events that ranked high for the Island this year and island mettle was happy to share them with you wonderful folks who catch up with me in this space. The Art and Nature Center turned 50.
Donna Russell together with Dave Ranney produced an initial presentation of her play, Dear Rhoda in the studio space at the Hotel Washington. A full production is planned for the TPAC stage June 16, 17, and 18. The preliminary run-through at the Hotel was delightful so make plans to see this version. A Donna Russell production is not to be missed!
A fun thing happened this year for island mettle. Some posts started to get high numbers. Here are three favorites this year. This one from July was a quick snap of a sunset at - aptly - Sunset Resort. It was a win-win for the Resort and the mettle and I learned what happens to numbers when sites share. Fun? Yes!
Fall was a good color time and folks clicked on this view. Nature seems to a favorite like and share. The island mettle Page on Face Book has been fun. Filled with topical information, the hope is that people can be updated more frequently than what a blog post can do. I thank everyone who has allowed me to post their gems here as well as on Facebook. This continues to be a team effort.
Lastly, a still taken out of a small video from an early morning ferry run one morning last month. There were several firsts for me that day. Had never done a video let alone posted one. I discovered the magic of #s multiplying as the Washington Island Ferry Page picked the video up and shared it with their Face Book friends. Over 2,600 reached by that post! I realize lots of blogs have much higher numbers than that. For me, that day was special. It was such fun to watch that happen! Thank you, WIFL.
I ran across a fitting quote this afternoon.
“People who wonder whether the glass is half empty or half full miss the point.
The glass is refillable.”
I hope this season has allowed a filling up for you readers and this year continues on that path. It can be a real pleasant feeling. I wish it for all of you.
Til next time...Happy New Year!