O, Pioneers (Well, Maybe Not Exactly So)

Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • February 9, 2015

The Blizzard of 2015. Snow, wind, more wind. No power, no mobile phones (horror!) But we do have – wood burning stove, gas range top, candles, lanterns.


It’s when the power goes out for a long period of time that you are forced to slow down and live a bit closer to the way that Maria Mitchell and her family once did. Having a ten-month old son provided us with a different perspective this time around. His first blizzard. We had to make sure we had extra water on hand for bottle making and water to heat for bottle washing. While it was cold outside, we warmed the house with a woodstove that my parents were very smart to purchase when building our family home in 1983. It heats the entire house and keeps us nice and warm – as long as we feed it all night! It provides us with another stovetop to cook on, to heat water on, and now, to heat baby bottles on. It also is a place where we can warm our toes after going outside and to dry out our hats, mittens, boots, and socks. This blizzard however we found that our Siberian Husky had even had enough of the wind and snow and cold. Typically, she will walk in all weather – we say she is better than the post office – but this time she wouldn’t leave the driveway. That’s how you know it really is a blizzard.

When I was finally able to get in to check the Mitchell House and other MMA properties, this is what I found. It made me think about some of the pieces I have posted over the years from Maria Mitchell’s journals where she writes about the heavy snow and cold and sleighing along Main Street or the temperatures never getting above zero. She recounts all the games she played or poems and rhymes she wrote or new tatting she worked on – all to pass the time. And being in the Mitchell House always gives me a renewed perspective on how cold it got in houses then – especially in a room not lit by a fire. So the next time the power goes out (as long as you are safe), take some time to relish it, accept it, slow down, enjoy the people you are with. Read a book, just sit quietly doing nothing, nap, or better yet, write a poem or a silly rhyme. Even better, write silly rhymes about one another as Maria did with her Vassar students at her annual dome parties. Be creative, rely on your brain to entertain you – not your “device.”

View from the attic window.

Curator’s Cottage

I will make one plea here – and that is for people to at least have a landline that can call out locally and receive calls. Relying on your mobile phone is not always good as this latest storm illustrated. Landlines were the one thing not damaged by the storm – at least in most places on island. And this does not mean a cordless phone. You need to have one of those good old-fashioned cord phones with the push buttons where the handset is connected by a cord to the rest of the phone folks! It is the only way we really knew what was going on – my parents calling us from off-island to give us weather and power updates.


JNLF

Recent Posts

May 6, 2025
NANTUCKET, MA—The Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association (MMA) announces that it will host Richard Sotell, Certified Financial Planner (CFP) as its May featured Science Speaker Series presenter. His presentation “The Science of Money: The History of Tariffs and Taxation” will take place on Wednesday, May 21 from 7 – 8pm EST. The presentation will take place on Zoom and pre-registration is required. This event is free to all. Join the MMA and financial expert and top 401(k) advisor, Rich Sotell, for a discussion on the history of tariffs and taxation. Taxes and tariffs have played a major role in shaping nations. In America, British taxes and tariffs on goods like tea and paper helped spark the American Revolution. Later, U.S. tariffs were used to protect young industries from European competition. Today, taxes fund public services such as education, healthcare, and infrastructure, while tariffs are still used strategically—sometimes to encourage domestic production, other times as tools in international negotiations. Rich Sotell will discuss in detail how taxes and tariffs began and their relationship to our global economy. Sotell has been involved in the financial industry since 1975 and is a founder of the Kraematon Group and is responsible for the operations of the 401(k) division. He has developed marketing programs for both banks and mutual fund companies in the areas of IRA and 401(k). Sotell is a tax law expert concerning distributions from qualified retirement plans and IRA’s. He has lectured on these subjects to insurance company executives, on radio, and at several professional education programs. Sotell is currently a contributing member to several high level 401(k) advisory boards in the mutual fund and payroll industries. He was named by the Financial Times as a 2015 and 2016 “Top 401 Retirement Advisor,” a list of 401 elite professionals specializing in U.S. defined contribution plans. Sotell earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Colgate University in 1975. His professional designations include Certified Financial Planner (CFP), Investment Company/Variable Contracts – Series 6 Registration, and a Uniform Security Agent – Series 63 Registration. The Kraematon Group is a leading 401(k) consulting firm headquartered in Wellesley, MA. In addition to providing 401(k) consulting services to Allied American Insurance Agency and its former parent Arbella Insurance, Kraematon consults with over 3% of all Massachusetts based public companies regarding their 401(k) plans. Pre-registration is required. To register for this event, please follow the link below: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Bnb-sSBXSoqzss6aiArh9w#/registration About the Maria Mitchell Association: The Maria Mitchell Association was founded in 1902 to preserve the legacy of Nantucket native astronomer, naturalist, librarian, and educator, Maria Mitchell. After she discovered a comet in 1847, Mitchell’s international fame led to many achievements and awards, including an appointment as the first female professor of astronomy at Vassar College. Maria Mitchell believed in “learning by doing” and today that philosophy is reflected in the MMA’s mission statement, programs, research projects, and other activities. The Maria Mitchell Association operates two observatories, a natural science museum, an aquarium, a research center, and preserves the historic birthplace of Maria Mitchell. A wide variety of science and history-related programming is offered throughout the year for people of all ages. ###
By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger May 5, 2025
I have posted this during Women’s History Month before but because it is March and Women’s History Month, I think it’s worth repeating. It’s clever and helps to tell an important story in women’s history while giving it a bit of a 21 st century twist. It comes via the National Women’s History Project .  JNLF
May 1, 2025
“If you don’t look, you don’t see. You have to go and look.” -Edith Andrews
Show More