by Diane Jaquith

I remember... The day your mom and dad arrived at Diamond Cove from Austin with a baby in the car! We hadn't talked in some time and had no idea that Amelia was born. I was out in the yard and your dad stopped the car to say Hi. What a lovely surprise to meet tiny Amelia in the car seat on that spring day. Our daugher, Lia, and Amelia became Diamond Cove friends; Jane and our son, Luke, are almost the same age - we had fun together at birthday parties and play dates in Annisquam, Newton and Sherborn. The kids would play and Peggy and I would sit in the kitchen laughing and sharing parenting stories. We all looked forward to summers and the month that the Hall family took over ROC.

Peggy and I are both artists and we went on a few art outings - I remember going to Newton Open Studios together and we both bought the same mini-paint box made in a cigar box by an eccentric artist. We went to friends' studios and the Davis Museum in Wellesley. Our interests in art were similar - landscapes and the unusual, unexpected art that emerges from experienced artists.

No one could match Peg's love of swimming and sun. I remember her perpetually sunburnt nose, and how much she loved the little beach adjacent to the Lighthouse. The whole family would go over in the early afternoon and remain past sunset, tide permitting.


I learned a lot about painting and nature from Peg. There was the lichen exhibit -- she became enamored of lichens and painted them into many of her paintings. There was a great show -- I forget where, maybe Broadmoor -- of her work along with that of others. We went to a lot of her openings, at the Sherborn library, Broadmoor and other places. Peg and I both loved this road in Essex - Island Road - which ends with a broad vista of the marshes leading out to Hog Island. If you get the sun and tide right, you can paint there for several hours without a big change in light. We had plans to paint there together some day but never got around to it.

The last time I saw Peggy was when my hard drive crashed and Britt offered to take a look. We sat on the deck overlooking the pool and were joined by hummingbirds at the feeder. I had no idea that hummingbirds came this far north and Peg showed me how to set up the feeder to attract them. We now have hummingbirds in our garden and, along with our Weber memorial birdbath, the garden will always remind us of Peggy's warm spirit and love of nature.