Hello all and warm greetings from the summer heat of Toledo:
Back in Ohio for two weeks for the big wedding and fit in a trip up north before heading back to the green mountains on Saturday. Thought I would take some hotel time to make my latest submission.
Weather in Vermont- this is the glory time in the mountains- mid 70s during the day-mid 40s at night. Went down to N’Awlins for three days two weeks ago and hit md 90s with 100% humidity- left there at 8 in morning at 90 plus- got back to my house at 7 at night to 41 degrees-…that is a weird experience. All of this perfect weather makes the mountains so lush all you see is green wherever you look. Have to use our electric heater at night.
Farm Marketing in Vermont- we love farm markets and go far and wide to find new ones. A quite interesting mix of tenth generation Vermonters and the counter culture with its organics everything. Spent a nice Sunday afternoon two weeks ago searching out the little market in Dorset- which is set on route 30 in a valley between two mountain ranges. Small market in a grassy clearing along the road with the coming of the short fresh veggie season and lots of flowers and herbs- which have replaced bedding on Jen’s must have list.
Kayaking- we had our second outing to little Elfin Lake- a real find; a small private community lake just outside of Wallingford that is free and open to the public (at least we think it is?). Little beach surrounded by mountains and a nice little paddle around. . Nice place for a naked dip which I could not resist- but got stuck in water when some preppie gal came riding by on her standing kayak (several times- what was she looking for?). We took Liz back there for her going away to college day out and spent most of the afternoon floating around on out little rafts. Have now mastered stuffing the kayaks in back of car rather than the odyssey of getting them on top.
Music in the basement- have now made it back to my Monday night music group. Had a nice welcome back and was already penciled in for a few lead numbers at the next performance in August. Everyone was very kind except my nemesis woman who got up and left shortly after I arrived- not sure if it is my status as permanent flatlander or the smell of the pond which I had spent much of day in prior to coming to play. Have been working on some new songs and got to do them with the Bunty boys when I got back home to Ohio for wedding visit.
Making our first walk to town—On an overcast and temperate day we decided we would walk into town. This consists of walking out the back of our house , up the class four logging raid through the woods onto the other side to the extension of Gates Road, out to the main Belmont road and then a mile or so into town. Seemed very doable…but there are a LOT of hills and LOT of black flies in the woods. We took no water. Walk there was pretty nice-kind of seeing everything from a different viewpoint than from the car. At the general store, we had lunch, got the mail and watched the eyes of amazement from the kid at the counter when we told her where we had walked from. The walk back seemed endless- almost impossibly all up hill and right after lunch. Some really nice vistas as we topped the ridge before heading down. But all in all turned out to be about 13 miles and four hours (did I say no water?) and a lot of bug bites. Jen got home and went to get a massage at the massage trailer.
First show of the season- The Weston Playhouse made its season debut and we hit opening night for the world premiere of “Vinyl and Analog”. Continued to be amazed at the quality of the theater (and price- 25 buck for residents) and especially the live music from the basement. Where do these guys come from? Great sound system and acoustics too. The play was about the devil trying to trade her favors(ala Robert Johnson)….. the soul of a fading record store owner in exchange for success for he and his ailing father. A three person virtuoso performance with really good rock and roll. Saw three cars on the drive home which was a record. Had diner in Rutland beforehand at our new favorite- Table 24. Broadway in the sticks . Next show is next week.
First dinner of the season- at our house with the neighbor clan including the visiting family from NC in town for the month long graduation event. We ate for the first time on our back porch at the massive table and with no light so it got pretty dark pretty quick. Classic American cookout food with all the trimmings and then Jen spent an hour trying to light wet wood in the back 40 to make s’mores while we all got bit up. Speaking of the neighbors and boundaries (were we?) we have had difficulty with; while we have been in Ohio- Jen called to see how Josh’s 16th birthday went (we sent him more camouflage to help him hide better) and asked to talk to Liz since it was her last night night before she leaves for the culinary institute way up in Montpelier. Josh said she was not home- which is a newsflash since these kids never go anywhere. Jen asked where she was and he told her she was up spending the night at our house-which was bit of a surprise. Guess it’s a communal house now.
THE WEDDING- suffice to say it was magnificent event. Many of you attended and it was an amazing gathering of the clans. Perfect day, beautiful ceremony, wild dancing at the reception, and the longest reception line in history (220 people). I got to walk my baby down the aisle, which created a fair amount of moisture. The crazy patchwork “centerpiece project” was a huge success and everyone seemed very happy. More coming with pictures when ready. I myself decided there were enough picture takers- so concentrated over 3 days on taking 300 pictures of the wedding goer’s shoes-which raised some eyebrows but generally was a big hit. Have sent out a shutterfly with 118 of these weird photos- so if you didn’t get it and want to- let me know. The newlyweds are now on the beach in PR, the family have gone home, the canopies have come down and the world is moving on…-and we need to get aback to the mountains.
More soon. Love, STU
