Good Sunday to all near and far:
It’s been relatively short week in Mt. Holly, our hometown. We no sooner got back from Chicago then we took off for the NYC family visit- returning on Thursday afternoon. So, this week’s Blog will be short synapsis’ of updates from the Greens. Have to keep it short, partly because not a lot happened here but also because THE POND scum is screaming for my attention AND we have our fist dinner parry of 2016 at our house tonight…which brings out our usual eclectic (maybe eccentric) blend of Vermont friends. The melting pot (not really, too hot here) includes: The Jewish pig farmer, the trailer massage lady, the on-the- lamb Communist, the fish monger, the Mormon style organic farmers and the local mixed race gay couple…Hmmm, interesting group……
So, the Updates:
More Family…it was a big week on the family front (see the pix!) . We went down to NYC for our gathering of the Tribe of Paul cousins at my newly found cousin Howard and Gloria’s place in Nyack, NY. 52 years since the last sighting. This was momentous, and means I no longer have to be the Patriarch. Howard took us all out to a fine dinner at local Italian iconic restaurant, along with his sister Sally and her husband, David and my other cousins Sherry and Joel. What a trip hearing fifty years’ worth of family history and stories. After a number of drinks, we came to the obvious conclusion that the Paul family were mostly a bit “disagreeable” sorts, who had had the good fortune to marry or mate with more “agreeable” sorts (think Jenn and I, and then duplicate). We ate, we drank, we laughed, we cried- what a night. While in the city we also visited my childhood friend, Bob, at the nursing home in the east Bronx, in an old stalwart Italian neighborhood, which was hard, as always, but good. We stayed with Sherry and Joel in their new high rise apartment in Riverdale (far north Bronx) and determined that more people lived in her apartment building than in our town of Mt. Holly. The Country Jew needed to get back to the country after two nights of this. Lucy found the elevator rides up and down and the revolving front building doors quite interesting as well as the aromas of minions of fire hydrants. I spent an hour and half one night trying to find a parking spot…..different lifestyle.
More Weather……..went from winter to heat wave, but lots of sunshine-almost hitting 90s in day- but still in 40s at night. Good to be back in the mountains where we have not yet heard of air conditioning.
More Pond……..We now run our makeshift pump operating at least an hour a day, which looks really cool like a fountain , but has done little to defeat the scum insurgence. The scum was so thick that when I was out this week in my kayak and kitchen strainer, it dragged the strainer right off the handle and into the deep…where it joined my last three strainers in scum heaven
More Gardening…We are apparently in high garden gear- up in preparation for being included in the Mt. Holly Garden Tour in mid-July. That has created some high anxiety for one of us (you guess) and a lot of flower buying. The gardens do seem to be cooperating by blooming quite nicely at the moment- not sure how to keep them that way for three more weeks?? I was at the library dropping off books yesterday and ran into two matrons (read- “Yentas”) who are in charge of the garden tour. They mysteriously knew who I was, and said they had driven up to our house to make sure they could list the location properly, but Really, I’m sure, to confirm we were worthy and did not have a yard of overgrown weeds. Seems we passed the drive-by test….they must not have noticed the POND……
More music…….Music is everywhere at the moment in the little towns surrounding us. Lucy and I spent the afternoon yesterday at “Music in the Meadow”, a festival for breast cancer fundraising at a small motel we used to stay at in Chester. The music was mediocre but it was a beautiful day, and Lucy was in her element- though not nearly as much as the two hours we spent at Walmart in Claremont, NH (no sales tax) where she pranced the isles and charmed staff and shoppers alike…she loves shopping!. This Friday we are going down to Saratoga for the Phish show and sometime in the next week we are trying to find a way to get to the massive Rainbow Gathering of the Tribes. 20,000 people are descending on the White Rocks National Forrest in the tiny hamlet of Mt. Tabor, to re-create Woodstock vibes and torture the locals and the state police. This gathering happens once a year at various national park sites, since 1971,and lasts for 3-4 weeks. If you don’t hear from me next week, you’ll know we have joined the Tribe and drifted back to the 60s. One of the tribe members attended folk club last Monday and brought not only his fiddle but his SAW (yes. a SAW), which he played with admirable aplomb. Henry the Fiddler has been on the road with the Rainbows since 1976…you can only imagine!
And, finally. more BEDDING…………….not only are we on the constant lookout for more potential bedding accoutrements (Amazon Prime gets the bedding to us in 2 days if they can find us), but Jenn has spent the last two months researching new beds. She has consulted 73 websites, over 30 friends pooled, an astrologer, and met with the local mystic to consult the Ouija Board. I think she is close to making a decision of this magnitude (organics vs. support). I am encouraging her to start her own weekly Blog on the world of bedding…. stay tuned for that.
Be well, get out in the sunshine and stay in touch,
Love, Stu/Ferlin’/ Chuck/ Cuz/DA/Uncle
