Good God, Ya’ll: (Website still being transferred- so no link again this week- up soon)
“ I Leave, You Stay, Two Autumns”…Buson
Well, our 75 and sunny has turned into days high in the low 50s and night at freezing…Fall abounds. the leaf changing has slowed quite a bit after a crazy early August jump. And now most is seeming pretty green except for the wonderful red maples…which are RED! Very busy week at Scum Pond- so it’s time for the ZEN news (too tired and cold to do more)
We love Chinese in Rutland…East Restaurant…classy and adventurous…have developed addiction to the roasted duck with pine nuts…. Steve the fish maven says he will have to ship it to us this winter..
Stu made like Paul Bunyan this week, with Jenn’s considerable help (and advice)…spent full day taking down, cutting up and moving trees…in about another week should be able to stand up straight- I keep asking Jenn….”do you know how old I am?”
THE POND….don’t ask…no rain, looks like Mesa Verdi and fills up with fu__ing apples every day from the tree that now hangs over the lengthened empty pit….so every other day have to rappel down to pick up a hundred apples…Jenn made me do this project…Honest!
Went down to the cult like Spring Lake Ranch, as semi-invited guests, for their annual outdoor harvest dinner. This is 75 year old treatment center for wayward young adults…beautiful fall late afternoon, strange but nice people, and they produce all their own food, so dinner was a treat, albeit somewhat weird (they kept asking, “and who are you?”).
And then there is the post office and the mail in small town Vermont. We have a PO box because to have a mailbox we’d have to walk a half mile and cross a major highway…so the stop at the PO is dally event…which also happens to be in the general store…the hub of village life and home of all the yentas…stopping at the PO has to be strategic since it’s only open about 3 hours day and we have to go when it’s open since we get these little yellow cards in our box that tells us that we have long delayed packages (Amazon Prime ‘s 2 day guarantee takes about week to find us)…so I usually stop on my way back from gym and lunch in Ludlow and ALWAYS run into one of the yentas…this week I ran into our State Rep, Dennis, who, is the major yenta in town, and he usually covers two topics with me: 1- reminds me I will always be a flatlander and 2- updates me on the status pf pot legalization……talk about being Pigeon-holed…
Thursday was our outing day this week- and it was an incredible fall day- so we headed down to the Weston Priory and illicitly lunched before cruising down to Londonderry and Peru (really) for a drive up a dirt road where we found the ubiquitous Appalachian Trail and did a short 2 mile hike, which turned out to be straight up and took hours…but provided quite the view. Having earned our supper, we headed for “Vermont night” at the prosaic Landgrove Inn- a three course Prix fix dinner with all the charm of what you think of when you think of a Vermont country inn
While we ate, the exhausted Lucy passed out in the car…we believe Lucy is the most stress free being on the planet…she can drop down and sleep anywhere , any time and in any position…check out the photo of one of her stress free catnaps….
We had a special treat this weekend- heading down to old, old Woodstock (“feel the cool night’s breeze”…Van Morrison)…to the legendary Ramble at Levon Helm’s barn. We had not been since Levon passed a few years ago, but were drawn to see a group called The Weight perform…for those of you who share my invaluable insights, THE BAND, set the standard for American rock music ..most of them are gone now, but this is a BAND tribute band….an unusual one since all of these guys played with THE BAND at one time….and they have created the most amazing simulation of the beloved music. It’s a magnificent setting- only about 150 people in a beautiful barn with fireplaces and unusual level of dialog between the musicians and the audience… after two and a half hours of inspiring music, I felt like I had sung two sets myself as I could not help (to the likely chagrin of those seated next to me) to sing the fourth harmony part on every song…
And only in the northeast…we were able to dine at midnight at an all-night classic diner (THE Ambrosia- love the Greeks!) after the show…on our way back to spend the night in Albany….So, Albany…did you know that Albany was founded in 1610 by Henry Hudson who was trying to find a quick way to China (a little lost, no?). Very cool old city, with buildings that look like the Dutch are still presiding over the town. We stayed on State St., which was originally called “Path of the Woods’- named by the original inhabitants, The Mohawk Indians. who were then unceremoniously booted…but not before they named everything with funny Indian names…so… the Mohawk name of for “Path of the Woods” is Ske-nek-ta-dee…got it?
We should have been home in two hours this morning, but got distracted as only Vermont can do, and wound up taking an old favorite-the 20 miles Kelly Stand road, a dirt gem that weaves in out of amazing ponds and over the mountain where Daniel Webster spoke to the devil. (honestly, there’s a plaque)
So home now, and readying for a three day fall outing tomorrow up to the Islands (yes, we do have islands here, dear)…so gotta go….what happened to the Zen, anyway? Check the myriad of photos from this week’s adventures, and,
Stay strong, be peaceful and love one another right now (right now, right now)
Es-Stu-Ban
