“The more a thing tends to be permanent, the more it tends to be lifeless”……Alan Watts
“Tea ceremony-
steam, incense, lacquered bamboo.
Try the cheese Danish.”………………………………………………..Haikus for Jews
Greetings fellow seekers:
See the endless Green….everywhere is GREEN…summer has arrived in the mountains and it is lush with flowers, fauna and black flies…..75 and sunny with nights in the high 40s…G_D time in Vermont
And THE POND…after three master kitchen strainer skims, two bacteria treatments, 50 crawfish, three little worthless solar fountains and…and the spouting pump…it is clear as a bell…swim-time anyone?
Overall, quite a busy week with the home beautification projects in full swing. Came back from Europe to a house of construction. Jenn has her six page list of projects and determined to get them underway…..kitchen wallpaper stripped and walls painted, side of house and barn scraped and painted by our new best man, Yanu (per the usual mountain repair men, Yanu shows up and leaves at unpredictable times, and takes regular Wi-Fi breaks since he has no service elsewhere), new kitchen countertops measured and ordered, and more painting, fixing and flooring underway. We have the daily review of the project list as well as planned projects for the next six years…all of which tells me it is time for me to head out of town very soon…need a Marriott for quiet, rest and contemplation….
Which led us on a foraging trip to Home Depot (successful) and Bed, Bath and Beyond (not so much)- where we had a 20% off coupon that Jenn was determined to use. I wandered around but could not find anything that wasn’t a lot cheaper at Walmart, even with the 20%…..and then lost Jenn…..who I found rolling around the floor in the bedding section….took a half nelson or two for me to manually drag her out of there, with bedding swatches stuck in her teeth.
After one more day of torrential rain last weekend, Sunday turned nice for Dad’s day- so we took me on a hunt for some color…ranging up to Dartmouth to a quirky art house movie and dinner with the Indian folk. Just to make sure we were not wandering too far from the Vermont truth, we took a gorgeous twilight drive down Route 5 and the Connecticut River, stopping at the Windsor Snack Bar for Maple Creamees (see Jenn excited)
Tuesday we made the afternoon an outing with trip up to Woodstock and four mile jaunt up to Mt. Tom- perfect hiking day and magnificent view of one of New England’s most “picture-perfect” villages from the top (how many steeples can one town have?). No one else on the trail- so Lucy had free run and and got in her sixteen circular miles to our four. We got back in time to take up a last minute dinner and drinks invite from our friends John and Lydia, who live at the top of the hill once in a blue moon (these are wild folk from the Boston hub of the Irish) and spent an evening of unmitigated laughter and debauchery..…crawling back down the mountain at midnight. Luckily, they only show up periodically or we would be in trouble.
But wait….the REALLY BIG news of the week, was an addition to our mountain household. For three straight nights this week, we have entertained (not willingly) a Big –Ass Black Bear, who has tromped through the gardens, shit all over the yard and destroyed two very large bird feeders (bending a ten foot steel pole in half….see the pictures…this is for real) and causing general havoc in the middle of the night. When he passes in the shadows, Lucy gets the scent of a lifetime and goes nuts, running around the house howling and lunging at the windows…and momentarily later, Jenn follows suit, running to the doors and shouting “You go…You go now”) I’m wondering how many times a bear shits in one sitting? We are now forced for the time being to take Lucy out on a leash at night- so she does not become Bear fixins.
Yesterday was another beautiful hot day, so we headed out early for town and the Dump, the post office/general store (Breakfast sandwiches) and down to the hamlet of Castleton and Lake Bomoseen for the annual town wide garage sale. There is a big beautiful boulevard running through the middle of Castleton with graceful old manse-houses on both sides and a small 100 year old college right in town (even has a diner!). There is an old rail station that still has passenger trains and some cute cafes. And, Lake Bomoseen is a beauty- surrounded by mountains with gently lolling waters in a visual panorama of splendor (did I really say that?). But still…when it comes down to it…people’s junk is people’s junk…though it didn’t stop us from buying some assorted shit we don’t need.
So…time to go…my young yard-boy, Seamus, has arrived…to assist with picking up the 17 pounds of bear turd…and are we really glad to see him? He just graduated (since last summer has grown four inches, inherited a car, a goatee and an Afro…and has a girlfriend) and has been too busy with school and such to come over until now, which has led us to less desirable yard-boy performance options. Seamus is the closest thing to THE Marcus that there is…..so work to do, projects to review, places to go, mountains to climb….and the is always more bedding to consider…..
Off to New Orleans this week for some heat, work and gumbo…but see you soon.
Stu-Bert
