Greetings fellow Patriots:
“Nothing can bring you peace but yourself”…..Ralph Waldo Emerson
“The wily red fox-
at temple, I spy it paws
lurking in a stole”……………………………………..Haikus for Jews
The bear has gone…along with all our bird feeders…replaced by a large box turtle that I almost mowed over on the tractor last weekend…40 minutes crossing the yard for 30 feet, and oblivious to my mowing and to Lucy’s frantic barking and jumping…does he know his giant brother lives in the pond?
Speaking of THE POND…knock on stripped project walls…it remains clean and flowing (waiting for bathers) and now the lily pads have started to return to the surface above where Jenn buried them on a ledge when the whole thing was totally empty last fall…..it’s like a wild life sanctuary in there…
And this week, the yard and the surrounding mountains, have begun their free fall of summer color…flowers sprouting their beauty left and right…alas to last only a short time…have I mentioned that summer in the mountains lasts about two weeks?
We had wonderful Indian guests (dots, not feathers) last weekend. I can’t remember their names but they all began with a consonant. In preparation for their arrival, I put on a sari and placed a rainbow dot in the middle of my forehead..…but Jenn made me take them off….. even though I was right and the mother of the young couple showed up with both the dress and the dot (who knows his guests?). They did not eat out for three days (mama had cooked up a storm), and our house still is filled with the aromas of week old Indian food. And..…they had lived for many years in Columbus, the young man at Ohio State (I.T.-duh) and the parents running a 7-11 at 270 and 33 (double duh)…so we had a lot in common….plus they had some serious misgivings about The Donald…..obviously, we liked them, despite the olfactory overload…
Another fourth of July in Mt. Holly…and thus another masterful edition of THE PARADE in out tiny village of Belmont. Jenn is now the Queen of the Community Association, so she spent days building the float and all morning preparing for the 11 am rave up….which, as usual, lasted about six minutes…..mostly with farm animals (free range, of course) and fire trucks. See Jenn in her Zen- in the parade pix…that’s my Queen….
One thing about the Belmont parade…more dogs than people, so Lucy had a wonderful Fourth…replete with post parade drive over to Castleton way to Roxy’s Famous (they really are) Fries for a little patriotic lunch…lots of scraps of fries spilled on the floor from the gallon containers they sell (cholesterol free)…plus she gets to share my baby Creamee cone…which makes Jenn foam at the mouth. Roxy’s is her favorite place, aside from Walmart, where she is greeted each Saturday like the mother of dragons (what is coming back next week?). The store folk all know her now, and the customers beam as she waltzes by in some sort of heaven with all the offerings at her nose level on the bottom shelves..…my take is she makes their day for about 80% of the shoppers…and 20% would like to take her out and shoot her…especially when she barks at the stuffed dogs
And by the way, how about Twin Peaks (the Return). Has there ever been a more twisted and bizarre show on the tube? What would it be like to have dinner with David Lynch?
This week was the start of the summer Music on the Green in Belmont, so we packed a picnic and headed off to see local legends Gypsy Reel on Thursday. Have I mentioned that the legendary Bunty Station boys are making the cross country trek in late August to appear here on The Green in concert? For real, the lord willing and the creek….
And finally (you probably reached that point three paragraphs and twenty minutes ago)….The Projects (please someone, hire me, so I can travel somewhere to stay in a Marriott for a week!!!)…the countertops are coming, and carpet being ordered. the steps are being stripped of their glued down carpet two at a time, and then sanded …..soon to be stained, painted and little wooly mammoth runners put on…..then there is the paint job for the stairwell and upper hallway…then the kitchen floors, the roof repairs and maybe digging out one whole wall along the basement….I say my prayers at night but salvation does not appear to be on the way any time soon…………but, then, who knows……we could get flooded and just wash away….
Love from the reluctant helper….and enjoy your longish summer,
Stu
