Happy Labor day weekend fellow workers:
“Until you forget everything, You will never live in your heart”……………………………………………………………………………..Ashtavakra Gita
“When you have to make a choice and you don’t’ make it, that in itself is a choice”……………………………………………William James
“Be THE Ball”……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
.Caddyshack
“Hey! Get back indoors!
Whatever you were doing
could put an eye out.”………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….Haikus for Jews
One day in August you wake up and drive down the mountain and suddenly the Green Mountains are a bit less eye-popping green…..and a few trees are turning light brown or yellow…and behold, a red maple starts to pop with its luminosity….and then you are up on another morning and the ground has a light glaze on it….and the full moon is surrounded by bulbous , puffy clouds, and its maybe a harvest moon of sorts….and you think maybe it’s time to close a window at night…AND…this is summer turning into Autumn in the mountains.
So- its suddenly Labor Day and that used to be the official end of summer when we were kids….before the ice cap stared melting from climate change (yes, Donald , we have climate change)..….but now, we are expecting to be back in the 90s some this week, before going back to dipping into the 30s at night. Change is in the air…and on the ground…….
We continue to wait for the shit-solver to show up in shinola….almost three weeks and counting with our clogged Septic system and hoping he may deign to cross the ancient bridge this week…..meanwhile, back at the ranch, we continue (under the watchful eye of the Mountain Queen) our vigilance in being shower- less, laundry-less, dishwasher-less….one flush a day, dishwashing in a pan. Had our last guests of August this week, with a two night visit from our kids, Ryan and Lauren and cutest baby in the world….little first granddaughter, the mighty Quinn ( see the photo gallery for Quinn adventures)….and I think they snuck in a few extra flushes when the Mountain Queen was not looking, but no showering to speak of…..and now, we have Airbnb guests for two nights…whom we lecture as part of the arrival tour, on the ecology of water savings for our dehydrating planet….and then require to sign a blood oath to limit themselves to four minute showers and no flushing until the bowl is near the top, regardless of what sort of matter is in the bowl….this is, apparently , another facet of mountain life……
Since this is the dominant matter clogging up our life…I’ll make short shrift of the rest of the week in review (well, short for me …and shrift for you)………………….
We continue to escape the hotter days and no AC with drives up to the mountain dirt roads for walks in the shade (all improbably seem to be uphill) and a little mountain viewing….the surrounding mountain dirt roads are endless, with the quaint and lovely old Vermont houses surrounded by trashy trailers with snarling dogs….
Jenn continue to embrace becoming a true Vermonter…this week she worked her organic garden volunteering, participated in some shyster lawyer focus group ($70 and pizza), cleaned the house of the local piano-man, cleaned our house four times for various guests, and presided in her role as the Empress of the community association…..she also schlepped me out last night to volunteer at the community supper benefiting our local historical museum (“gimma more ham, gimma more bread”….)
While she was off at some meeting or other, I spent an evening at the home of the Jewish Fish Monger, who made homemade pizza and we sat on the flea infested couches with the big old drooling dog watching reruns of the latest Sox victory…did get a load of required laundry in there, which Jenn felt required a second laundering due to sanitary conditions….
The kids arrived on Thursday night (and got the ecology lecture) while I was playing the last of this summer’s Belmont Music on the Green with the Folk Club. Friday we spent the day driving up to Middlebury for a brewery tour (I was the designated driver and Quinn escorter, though I cheated a wee bit at the add- on distillery stop)…..stopping for lunch at Mama Corleone’s don’t-miss Italian Deli….arrived back at home to try and get a nap for the exhausted little one, before hoofing into Ludlow for dinner at Mojos café…..All in all, a really nice visit and we got left the door prize of the week (while they are in Maine with Laurens’ family) of having little Mr. Olaf, the amazing circus dog, who tries to ride Lucy around and sleeps on your face…check him out coming on to Gracie the cat…
And, by the way, what are your thoughts on Cable companies??? Let’s vote……….Bomb them___ Annihilate them ___ Gas them___ Never allow them to flush again___
And-just as the kids were getting ready to leave, The Matron of The Inn at Scum Pond, decided to accept two last minute different guests for holiday weekend lodging…ergo…more cleaning, more ecology talks, more smiling…luckily she rejected the request with three toddlers in our water challenged environment…..
So- off to prepare for guests arriving soon, get a new pump into THE POND before the Algae have a joyous reunion….. and take a ride up to the Plymouth Blues Fest…then start three straight weeks of the joy of travel….Yippee, more TSA, more friendly skies, more driving to and fro……..Feh…..Be back soon….Love ya- each and every one…
Papi
