Greetings Fellow Travelers:
“If you miss the present, you miss your appointment with life” ……………………………………………………………………………………………………. Thich Naht Hanh (you know him, right?)
“The shortest answer is DOING!” ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. Lord Herbert
“Sometimes the lights all shining on me…other times, I can barely see” …………………………………………………………………………………………..Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter
We’re back…. after a three-week hiatus……have you been checking your inbox daily to see where the hell the missive is? Are you Jonesing? Well, there’s been a lot to keep the fires burning…. made the trip back to the Heartland for THE SALE, and back with our HazMat suits….and lived to tell about it……now, ensconced back in the mountains, and the cool morning dew tells us that Fall is approaching……
Traveling in the time Of COVID– is not all that simple…involves a lot of outdoor peeing, for which The Queen is a master (20 seconds or less)….I try to empty her cavalcade of fluids when she is not looking, but she winds up consuming gallons anyway; ergo the 20 second frequent pee stops along the way……………..our trips would be a lot shorter if I could stay off the phone with The Prodigal and The Nave….and not repetitively miss exits as a result….though we had perfect driving weather both ways, and the animals were great roaming around the detritus accumulated in the back of the car….stayed at the Marriott in Binghamton each way, which is getting more and more crowded with urbanite, mask-less escapees….luckily were able to find rooms in the back away from the revelers…and, the hotel maintains five nights between guests per room-so felt relatively safe…..On the way, I managed to place a takeout order at a Greek Place in San Antonio thinking it was in Binghamton (same name place on line), only to find when I got to the joint to pick it up, they had no idea what I was talking about (though they sure did in San Antonio when I called to find out where the food I ordered was -they offered to deliver, but seemed like we would still be there waiting for dinner)…..
A 45-year-old house is like new to a one eyed man– WOW-being used to living in houses from two centuries ago, it was shockingly easy to return to our new place- just walked in, opened the blinds and turned on the AC….no mold, mildew, mice, rodents, blown fuses, broken appliances, plumbing leaks, etc……does everyone live like this? I thought everyone lived with rodents?
End of an Era– I excerpt from the e-mail I sent to the family on the day of closing- “We came back to Ohio this week, and this morning closed on the sale of the beloved Bunty Station homestead after 35 years. Last night, the band gathered in the driveway for one last hootenanny-a blessed event in beautiful late day sunshine. After everyone left, Steve and I had stayed to make one last walk around the property and to reminisce about all that has happened there in the last 35 years- beauty, jubilation, a 1000 rituals, celebrations, sadness and mourning…. a lifetime of memories. We grieved the lost ones: Helen, Ron, Pat Burrows, Work Barbara, Pat Cianflona, Joy, Barbara and Larry, Mom, Mocha and all the cats- many of whom are buried there in some fashion in the family graveyard.
All of you have at one time or another, in one way or another, shared this extraordinary journey, and the ending is certainly bittersweet, but spent the afternoon yesterday meting the new owner and walking through the various ropes and idiosyncrasies…and he will clearly love the house, and we are only five mines away-so when in Ohio, we can drive by and keep tabs on the changes he makes and feel the connection from afar.
It was the best of times It was the worst of times…. now we move on.”
The sale went without a hitch, the Band played, we all got to say goodbye, and the house is now in the hands of someone who is really excited to have it, and will love it. I know this after spending two hours with him the night before closing and answering his three pages of typed out questions. Despite, Stu’s ongoing Change-Trauma, it was a happy ending. I am including below a link, for those of you not on Facebook or trolling You Tube, to the Last Dance music videos The Band (without Brother Al) did in the driveway the night before closing. Check out the brand new song about the world we live in. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGI0SwROVPgOvob3p8oGBhA/
Babies, Babies, Babies -Nanna and Papi went hog wild –seeing all the g-daughters in one week. Got to babysit Sloane and have multiple dinners… and visited with Quin-Lily and Baby Harper for the first time since February on the way back. Manna from Heaven…check out the updated Angel-Pix…. Sloane was perplexed to have us seem to emerge from the TV, where we seem to live through our Weekly Portals, and Quinn was eager to find out what we had for dinner….
Back to The Inn- The car had not stopped rolling into our drive when The Queen jumped out to begin watering the plants and herbs…and was soon on the road to locate horse shit…. maters, melons, beans all on the way…better late than never in our Northern climes…. Except for being down about two feet due to prolonged drought, THE POND was pristine and beckoning (foreshadowing for later) …. after a whirlwind week, we settled in for our Quarantine…
Car Repair in the Mountains #2- After getting settled, we headed up to the wilds of New Hampshire to pick up my car from the only place in the Northeastern United Sates that would repair my exhaust system. Returned home to car not starting and all the check engine lights on, so now have had to search out another mountain mechanic…luckily I discovered I can get it started by winding up the crankshaft, rolling downhill and jumping in to pop the gears (you’ve seen that movie, right?) ……so basically carless again, but who really needs to go anywhere anyway?
A Rare Sighting- after taking the car to Mountain Tony to computer the problem (of course it started right up and no check engine lights……he basically said take two aspirins and call me in the morning) …. we decided to stroll through the hills above Ludlow and encountered a Brigade of Hasidim from Williamsburg, moving into a forsaken ski chalet. The NYC folks are all trying to hide out in Virus-free Vermont…. but this is going to add some local color to our local ski community (along with the now ubiquitous Jamaicans next door) …I was trying to figure out how to surreptitiously take their pictures, to which Jenn said “just go talk to them, Jew to Jew” …I opted for the telephoto lens….
Kayaking on Blues Sky day– first time in six years without Lucy (who was howling with indignation as we left her in the house, and has since moved in with the Jamaicans) …. makes the trip quite a bit easier…and quick……good Quarantinie activity…
Jenn mows with The Bees– whilst I walked around in my underwear, and made soup, Jen got back on the horse –roaming the property in search of projects and decided mowing was in order, then proceeding to mow over a bee hive and, last I saw, she was flailing her arms, running down the mountain towards Rutland in her beekeeper suit………………….
Corona- treat– we have taken up traditional Chocolate Malt making (after spending a week finding malt on line…. where have the candy stores gone?) ….and this is our new late night Quarantinie activity-check out the machine…. when did you last see this?
And, the latest project– can’t keep a good woman down, so we are embarking on the replacement of the back wall of the old horse barn (don’t ask). We have someone with actual skills coming to assist this week, but we have the grunt work to do, which started yesterday with moving forty years’ worth of boards, flooring, pipes, hoses and general junk from the collapsed lean to built on the back of the barn…we yanked, we burnt, we stacked we sorted, we sweated…… and we finally crawled into The Pond in late afternoon sunshine for a floating beer and doze…. then down to pick up dinner at DJ’s in Ludlow and find the proverbial picnic table to eat it….we are slowly documenting all the abandoned dinner-worthy picnic tables in the State of Vermont…….
And that, my friends, is far more than enough….be well, stay safe, don’t hug strangers…….
Papi
