“There is nothing useless in nature, not even uselessness itself.”….Montaigne
Happy post Labor Day to all:
Almost there- I have finally been able to enter and edit all the archival blogs and reviews on the website- so look for an e-mail soon with the link info. Once the web-site is up, you will get an e-mail letting you know there is new entry (from the webmaster instead of from me) which will let you click on a link to open and view the latest entry , and have access to all the archives.. Think (hope) you will like this. Google ads can’t be far behind- once the site goes viral!
So am going to start with this one trying to return to Zen roots and make these Rambles a bit less rambling and more haiku like…..we’ll see how that goes…..
When Stu leaves…………..Jenn does projects. Went down to N’Awlins for three days week before last for a little work and Cajun cookin’. Hot, muggy and fun. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Jenn strips the wallpaper in my bathroom (I really do have my own bathroom) and paints it. This apparently required a lot of removal of various objects and a lot of caulking to put them back. Which led to Stu’s return to a beautifully painted and not quite caulked bathroom, which meant, with company coming, having to use Jen’s shower until this all got filled and dried….so Stu went on a shower strike…which led Jen to go out and buy more bedding…life is a circle.
Our good friends , Steve and Sue, came for a week’s visit, with Lucy’s good finds, Rosie and Maggie. Maggie is pretty old and spends most of her time laying around blocking various doorways, but Rosie is a quasi- identical twin for Lucy…and that leads to day long wrestling matches of one big ball of black fur flying by everywhere you go….see Lu-Roseie run….. We had a great visit with lots of music, walks, kayaking, dinners and Vermont drives. We went to Springfield to check out the Jewish fish mongers’ inaugural public set with his Beatles band – the Fabs.. a beautiful early fall day and they were pretty good for first time out. Then to Weston where we decided to show them the Priori (we are still trying to find the DaVinci code). We always leave the Priori the back way down a dirt road which comes out close to Weston. Seems like a short way. So- we parked at the Weston end and derided it would be a nice walk back up to the Priori….well, it’s one of those “longer than it seems” walks, so an hour and a half later we strolled into the mystic…the dogs thought his was really great fun.
On Sunday last, we had a day of music, spending the afternoon at Plymouth Rock and the Calvin Coolidge birthplace, for a folk and blues fest. A perfect early fall Vermont setting- good music, great views, maple Cremees. That night we went into our little hamlet of Belmont to the town library for the annual Jazz Cabaret, which featured a local couple doing Billie Holiday influenced string bass and vocals…shockingly impressive, and as a bonus, Steve sat next to the stacks, and found a Calvin Coolidge book to read while humming along….providing a synergy to the day’s events.
Steve and I got to do a kayak at Lake Nineveh and several morning walks up our own neighborly hills. One of the cool things about Vermont, is you can more or less take a walk anywhere and find a nice view to boot. Only downside is the prevalence of boundary-less New Jersey woman prowling around in their Bimmers, who tend to stop and swoon over the dogs (“oh god what are they?”) and tell you their life stories… but, ok, New Jerseyites are more or less people too…right? We also went over to Hubbardton/Mt. Zion to make the requisite hike to Moot Point- best view in Vermont you can get with only a 20 minute hike
We took our friends on the mandatory (do you see a theme here? Imprisoned by all the places we MUST take people who visit…Jenn is so driven by this, you see…) trip to see the house of horrors, which included nice stops in Montpelier to search for Bernie (no sightings) and to Barre for our semi- annual trip to the amazing Hope cemetery (if they build it, we will come). The house of horrors has taken another cruel twist, with our apartment renter, Spencer, giving us notice and moving out end of month. So, now we have to decide how to maintain the property and whether to shut it down or not. When we went to take a look to tell him what needed to be done to move out, he had locked us out and no-showed to meet us there. Looking forward to another highlight- of –a- landlord month. Will anyone out there take this place if I pay them and become their indentured servant for ten years and give them Max?
The weeks’ high-brow and low-brow highlights also included a trip to the Weston Playhouse for the last show of the season- The Glass Menagerie- do you think Tennessee Williams suffered from depression? – and a stop on way home form Groton to the legendary Whippi- Dip Snack bar in Fairlee. We love going to snack bars because: a-they have outdoor seating for Lucy, b-they are cheap, and c- early bird is not required…and wow, they are not what they seem The Whippi –Dip is really the bull goose of snack bars with fresh fish daily and homemade bar-b-que, taken in the owner’s secret garden out back…can you say “another roadside attraction”? We finished up the visit with a grand tour of the QUAINT…Weston (the Vermont county store for kitsch), Chester (the home of THE most interesting man in the world) and Grafton (can you say so quaint that Bing Crosby may have been here for White Christmas). Along the way, I took the dogs out for a constitutional at the wonderful Green in Weston, where I came to the conclusion that Rosie is a transgender dog (is this possible?- this would be accepted in Vt., you know)- she lifted her leg and peed on every tree on the Green (she has vagina, mind you!)
So , Steve and Sue left Friday morning and on Saturday, we went back in search of additional and upgraded bedding and did our usual chores. We went to Wal-Mart to get flu shots and took Lucy with us. We got our shots but they would not give Lucy one…apparently her insurance does not cover it at the Mart…see photos…can you take dog to Wal-Mart?,,,..not sure, but we did anyway…and she loved it. We also found another snack bar to try outside Rutland…I think, in some ways, you can reduce the Vermont experience to Farmer’s Markets, snack bars and bedding…….
So- in addition to everything bad about the hose of horrors (Groton) and Sawmill Parkway (Delaware) we now have learned that the state will be closing the bridge to get to our house for possibly a year- which means we will have to go up and over the mountain to get in and out….stop, your’ torturing us (Yiddish, whiney accent for this)
So that’s; it…not quite haiku I don’t think, but will do better next time.
Until then, may all your leaves turn bright red….enjoy the birth of autumn…
Estuardo
