Happy Augustus, Mes Amis:
“A fallen flower…Flew back to it branch!…….No, it was a butterfly” ……………………………………………………………………Moritake
“Trying to define yourself is like trying to bite your own teeth” …………………………………………………………………Alan Watts
“Let go or be dragged” …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. Zen
Well, it been recovery week here on The Mount. The leaves are slightly turning, the weather has resumed normalcy with Autumn-ish temps and brilliant sunshine and the house is somewhat restored…and eerily quiet.
After the eternal band-mates left early Sunday last, the Nave stayed on, and we did our second annual celebration of his birthday at the Home-style Hotel in Ludlow……masticating on the plethora of small plates on the lovely wrap around porch on a very warm summer night. As part of the Empress of GE’s retirement extravaganza we had agreed to take their pup, Rogue, for the week, while the entire miscpachah retired to Maine (there’s an amazing amount of Empress foundlings living at that house-almost resembling a Kentucky hollow more than a Vermont mountain hamlet). Originally, we had planned to take the girl on Monday as Nave was to bring his two dogs along, but when the plan changed (and he came alone for Bunty week), we said we could take the Rogue-ster on Sunday…. which may have been a slightly unsound idea, as she arrived extremely anxious, and was here a brief while- panting and salivating- before we abandoned her for the long-ish dinner. Returning home, she was nowhere to be found, which seemed impossible- until we found she had hurtled her 55-pound frame through a one foot by one-foot porch door window- busted out and headed up the trail to home………………where we found her hours later. See pix and try and imagine her getting through this opining……unscathed, mind you, tho glass everywhere. Fortunately, the cats did not follow suit….
And speaking of birthdays………the last of our four granddaughters, Baby Parker, turned the BIG One on Friday……that is, last, unless The Prodigal decides on a surprising course of action, and provides #5…which seems unlikely, as he remains committed to surfing the Web and the ocean, into the California sunset (all those colors in the sky, kiss another day goodbye) ……….
I am now experimenting with a tincture or Reishi mushroom to alleviate all of my kind-of-old white guy body disruptions…….and possibly see God…. feelin’ pre…tty Vermonty….
Spent the week re-connecting with all my virtual clients (that’s an odd statement, no?) …and they all miraculously survived my two-week hiatus…tho all hell might be breaking loose just beyond the range of my camera…
Met up with the Jewish Pig Farmer for red gravy at Sal’s in Wallingford……. where I was able to consume permanently banned foods, as The Queen, was out of eye shot……. we were there for 2.5 hrs., in a record setting display of terrible service…. but who was counting…and we got to stare outside the window at the traffic idling through lovely Wallingford…and the JPF is never at a loss for words…so …. rundown complete….
It was a God-like day on Friday, so we took off for a small road trip with the now entrenched Rogue and Lucy-lou…..heading by cover of day, into the Live Free or Die unchartered territories, where we got in a few dirt road hikes and a trip to the Super-Mart in non-bucolic Claremont (no tax or die)…..and found the mother lode of rundown sub-shops , that looked like a bombed out war site from the outside, but turned out to be one for the ages…..the dogs loved them some pulled pork and brisket under a willow tree picnic table behind another restaurant…… we traipsed back in time to the Ludlow Farmers (Fah-Mahs’) market in the late afternoon autumn like cool sunshine….Magnifico…….
After a Saturday of menial catching up, whilst The Queen cavorted with horses and autistic children, we took a late afternoon closed-road walk with the girls and then down to Rutland-town for gas station Indian food at another of a long line of middle-of-nowhere picnic tables….then rambled in search of Creamees, stumbling upon a- surreal -other -roadside attraction on 4-A near West Rutland , with a food truck, Creamees stand, game parlor and remote controlled car racetrack, which was no joke…intense racing going on….the end result of what may be the best yet Mountain Creamees…who knew?…..
And speaking of bizarre, has anyone ever seen the film “Dead Man” with a very young Johnny Depp…all I can say is WOW…and a double WOW, for the live grunge guitar Neil Young soundtrack……hallucinogens desirable……
So, Rogue goes home today, which will be sad, now that we have discovered how to keep her from running away, and become uber-attached….and we are off for a Hosenfeffer dinner with our Munich friends down the road…before they cross The Pond for the winter….
And that is all they wrote (note the pronoun usage) ……Be well, stay in touch, keep the Trumpster in your prayers…..
Estuardo
