Author: stumberry

Good day to all:

“Snow falling on snow, and this evening, the full moon of December” ……………………………………………………………………………………. Basho

“We live in our own description of reality” ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. Gregory Bateson

“Does the wind grow cold, when you’re laying your soul out on the line” ……………………………………………………………………………………Graham Nash

Covid, Covid, Fo-Fovid…. Fee-Fi-Fo Fovid……C-O-V-I-D……………In the deep dark woods of the Green Mountains, the world of the Plaque abounds endlessly……snowed in, hunkered down, hoping each day, the FedEx man might come around, to provide a glimpse of life…….is it done yet?……. Vermont continues to be quite the socially responsible place, and, in relative safety…. even with a concerning rise in cases in the last month (Deep Elem Thanksgiving Gathering Blues) …. still statewide infection rate hovering just above 1%, making it, along with Hawaii, best place in North America to suffer this out…. Ohio… at an astounding 15% infection rate (the ancient curse of Trump?) ….and Idaho and North Dakota at a mind- bending plus 50% rate (but freedom prevails there!)

And, then there is the Numchuck……orange jumpsuit on the horizon?……please lock me away, and don’t allow the days, here inside, where I hide, with my loneliness….do we feel sorry for him yet?……wondering how many sociopaths he can pardon and how may nimrods he can appoint to federal positions before he is hauled off to the yard?

Quote of the week: “I will be the hero! These morons — when this is over, I will be the hero.”- The Rudy

The Ten most interesting happenings of a V-E-R-Y slow week in the mountains:

• The Hot tub moved……. after a tub-in-the living-room landslide of both kudos (this is great Covid- crazy-shit)…and loving concerns (are you out of your mind…leaks? Mold? Mildew? insurance companies?) ……we bit the proverbial bullet, and had a warm enough day….to drain the monstrosity……and move it to the porch…to see if it can survive in an unheated area……insulated underside, motor, pipes …and so far seems to work……nice out there with the windows all around and the hoarfrost of deep winter surrounding us…. takes forever to heat up in the cold- but so far so good…and if it springs a leak…who need a porch anyway?

• Are we going to have A Coup……have The Base Minions finally cracked and going to take to the streets of Ann Arbor, Albany and DC loaded to bear….and maskless?

• The Queen has been restless and determined….and finally snuck out while Papi was snoozin’ and picked up a new cat…. a one-year-old Tabby, who has been under the couch in the now liberated-from-hot-tub living room, for the last three days……TQ is nothin, if nor relentless when she gets a Royal notion……new addition likely dubbed Malo, after the lost band of Carlos Santana’s younger brother, Jorge…. I actually still have the one album…perhaps a much- needed Hispanic voter in Vermont….

• THE POND….is now about to over flow…who knew this happened after we typically left Dodge?

• The Rastafarian neighbors have returned after a month’s absence…. waiting to see if they will pick up the strewn garbage all over their property and our drive access, that they left in 50 gallon open drums last visit…and that either a hungry bear or a pissed of human knocked over…

• The mountains are lovely for driving this time of year…. bare trees, decaying Autumn leaves, snow colored fields of hay bales…. made it down to quaint Dorset this week…a town that ONLY has white hoses……hit the H.N. Williams General Store for lunch…oldest in Vermont… on the old stage coach line along Route 30 as it meanders in a deep valley surrounded by mountain ranges on each side…nary a vehicle or human in sight…

• Vermont State Parks …are The Bomb…once the tourists go away and Stick Season chases everyone indoors……did a long hike around Emerald Lake State Park right before the most recent snow hit…passed it right along our drive here on Route 7, for years, without ever venturing in…. but it is absolutely beautiful, with trails around the lake and up through the hills…. our own private winter wonderland…and hog heaven for a cooped up Lucy…

• Sold the old Subaru days before the pick-up/trade-in deadline…. pickin’ up new vehicle on Tuesday from Santa the Salesman…hoping for no snowstorm as we ain’t goin’ inside……

And, how may interesting happenings is that…. only eight, I see (and that was stretching it. No?) …. well, that’s about the sum of it….it may be quite some time before ten actual interesting things happen in one week…can you say VACCINE?

Be Calm, stay safe, think good thoughts, Use your quarantine elbow……. Hare Krishna……

Ferlin’

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Gut Shabbos:

“If you think you’re enlightened, go spend a week with your family” …………………………………………………………………………………………………Baba Ram Dass

“Whatever inspiration there is, it’s born from a continuous “I don’t know” ………………………………………………………………………………………Wislawa Symborska

“We only run for the money, got no strings attached…. we shut ‘em up and then we shut ‘em down”………………………………………………Bruce Springsteen

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Bonjourno:

There is poetry as soon as realize that we possess nothing” ……………………………………………………………………John Cage

“Having prepared their buds against a sure winter the wise trees stand sleeping in the cold” ……………………………………William Carlos Williams

“Men will always follow the little captain into battle” …………………………………………………………………Andy Sipowitz, NYPD Blue

Bonjourno:

“There is poetry as soon as realize that we possess nothing” ………………………………………………………………………………………………John Cage

“Having prepared their buds against a sure winter the wise trees stand sleeping in the cold” ………………………………………………William Carlos Williams

“Men will always follow the little captain into battle” ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………Andy Sipowitz, NYPD Blue

I never knew a man could tell so many lies
He had a different story for every set of eyes
How can he remember who he’s talking to?
Because I know it ain’t me and I hope it isn’t you…………………………………………..Neil Young, Ambulance Blues, On the Beach, 1974

“There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.” …………………………. Leonard Cohen

Been lookin’ for the light this week, as the mountain stick season proceeds in cold, dark fury. The dining the yard table is stored away, the machines are shut down, the sun has slipped away and the cold wind blows through the hills bringing a daily dose of COVID- cum -Trump Coup Attempt daily and through the night. Trying to ban the news channels from the manse…but it is challenging, my friends…………………

Settling in for protracted Vermont winter away from friends and family….and sideteppin’ the blues…. adapting to the world of Only in Vermont, which is the themata for the week…

Sunday walks over hill and dale are a nomadic experience, with nary a soul in sight during stick-but no tick- season….last week involved a trek down barren but beautiful Route 100 through Londonderry to the hamlet of Peru (really) and Hapgood Pond National Forrest…to hike the stark loveliness of bare trees and fallen leaves….which then required a trip to the local Burger joint by the mountain (Stratton) for homemade sausages…in Vermont that equated to some kind of Moroccan Lamb diddie with some kind of Kimchee shit on it…Lucy was thrilled with both the walk and the new age sausage…

Showering is random these days (see the portrait photo of moi in pix) …and the same winter socks go for days…this week’s version started off with a small toe hole that had grown to eclipse most of my lower foot after three days……which led to a lengthy economic discussion with The Queen, that basically ended with the mantra “You can afford socks” ….

Who knew…that after we usually evacuate in early November………… The Pond……… mysteriously rises to it mid-summer majesty……but…it does…

I-S-O-L-A-T-E-D…………………………………I saw four people this entire week……The hearty FedEx man twice (in shorts in 25-degree weather) …………………. The car salesman at the Jeep dealership who is known as Santa Claus (we’ll see about that) …. the catatonic woman who mans the front desk at the empty-but- wear –a – mask to work out-  Okemo gym facility….and of course The Queen for 24/7……24/7……24/7………. though, in fairness, I also saw around 1500 people on Zoom this week…

Car shit in the mountains #1- Selling-  put my brazenly defiant Subaru on various social media sale sites…and have had the probably typical experience of dealing with a number of nut jobs…one guy celled and texted me ten times in two hours  to beg me not to sell the car to anyone else as they were 100% sure that this was the car of their drams, and that they would be here shortly cash in hand….after no show for 24 hours he asked if I could just wait another two weeks for them to settle a now contested insurance claim….yesterday a woman was on her way from northern Vermont to buy the puppy, so TQ persuaded me to finally clean out the car from the detritus of my car-as traveling- house configuration- so went out and did the total detail while TQ wandered around collecting hay bales…….when she eventually returned there was a message that the buyeress has bought another car…but the car is pretty clean now….

Car shit in the mountains #2- Buying- we have been to see the aforementioned Santa Claus regularly now, and driven a variety of Jeep types up the same mountain road…he has now held one car for us with a faux deposit for two weeks, which we thought we might buy…. but wanted to sell the clunker first….so now he is holding two cars for us… for two weeks…… until we decide whether we can sell the car or take the measly trade-in offer…but in the meantime, the deal has gotten better and now includes a fifty-year bumper to bumper warranty…. we will either pick up a car in next few weeks …or add a few more cars to our “holds” …………. which actually say “sold” on the windshield to deter other salesmen…maybe he is Santa….

Package Remote Delivery…if I get one more email from the various deliverer that says “delivery exception”…I may go postal (pun intended)….we have tried labeling our address Mt. Holly, Belmont and East Wallingford  ..and from one time to the next the same delivery drivers cant’ find us….Po box, house address, neighbor’s mailbox….nada…..often wandering around for two weeks or so before arriving (with the exception of Brother Feel’s bagel care package which arrived in one day from Jersey)….how much can we pay to get a package delivered on time…just tell me….

And, finally, The Hot Tub….which was three days late in delivery after two “delivery exceptions” from the beach clad Fed Ex man…..when we sold our Bunty house, we lost the use of our ancient, beloved hot tub…a massive 1999 beauty that we had been slave to maintaining….so decided if we are going to partially winter in isolation in Vermont….a soak would be beneficial…..had a carpenter/electrician come over and he suggested  a tub on the barely supported/no foundation deck seemed unwise, so we decided to get the inflatable variety…and for now, just stick it outside the porch door and plug it in…simple nes’t pas?…till it arrived with glaring and heretofore unmentioned warning not to house or use below 39 degrees  (in Vermont winter, mind you)….which really set us afloat…but being the stubborn sorts…. Have now set it up in the middle of our living room…quite the fung schway…..but after heating up for 30 hours to 104…we sat in hot bubbles last night surrounded by beautiful wood flooring, which is going to be The Queen’s obsessive challenge to keep from ruining via spillage……but hey…its’ hot, wet and quiet…mission faux accomplished…..

After not knowing anyone with the virus for nine months, we now have a dozen friends, family, acquaintances sick…. we seem to be going in the wrong direction……Duh….even the purile state of Vermont is under a rigorous form of lock down…but, hell…let’s just have a motorcycle rally with 400, 000 unmasked hells angels come on over……

And that, my friends, is all I got….be well, be safe, have a good thanksgiving with what you got……find the crack to let the light in….go Georgia…..

The Country Papi

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