Dear Friends, Family and Faithful Readers:
“Like a bird on a wire, Like a drunk in a midnight choir. I have tried, in my way, to be FREE”…………………………………Leonard Cohen
“There’s a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in”………………………………….Leonard Cohen
“We will be all right. That is how we are. The sun rose this morning ,and it will rise again tomorrow morning”…Barack Obama, the day after
“When dealt an uncertain hand, it is not unusual to panic and mistakenly rush to Trump our opponent” The Country Jew
It has been a sad week in the mountains. As we worked to prepared to close the house down, say goodbye to our piece of mountain bliss and to all our Greenie friends, we lost a Leonard and we gained a Trump….BAD TRADE; might be worst in history
I spent Tuesday night watching basketball and trying to not peek…to not watch as it became clear what the end result would be. A result that may set us back in into DARK days: for our mountains, for our oceans, for people who look different or act different, for children, for us old folks, for those of us who prefer to schtup others with the same genitalia, for the melting ice cap, for those needing to see the doctor and get medicines….for human kind….
Jenn spent the evening with a bunch of Buddhists in study and prayer…REALLY…but it did not work..
We woke Wednesday to the shocking news and encountered a saddened and subdued populace in the Vermont Greens, where even though we’d have rather had our Bernie, we still understood the stakes at hand….it was like walking amongst Zombies throughout the day……no one could speak or make eye contact…..…the general sentiment is that maybe we can become part of Canada with our beloved Bernie as our prime minster, if they have not yet finished building their wall to keep us out. . ..then I went to the gym, because I could not think of anything else to do, and there in the weight room, on the TV, was the REAL President, telling us that it would be all right, that it was time for mending and coming together, that the sun would still rise, that he was going to work to assure a smooth transition , that he was going to continue to fight for right……. I wept, I really wept, all over the mats and the weights and the elliptical machine…..watching this man of great dignity and leadership, this man whose kindness and compassion cannot be questioned regardless of how you feel about his politics and policies…..how can we lose this and get that?
It is up to us now, each one of us. It won’t be the White House, or the Congress or the talking heads on TV..…it is we who have to be fair and compassionate to each other, we who must challenge injustice, we who must seek what is right for all- not just for our own little backyard….. It will be a long four years, but not without opportunity to learn and change for the better. We are going back to Ohio, a place I am saddened to be from at the moment.
We will welcome the people with turbans, the men who prefer wieners, those who think we should elect Fidel…………..come live with us by the parkway and the roundabout…come share our grief, come be AMERICA with us.
Ok- you didn’t tune into the Blog to hear me rant (or did you?). Maybe you even voted for the Trump (please say it ain’t so) and it is a fine late November Sunday morning in which I need to say goodbye for the time being, since no one wants to hear new of the parkway and the flatlands (but who knows, could happen)
So………..Check out THE POND…it is at two thirds full and rising daily, a thing of beauty. if you come next year, you can swim in our spring fed waters, jostle with the frogs, daintily step around the snapping turtle, bob to avoid the last of the falling apples……mountain beauty for our hearts…
We had a final dinner at the Castle – a two hundred year old mansion that has housed six presidential stays…. elegant, restrained, charming …and a special three course mid-week prix fix menu…what’s not to like?
Saturday found us on one last wander..…stopping to store up on free range meats, organic produce, New York slices of pizza. …and to make a circuit of sweeping mountain views and farewells to our dear mountain friends. We are on the farewell dinner circuit this week, with one last one tonight …..Sunday night Chinese (of course) with our beloved Jewish fish monger….
Id’ like to stay here and write more all day, but there is a house to close down, a car to pack, a wagon we need to find to drag home 300 pounds of meats and vegetables and our final goodbyes to be made to our wonderful Inn at Scum Pond……so…….until the leaves return to the trees and the days lengthen………I bid you all so long from the mountains.
Be kind to each other, my friends….kindness will get is through.
Much love,
Stu
