Author: stumberry

Happy Sunday from the Green Mountains:

“ Is the money you make worth the price that you pay, when you’re laying your soul on the line” Graham Nash

Been lollygagging on getting the blog done- and realized it was going to be overwhelmed by Lucy at 13 weeks…so we are like new parents and you have to look at all our damn pictures. Decided to send these separately- since some of you may (shockingly) have no interest at all in our progeny.

Lucy spends most of her time either helping Jenn with her house chores (very little help) or gnawing on Stu’s arms- but occasionally gets out for an adventure. We took her on her fist kayak- and she immediately tried to jump in the lake- so had to take her to a beach and throw her in 4-5 times to see if she floats. After that- she did not try to jump in- but established herself as a hood ornament- but she slipped off and had to be towed in by a lucky Stu who had her leash wound around his wrist.

She did her fist major hike-about 3 miles- with her little legs going overtime…came home and slept for six hours.

She also went to her fist community picnic- and found a group of little African girls (in Vermont, no less) with braids- that she spent hours climbing all over the little girls and chewing on their braids (a crowd favorite). Stu took her away for a walk-and found that she is quite a magnet for meeting girl- people (hmmm…)

Hope you like the pix- the rest of the blog will be coming shortly.

Stu

Happy Sunday from the Green Mountains:

“ If you do not find God in the next person you meet, it’s waste of time looking for him further” Gandhi

It’s been an exciting time in the mountains- new kayak routes, more house guests, the first signs of autumn, black bears …and the arrival of little Lucy. Kept the pix down to a minimum this week to reduce your workload……

Lucy- after a month long search, in which Jenn spent all her waking hours looking at dogs on line, we found a keeper, little Lucy, who joined our household yesterday. She’s a little fur ball of half beagle/dachshund and half black lab/Sheppard. The father was the beagle- so we have been trying to imagine the logistics of that particular mating. Dogs are not easy to come by in our parts- most are rescue dogs that are shipped up from the heat of the south-looking for more progressive heath care no doubt. We found Lucy on Craig’s List- a rare puppy offering around here- and made the trek to Port Henry, NY to gather her. On the way home- we stopped at the Farmer’s Market in Rutland to see our friend Robin to see if she had a crate we could borrow and she did- so stopped at her and Scott’s farm to pick it up-where Lucy was chased all over by their two much bigger dogs. Scott is a 65 year old hyper Long Island Jew who has taken up organic pig and turkey farming in Vermont and is clearly Miscpucha (look it up and get current with your Yiddish)

Recreation in Belmont- we went to the annual square dance in Belmont last Saturday night; usually happens in the middle of town, but a lot of rain- so it took place on the tiny elementary school gym. Sixty five people showed up- many of them kids who were summer camping nearby and we had 12 groups of eight …actually learned to do the whole shebang from an 85 year old caller who has been hosting these dances since the 70s. Jenn and I got to dosey-do with two little girls who were so embarrassed to be promenading with a couple of old hippie types…we may now take up the northern square dance circuit.

Wildlife and Kayaking in the mountains- in addition to our frog community, have recently had a massive doe hang out in our backyard and I am slowly making friends with a local hummingbird (she stands in front of me treading air and twirping) and chipmunk (she eats the hummingbird’s food- brazen as all get up). This week , I was coming back from the gym Ludlow (in the armory in a room half the size of my living room) and barely missed hitting an adolescent black bear as it scurried across the road- on its way to visit the Crowley Cheese Factory, I assumed. And of course, the birds are quite fantastic on our kayak trips…the most recent taking place this week along splendid route 100 (prettiest road in Vermont) on Echo Lake…check out the flowers in the lily pads there. Our kayaking trips are all about the same- we kayak for a half hour- attach our boats on the middle of the lake where we eat lunch and doze and then kayak for another half hour and go home…luckily we have a new method for getting boats in and out of Subaru trunk that is pretty efficient and does not result in violence between us.

Plus- I did my first fishing expedition this week. Since Josh next door hangs round all summer with nothing to do- I asked him to go fishing with me to nearby Spring Lake. Josh has bedazzled me with stories of his fishing skills- so I thought I would be in good hands. I brought my new rod and tackle that Steve and Sue bought me last year for our foray into Vermont living. Got to the spot and walked halfway around the remote lake to discover my rod needed line put in…(I’m from the Bronx, what do I know from stringing a fishing rod- I know from guitars and tractors and spark-plugs as I have adjusted to being a country boy, but fishing has thus far escaped me) but Josh says no problem- so we spend two hours trying to get my pole set up…clearly he knows less than I do, and sit around sweating and cursing. Finally a young woman comes down the trail with her dog and nephew and takes on the challenge-also failing, until she finds a spot for her smart phone to work and googles instructions, which work splendidly. She leaves- we get ready and Josh has brought a tin full of worms he dug up for the occasion- but somehow is it just dirt, so I tie on (is that the right phrase? Sounds like getting drunk)this nifty looking fly I find in my box (says it is the best fly ever made- guaranteed to sang every fish in the pond) and do a mighty cast- immediately hooking the largest volcanic rock in the lake….well, let’s just say we caught a lot of rocks, lost a lot of line and went home hungry . A nice gent strolling by us advised he had been fishing that spot for almost 60 years- during which time he had caught three fish…but I’m ready for the next time now.

More Guests at the Mount- we had overnight guests again this week. My old friend, Mark Begin, and his son Miles stopped by on joint motorcycle trip. Mark had driven out from Madison, Wisconsin and Miles drove up from the West Village to meet him. We greeted them after they had a long wet drive through the green mountains and had a nice dinner in town , good catch up and the traditional hearty breakfast before they again left in the rain. We baby sat for Miles a lot when he was a tyke so it is pretty weird to hang with this very adult 33 year old man who is making his way in NYC. Miles mom, Deb, was Max’s delivery nurse and she was 8 months pregnant at the time- so Max’s protracted arrival helped bring about Miles arrival and they were inseparable for the first five years of their life. While he was here, Mark, who is a design fabricator (look it up) took a look at our broken window crank that has no apparent fix, without going on an overseas journey to find a 1970’s part- and proclaimed several fixes- which would be the demise of our two month project to find someone with such a trinket in their basement pile…another of our never ending projects. All in all, another  nice visit and if you look on Trip Advisor, I think you’ll find we are again rated as New England’s’ best bed and breakfast.

Autumn is coming- and we woke on August 15th to see leaves changing outside our bedroom window…the foliage season is not far behind. See the pretty leaves in the pix.

I have to go back out to the Pond- as the scum never sleeps…and is coming back in force-so the daily kayak straining trip is in order…and we have to take Lucy out and wear her out, so we can take a nap.

Enjoy the end of summer,
Love,

Stu

Well-it’s been a about a year and 4000 hours –for those of you who have been religiously following the pond EPIC…check out THE POND pix …the Kayak turned out to be the trick- though I doubt it will stay this way. One small step for Stu, one giant step for the frogs….

Hello all from the Green Mountains:

“ When the wooden man begins to sing, the stone woman gets up to dance” Zen Saying

Lots of good pictures attached to accompany this week’s narrative- so keep up with the program, please. It’s pretty cold out this morning- starting to see hints of Fall in drives around the area-will not be long until the reds and gold are everywhere. Finally got home for some time after three straight weeks of traveling- Indy, Big Easy and Birmingham- pretty damn hot in all those places- so nice to be back in our temperate world of summer. Been a busy time at the Mount- so let’s get to it.

Mega organic farms- took a trip to Dartmouth a few weeks ago to put up flyers for selling the house of horrors…not having much luck with that..and stopped at Cedar Circle Farms in East Thetford, Vt.- acres and acre of organic vegs and tomato plants from Mars- see pictures of their gardens- had to drag Jenn away kicking and screaming as she just wanted to play around in their dirt. Made it a night with walk around Dartmouth campus, stop at the King Arthur Flour Company (since 1790!) and dinner at our favorite second floor Thai restaurant.

Guests at the Mount- we had our second dinner party at the homestead with 5 other couples attending –none of whom had ever laid eyes on each other before- it was a potluck and we had our first dinner on the great porch- with 12 people all jammed around our table. We had pulled pork from our friends Robin and Scotts’ farm- from a pig they had just slaughtered (that is Vermont!) and an amazing time was had by all- the noise level of talk at dinner was pretty amazing and then we all went down to study the pond situation. Then , my old friend Phil and his wife Maux and daughter, Phoebe came by for an overnight on way back from a week in Maine. We had pizza at our fave, Ramontos, in Rutland and spent Sunday morning in Weston, visiting the Priory (like from DaVinci Code) and the Vt. Country Store… they left with purchases. The Priory, which is a Benedictine monastery in the woods on 500 acres, has a gift shop, and apparently features the art of African- American artists- as it said “Brother’s Art downstairs” (Phil said it was the “monks” art- bit I think it is “the Brothers”). They also spent some time assessing the pond situation as you can see from the pix- and also communed with our vast frog population. After sending them off from Weston- we headed to Spring Lake- our new favorite kayak locale- to take a quick walk around the lake trail. Three and half hours later we found ourselves fully lost on the Appalachian Trail and wandering in circles. None of the backpackers we ran into had any idea about a lake- but we ran into a kid with flip-flops who pointed us in the right direction and our car was actually around a ¼ mile away. No water, no compass, no snacks…practicing good hiking habits, no? Another questionable Jenn idea..

We also had our expected visit from Karin- our benefactress and the former house owner; she was visiting family back east stopped by while I was out of town(BUMMER) and immediately told Jenn we needed to cut the grass – though she was undoubtedly kidding- it has left us traumatized at not meeting her standards for maintaining the house…. She did give kudos on the shape of the Hostas in the garden, for which we then had a celebratory dinner. She also noted that the POND was always in good condition until Hurricane Irene; at which point the algae and scum set in…providing me with my new life’s work.

Community supper- You know we never miss these extravaganzas at the ”Oddfellows Hall” (Really!) in Belmont- they happen every two weeks in summer –each to benefit a different local organization. This week’s was roast pork, and we get to sit with local strangers and learn more about living in the mountains. We wound up with two Vermont state legislators and heard about the tales of woe of Vermont’s economy and the pressure to legalize pot, socialize medicine and bum out the gun control lobby. After everyone left I found Jenn deep in wheat grass conversation with Peter from my music group (Jenn thinks has name is Pierre and I’m not correcting her), who says he has been on the FBIs most wanted list for years of communist leanings and trips to Russia and is essentially hiding out in Belmont…we are now drinking shots of wheat grass daily…

So it’s afternoon now- took a break from this missive to go play in the POND for three hours; my new strategy being to attack the vermin with a super-sized strainer, and from inside the kayak. Have made amazing progress and hope to have it done in next day or two- which will result in a special edition of this “blog” to show the world what one man and strainer can do. After my next time in the kayak- it will be clean enough to treat with some magic substance from outer space which will make all the algae recede into the ground and go to a neighbor’s pond…stay tuned for pictures in next few days. There are a few good pix of our frog family included here- by the way they are pretty unhappy with my clean up and are bellowing at me to stop..they apparent really like the scum. We did have a pond man come out and tell us how he could make it like new for about 5K- which we will most likely spend after all the shit comes back despite my 4000 hours of pond straining.

Projects and Theater- my cousin Sherry tells me the right way to do house projects is to call someone- but she lived her whole life in the Bronx, before moving “upstate” and I went out to the Midwest as young man – to learn about self-sufficiency, the protestant work ethic and man overcoming nature…so we do a lot of projects. I do them because I feel compelled to be a house mensch; Jen does them because she gets some form of perverse pleasure for being more manly than I am- so this week we have been painting our deck rail, re-staining the deck, putting in new glass in broken windows and generally playing “this old house”…luckily we had out monthly theater tickets – so we had to stop for a few days (prep for the show, see the show, savor the show). The latest production at the Weston Playhouse was another one of those unlikely choices for a small theater- Chorus Line- which they again pulled off as if we were on Broadway (without any perverts, hawkers, noise, lights or traffic- and lots of free parking…) the show was great and there is only one left for this season- so will be bummed once it over, and the winds of autumn begin to descend.

So that’s about if for now. Have a big social calendar coming up with a wedding trip back to Ohio in early September , then our kids descending here for a week in late September, and the “Jubans” coming from Florida for a fall foliage visit…that’s a lot of house cleaning, bedding to procure and wheat grass to get mixed up…Talk again soon.

Love,

Stu

Hello all from the glory of the 31st floor of the Indianapolis JW Marriott (Really!):

“Dream as if you’ll live forever; Live as if you’ll die today”- James Dean

Well, we made it back to the mountains after our whirlwind two weeks surrounding the wedding spectacular in Ohio…awfully good to be back in the mountains- even glad to see the scummy pond (more later). But, first a word, about Indianapolis. Here for work- goal to get in and get out; nice hotel but really, it’s Indy. Best you can hope for is race cars and steak. But, no- I am finding another side of this long forgotten Midwest mecca while being here without any colleagues during mid-summer…it’s a pretty cool place. Downtown is bordered by the White River State Park river walk area- with a real river (who knew?) that has all kinds of hiking/running paths, museums, gardens, zoo, live music and people biking, seqway-ing, carriage-ing, and strolling all over the place- it’s really alive- and I have been jogging around it for days plus I can see it all (including a Queen tribute band …REALLY…from my picture room’s window.) And to top it off, Indy has a real Jewish deli- with real Jewish people behind the counter- a place where you can get a corned beef sandwich, matzo ball soup and latkes for about the cost of a NY hot dog (but you have to walk through the hood first). So- don’t all run to make your Indy vacation plans- but if you come, they will build it.

Addendum: after I wrote the above- I went out in search of dinner and went wandering towards the sound of music. It took me to all things- a series of canals…yes CANALS..with al fresco dining, murals and glass sculptures, shops, apartments, little half round bridges AND singing gondoliers (in ITALIAN)…so apparently Indianapolis is the Venice of the Midwest…

So- I really think a picture is worth a 1000 words- and the attached pix kind of tells the story of last few weeks- but I know you, my very discriminating audience, will be irate if I don’t include a few illuminating words- so I will endeavor to keep it brief (how am I doing so far?):

You can’t leave for too long- without a lot going on…Check out Karen’s’ (now Jenn’s) flower gardens- wow- they are blooming wild despite the fact that the neighbors’ forgot to water them for 2 weeks (while they were busy sleeping in our beds at night- all of the three bears together..)and the pond…ughh.. I have returned to the kitchen strainer and am determined to make it a clear blue like the Caribbean before anyone comes. I did some work in it this week- and keep finding algae in hidden places on my body when I shower- which I believe is good for me, no?. Plus, our garage entry small door has become a giant spider web of glass- never seen one spider across the whole door- it’s really too pretty to fix, at least I think so. Unfortunately- our giant lawn rocks are now covered with their own kind of accumulated crud- so Jenn thinks we need to clean them (sorry- I missed the picture of her scrubbing rocks with a gas grill cleaning brush)

And the search for a good yard-boy (man): with trying to make sure the property is in good enough shape to not be publicly flogged should Karin show up for a visit- we have tried for 2 years to find a good yard helper. Put an ad in the local e-serve and got a number of response- so this week we met Collin, an 18 year old Zen mystic who “loves our land”…and he was willing to join me in straining out the pond inch by inch- so we had our first experience with him, and all we keep saying is “He’s not Marcus”…a mantra if ever there was one…but he is pretty cool and he lets me call him Dylan instead.

Preparing the house for guests…is very important to us. So the day after we got back we spent all day scrubbing everything to perfection for a visit from George an Connie- who wound up having to cancel….but the house is quite clean for now, and Jenn continues to move around furniture that she finds country-offensive. I then move it back to assure everything stays exactly the way we found it- and this goes on for a number of days until someone gives up ..I did find a very cool little wooden box with Norwegian rose maul painting on it hiding in a corner of the spare bedroom. The whole prep for guests will get a double whammy for the ages this week when we have a dinner party for all the couples we have met in the last two years…and on top of that have been told by her daughter, Christine, that we may have a visit from our benefactress, Karin, who is coming back EAST for few weeks…that is the visit of all visits and will require 36 hours of non-stop cleaning and then staying somewhere else until she comes. And by the way, we have now settled on our new Persian rug in the remodeled den- to go with our new furniture- after having lived with alternating 3 rugs for two weeks- to find Jenn’s absolute best match (we chose the red one by default)

The cat room- is actually our year round enclosed porch which is an amazingly lovely room surrounded by windows and with our inherited wicker furniture… great place to sit and have lunch or listen to the bullfrogs lament at the pond….but honestly we very rarely have sitting rights to it and the cats have squatted there and despite not paying any property tax have made it their own. Oh well- we get to visit.

The weekly trip north- we made one last week to work on the house of horrors in Groton and visit Connie and George in Brookfield. The horror is getting better all the time; we finished last of outside painting and cleared out last two rooms and of course added to Spencer’s donut supply…seems ready to sell if only someone would come and maybe look at it. From there- we went over the mountain and down to Brookfield for dinner with Connie and George- always a noteworthy event. Turned into a beautiful night and they had all the rooms occupied at the B&B- so we stayed at the old family cottage (Roundtop) up on a hill outside of town. Owned by Connie’s family since the 1930s- it’s a magnificent spot with generations of family tchotchkes and a sweeping view of the hillside below. Spent a very peaceful night unhampered by the family ghost…chilly up there and we slept in separate twin beds –which was a good brief separation for us. I read the better part of a novel lounging around in the quaint family room and got to take some cool pix before we left the next day

And another great performance happened the night we returned at the great Weston Playhouse, a very funny takeoff on a Chekhov play –called Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike. Always well done and well-staged- but missed the band in the basement as not much music in this one. Since the band was not around, they served dinner in the basement before the play-which was actually quite nice in a great setting with views of the old mill and falls right out the window. I saw an African –American at the show- which brings our total sightings of people of color this year (in Vermont) to 26; we are planning a trip to Burlington which undoubtedly will double our number in one day. Speaking or people of color- was returning an item to Walmart last week ( we never miss a week of returns) and saw the astounding sight of a family of eight Hasidim Jews walk out…no, really ,and no drugs…there are apparently Hasidic Jews in Rutland, Vermont. But I can’t imagine where they eat.

Finally (I know this was supposed to be short- but a lot happened in my mind as I was writing)- we spent last Sunday afternoon at beautiful Chittenden Dam-just north of Rutland….what a spot; will be back there soon with the kayaks, if we can still fit them in the trunk, now that Jeep has been replaced by Subaru.). Took a nice hike and enjoyed a sunshine filled day in the brief summer of the green mountains.

So-enough, she said. See you soon?

STU

Hello all and warm greetings from the summer heat of Toledo:

Back in Ohio for two weeks for the big wedding and fit in a trip up north before heading back to the green mountains on Saturday. Thought I would take some hotel time to make my latest submission.

Weather in Vermont- this is the glory time in the mountains- mid 70s during the day-mid 40s at night. Went down to N’Awlins for three days two weeks ago and hit md 90s with 100% humidity- left there at 8 in morning at 90 plus- got back to my house at 7 at night to 41 degrees-…that is a weird experience. All of this perfect weather makes the mountains so lush all you see is green wherever you look. Have to use our electric heater at night.

Farm Marketing in Vermont- we love farm markets and go far and wide to find new ones. A quite interesting mix of tenth generation Vermonters and the counter culture with its organics everything. Spent a nice Sunday afternoon two weeks ago searching out the little market in Dorset- which is set on route 30 in a valley between two mountain ranges. Small market in a grassy clearing along the road with the coming of the short fresh veggie season and lots of flowers and herbs- which have replaced bedding on Jen’s must have list.

Kayaking- we had our second outing to little Elfin Lake- a real find; a small private community lake just outside of Wallingford that is free and open to the public (at least we think it is?). Little beach surrounded by mountains and a nice little paddle around. . Nice place for a naked dip which I could not resist- but got stuck in water when some preppie gal came riding by on her standing kayak (several times- what was she looking for?). We took Liz back there for her going away to college day out and spent most of the afternoon floating around on out little rafts. Have now mastered stuffing the kayaks in back of car rather than the odyssey of getting them on top.

Music in the basement- have now made it back to my Monday night music group. Had a nice welcome back and was already penciled in for a few lead numbers at the next performance in August. Everyone was very kind except my nemesis woman who got up and left shortly after I arrived- not sure if it is my status as permanent flatlander or the smell of the pond which I had spent much of day in prior to coming to play. Have been working on some new songs and got to do them with the Bunty boys when I got back home to Ohio for wedding visit.

Making our first walk to town—On an overcast and temperate day we decided we would walk into town. This consists of walking out the back of our house , up the class four logging raid through the woods onto the other side to the extension of Gates Road, out to the main Belmont road and then a mile or so into town. Seemed very doable…but there are a LOT of hills and LOT of black flies in the woods. We took no water. Walk there was pretty nice-kind of seeing everything from a different viewpoint than from the car. At the general store, we had lunch, got the mail and watched the eyes of amazement from the kid at the counter when we told her where we had walked from. The walk back seemed endless- almost impossibly all up hill and right after lunch. Some really nice vistas as we topped the ridge before heading down. But all in all turned out to be about 13 miles and four hours (did I say no water?) and a lot of bug bites. Jen got home and went to get a massage at the massage trailer.

First show of the season- The Weston Playhouse made its season debut and we hit opening night for the world premiere of “Vinyl and Analog”. Continued to be amazed at the quality of the theater (and price- 25 buck for residents) and especially the live music from the basement. Where do these guys come from? Great sound system and acoustics too. The play was about the devil trying to trade her favors(ala Robert Johnson)….. the soul of a fading record store owner in exchange for success for he and his ailing father. A three person virtuoso performance with really good rock and roll. Saw three cars on the drive home which was a record. Had diner in Rutland beforehand at our new favorite- Table 24. Broadway in the sticks . Next show is next week.

First dinner of the season- at our house with the neighbor clan including the visiting family from NC in town for the month long graduation event. We ate for the first time on our back porch at the massive table and with no light so it got pretty dark pretty quick. Classic American cookout food with all the trimmings and then Jen spent an hour trying to light wet wood in the back 40 to make s’mores while we all got bit up. Speaking of the neighbors and boundaries (were we?) we have had difficulty with; while we have been in Ohio- Jen called to see how Josh’s 16th birthday went (we sent him more camouflage to help him hide better) and asked to talk to Liz since it was her last night night before she leaves for the culinary institute way up in Montpelier. Josh said she was not home- which is a newsflash since these kids never go anywhere. Jen asked where she was and he told her she was up spending the night at our house-which was bit of a surprise. Guess it’s a communal house now.

THE WEDDING- suffice to say it was magnificent event. Many of you attended and it was an amazing gathering of the clans. Perfect day, beautiful ceremony, wild dancing at the reception, and the longest reception line in history (220 people). I got to walk my baby down the aisle, which created a fair amount of moisture. The crazy patchwork “centerpiece project” was a huge success and everyone seemed very happy. More coming with pictures when ready. I myself decided there were enough picture takers- so concentrated over 3 days on taking 300 pictures of the wedding goer’s shoes-which raised some eyebrows but generally was a big hit. Have sent out a shutterfly with 118 of these weird photos- so if you didn’t get it and want to- let me know. The newlyweds are now on the beach in PR, the family have gone home, the canopies have come down and the world is moving on…-and we need to get aback to the mountains.

More soon. Love, STU