Happy Stick Season to all: Go SOX!!!!!!!!!
My newest form of organized compulsion is to provide my readers (Do I really have any?) with the two photo options- so as not to bore EVERYONE. I’ve attachéd around 25 of “best of” to go along with the commentary (you’re supposed to stop and look at the attached photos that relate as you read the captivating dialog) or you can see the whole Monty via the Shutterfly link attached below,. Too many good photos to take here in the Green Mountains.
http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/welcome.sfly?fid=6791ea390a85f09d6cbbd47cbb382743&sid=2CauG7RyxZMmc
Stu gets a new camera: this is not quite accurate as the kids and Jenn got me a fancy new cannon digital camera with a big old lens last Christmas. But, Stu is very intimidated by new boxes- so it took me 10 months to open it up. Then it took me an hour to get the strap on and another two hours to get it charged and figure out how to turn it on. At this point, I felt compelled to take it out for a walk; so I did the seven mile loop up the logging road , around to Belmont Rd (all downhill) and the two miles back on the railroad tracks(beat the train home by five minutes, which is good, as I could not figure out where I would jump off to when it came). So…I know nothing about digital cameras and could barely figure out where the shutter was- but took a bunch of pictures, which Max tells me look better than ever (Photoshop is my new best friend). I have an acquaintance from my folk club that is a pro photographer and I pounded on his door on the way so he could show me how to turn it on and off, but alas, he did not have the grace to be home. It is now safely put away where I can do no harm to it. I have attached few shots for your humor.
Boston: We did our long awaited trip to Boston last week to honor Jenn’s 50th. She had never been there and me only briefly. Luckily, the Sox were in Detroit whipping the Tigers, so it was not as crazy as it could have been. It’s a three hour drive (tried to take the train- but it now goes to NYC and THEN to Boston- about 13 hours worth of scenic travel). Waltzing along on a bright sunny day in the 70s- we immediately turned the wrong way on I-91 and by the time we figured out (sleeping navigator!) we had to cut all the way across Mass. on Route 2…very scenic and harmonious. Then we hit Boston traffic with no idea where we were going and managed to make it safely to Cambridge and the magnificent Hotel Marlowe. The hotel had sent me an e-mail welcoming me days before and asked If I would like to send a photo to put up in the room. Since it was Jenn’s 50th and she is getting old, I sent a pretty racy one of her in better days getting ready to go to a Halloween party in a cat woman outfit (sorry- if you want to see that one on the wall –you’ll have to e-mail me and I’ll have to leave the house for 24 hours to send it). When we got there it was not up yet, so I snuck down and asked if they had gotten it and the whole front desk team went bananas. Apparently, most people send pictures of their pets or children to make them feel at home while away… DUH…Once settled in we did the 3 plus mile walk to Hah-vid Square and communed with the Geeks. We had an extraordinary time. The hotel sent up Champagne and goodies and each night we had a wine hour (see Stu on the velvet couch after four glasses of Red). We did the extraordinary Gardiner Museum (don’t miss this place when you get to Bean-town and walked most of the Freedom Trail; this is an old place you know. Paul Revere is damn everywhere. It was almost 75 degrees both full days we were there and then we had the treat of being taken out to a great Italian dinner in the North End with my kid cousins Travis and Alex (more later). On the way home, we made the pilgrimage to Walden Pond – along with 100 hormonal high school students and then had a real treat of fantastic foliage on the country road drive home (It’s quite a bit south of us and a little remedial in getting the leaves turned). Boston will now be our go- to urban experience while we are in Vermont.
Stick Season in Vermont- So, Vermont has six (not four) seasons like everyone else. Stick Season is the time between when the leaves fall and the first ski snow comes, and it is filled with bare tress and downed sticks…ergo the name. Vermonters love winter and the they love the short summer and glorious autumn, but they just hide away during stick season. Not sure where everyone goes, but it’s kind of dead and a little depressing. Upside is that local restaurants and other attractions offer all kinds of deals to try to get people to leave their houses ( we had a four course diner that was not even an “ early bird” last night for $12.95). The leaves are gone, it gets kind of gray and the farmers’ markets close for the season in most places. We hit one of the last markets of the outdoor season at the bull- goose of all markets, in Rutland, last Saturday. Who knew there were so many root vegetables to be eaten? So, have you ever seen a stalk of brussel -sprouts? (see photo). Wow.. what a work of nature. I thought they just came ready to eat..but apparently they come on giant stalks that you pick them off, which has to be registered with the local sheriff as deadly weapon. People also use Stick Season to prepare for winter, which mean chainsaws going ten hours a day and amazing woodpiles appearing to dot the landscape. Snow is coming soon, so all this activity may cease, and people will come out and dinner will be more expensive.
Modern Urban Living- As I had mentioned, we had a wonderful time with my kid cousins, Travis and Alex, in Boston. After a marvelous dinner on the North End (think Little Italy), we went back to their lovely co-op apartment just down the street from the Boston garden (no parquet floors in the apartment). It’s a two bedroom, but one bedroom is devoted to Alex’s clothes…mostly shoes. She may approach 100 pairs of shoes… it was an overwhelming sight. And Travis’ closet has all his shirts and pants lined up in a color scheme based on the colors of the rainbow…very impressive. What we learned is that young urban folk make sure to have plenty of shoes, toilet paper, and paper towels on hand, lest they get stranded in a snow emergency…you have to see the pictures
Another Dinner Party- People in Vermont appear to love dinner parties, especially in stick season. I think they mostly like checking out other peoples’ houses. We had a reunion with our three friends from our first dinner party, in July, at our house (the thrice divorcee and the military couple) and had a lovely time. Jenn decided she would make homemade bread and apple crisp ,and then spent ten hours doing it, using about $200 dollars worth of electricity to help the bread rise in front of our eclectic heaters . We had the heater in our bathroom going all night long, which seemed to turn the whole upstairs into a sauna. We are trying to not use our furnace, so we have many little heat sources that go on and off all day long..We actually took off the plastic and opened up our formal living room, which still looks as if Karin had left it yesterday (we’ve made it a shrine, I think). And, we lit our fireplace for the first time. Now, we continue to find gifts and treasures from Karin every day, which may go on for years…but…she had left the fireplace set with a fire and ready to go before she left which took us four months to discover. Match, flame, boom (see photo of roaring fire). Karin will be enshrined soon in the house sellers hall of fame. Dinner was great (I made my famous Bolognese with meat sauce made from our local organic farmer, and from the recipe I learned by watching Clemenza teach Michael to cook for 100 guys in Godfather One ( my best cooking, as well as most of philosophy of life comes from the film). We ended the night watching the Sox tromp the Cards in Game One.
We’re now on a countdown to head back to Ohio- three weeks as of yesterday…and traumatized by the prospect. Lots to do- both here and there, and a transition we are a bit overwhelmed by. Snow is coming soon it appears, but tonight is the local Halloween party and I will be playing music with the gang (Evil Ways, Witchy Woman, Black Magic Woman, The Monster Mash). Soon my Blog/ Rambles will come to an end for the season, but until then………
We hope this finds everyone well, just because…
Stu
