Category: Green Mountain Blog

Greetings and Happy Holiday weekend- such as it is:

“A man is known by the silence he keeps” ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. Oliver Herford

“Your practice is your life” ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. Zen Saying

“After the Ecstasy……………………………. the Laundry” …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. More Zen

These are the TEN THINGS I learned this week in the Mountains:

It is legal to vote more than once in national elections– apparently our fearless leader has ruled that we can all vote by mail and then go and vote in person. I’m thinking that since I live in two places, I can therefore vote four times if I make the effort……………I’m really glad we now have this option to clear up any concerns with voter fraud….

Twenty-two month olds now trot off in the morning to get the school bus……apparently to go to virtual school……. just see the pictures!!!

There is indeed Fire in the Hole– The way to eradicate ground holes with Bee Colonies in them is too blow up the hole- The Queen got this from The Dumpmaster and has spent the better part of the last week pouring accelerants into various holes in in the yard and then setting them on fire…an endless crusade to not be bit again, which requires very special outfits……she is now The Queen Bee too……

Long curling locks suddenly appearing on an aging hipster draw a lot of notice and comments- ranging from “Hey Hippie Boy” to “Are you really Charlie Rich” to “Is that really you?” ……liking the idea of emulating the old Bluegrass Legends……can you say “Uncle Pen?” …….

Who Knew?????…. Barn Projects never end- After finishing all the siding on the old horse barn, we spent this week pouring concrete in holes in the foundation corners, that may go all the way to China……building new barn windows, and trying to erect a gutter/downspout system without buying any materials (have already made too many trips to the Depot for Corona times) ….is this really My Destiny?????……..

When the Barn Projects are done for the day, the Jewish Pig Farmer (and the JPF Bride) arrive unannounced for Bonding and dinner- filthy, sweaty and tired is a wonderful time to greet unannounced and rare guests….but when you need Bonding, apparently you need Bonding…..had an hour and a half of exorcising from The JPF…and then …POOF…gone…leaving dinner behind for us to heat up…apparently they got hungry on the 20 minute drive over and needed to stop by the side of the road to eat their part of dinner…………………..only in Vermont….

The British Hairdresser comes for dinner and tries to move in- Lovely night, dinner on the ground (TQ outdid herself….real whipped cream with her freshly made Rhubarb Cake), cuts an trims on the deck….from our friend Cockney Tracy…..while she lobbied for the newly remodeled and electrified Horse Barn as potential dwelling while she sells her house and considers whether to buy a new one or live off the land…..we would have to build a tiny outhouse for her….but What the Hell….we would then have The TTT…..Tracy-The-Tenant….

Top Secret Newsflash– The Canadians are halfway finished with building a masked-wall to keep us out……

There is no public access to lovely Lake St. Catherine- headed down along majestic Route 30, between the walled mountain corridor where the hawks make their abode, for picnic outing….beautiful lake, but only for those who own it….wound up in the village of Poultney for picnic and hike up the secret dirt lane to the hidden, mountain, tiered cemetery….maybe the biggest in the state, with stones dating back to the mid-1700s….who knew?…..and learned that men often outlive their wives in Vermont…..enlightening……

And that’s all I got….so only nine lessons learned this week…. but then…who’s counting anyway?……………….

Wear you masks…save a life……stay well…try to have some fun……

Arriva Derchi……Papi

Sunday, Sunday…can’t trust that day…………

‘It’s taken me all my life to learn what not to play” …………………………………………………………………………………Dizzy Gillespie

“The butterfly counts not months but the moments. And has time enough” ……………………………………………Rabindrnath Tagore    

“You crawl, you walk….and then, you run” ………………………………………………………………………………………………. Clay Davis (in The Wire)

Been a whiz of a week…what is there really to say these days?……………………………….We worked, we shopped, we masked, we finished our Quarntinie……How much can one scribe pour out……Lets keep it brief-with almost -one – liners for this week’s missive……

The Queen said we had a SMALL project to do…. spent much of the week tearing down the back of the old horse barn, burning 48 straight hours of junk wood, making massive trip see The Dumpmaster (“why don’t you come up here alone and leave the missus at home, and I’ll go make her a visit?” ………………then putting up all new barn siding……. left de circle, right de circle…

I keep telling TQ that little Jewish boys from the Bronx don’t do these sort of things……but memo apparently missed….

Mountain days and nights swinging back and forth from high humid summer to autumn in the breeze……spotted first maples changing color this week…. what will we do when we can’t hang with folks in outdoor settings?

Does everyone Zoom in their underwear?…………that’s how we roll for work in the new normal….

Making music on a web platform with your posse…. not ideal, but still pretty cool…. working on new age protest song with The Nave and the Prodigal on line……

Getting the hang of dinner on the ground…. had The Erstwhile Russian Spy and the Venerated School Marm for cookout last night…sat through light summer rain under the pines…. still no one has entered the abode here since our June return…. but TQ requires social gatherings, thus dinner on the ground….

Better late than never…. we are working through five seasons of “The Wire” …which I resisted for years in stubborn reaction to the constant “better-than-sex” proclamations from my Baltimore friends…. Well….it probably is!!!!!…. may be best show ever on the Tube…. Would love to have Omar over for dinner……

The Convention: All conventions should be virtual-best I’ve seen……John Kasich????…man has guts……Julia Dreyfus-off her nut. We wept through Barack’s speech……can we just have him back?…….how could we, as a people, go from that …to THIS?…….cannot say Joe bowled us over…. but such a decent, good, caring man…how many votes can I cast?……..

Whilst…. The Numchuck says NO to a fed judges’ order to release his taxes, has more of his appendages charged with election related felonies, promotes a new Covid miracle drug, jumps all over criticizing New Zealand for having 13 new cases…. calls everyone at the convention names, and continues his efforts to sabotage the election/democracy daily….in my old world, we called this adjustment reaction to adolescence……. if we were being generous

And now……have to go move dirt to finish the grading on the new back barn….and get ready for this week’s assault on getting electric to all the out buildings…. gotta love a SMALL project…. Que sera, sera…….

Keeping my word on brevity- for once……go out and enjoy a blessed, Masked day…….

Stu

Greetings Fellow Travelers:

“If you miss the present, you miss your appointment with life” ……………………………………………………………………………………………………. Thich Naht Hanh (you know him, right?)

“The shortest answer is DOING!” ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. Lord Herbert

“Sometimes the lights all shining on me…other times, I can barely see” …………………………………………………………………………………………..Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter

We’re back…. after a three-week hiatus……have you been checking your inbox daily to see where the hell the missive is? Are you Jonesing? Well, there’s been a lot to keep the fires burning…. made the trip back to the Heartland for THE SALE, and back with our HazMat suits….and lived to tell about it……now, ensconced back in the mountains, and the cool morning dew tells us that Fall is approaching……

Traveling in the time Of COVID– is not all that simple…involves a lot of outdoor peeing, for which The Queen is a master (20 seconds or less)….I try to empty her cavalcade of fluids when she is not looking, but she winds up consuming gallons anyway; ergo the 20 second frequent pee stops along the way……………..our trips would be a lot shorter if I could stay off the phone with The Prodigal and The Nave….and not repetitively miss exits as a result….though we had perfect driving weather both ways, and the animals were great roaming around the detritus accumulated in the back of the car….stayed at the Marriott in Binghamton each way, which is getting more and more crowded with urbanite, mask-less escapees….luckily were able to find rooms in the back away from the revelers…and, the hotel maintains five nights between guests per room-so felt relatively safe…..On the way, I managed to place a takeout order at  a Greek Place in San Antonio thinking it was in Binghamton (same name place on line), only to find when I got to the joint to pick it up, they had no idea what I was talking about  (though they sure did in San Antonio when I called to find out where the food I ordered was -they offered to deliver, but seemed like we would still be there waiting for dinner)…..

A 45-year-old house is like new to a one eyed man– WOW-being used to living in houses from two centuries ago, it was shockingly easy to return to our new place- just walked in, opened the blinds and turned on the AC….no mold, mildew, mice, rodents, blown fuses, broken appliances, plumbing leaks, etc……does everyone live like this? I thought everyone lived with rodents?

End of an Era– I excerpt from the e-mail I sent to the family on the day of closing- “We came back to Ohio this week, and this morning closed on the sale of the beloved Bunty Station homestead after 35 years. Last night, the band gathered in the driveway for one last hootenanny-a blessed event in beautiful late day sunshine. After everyone left, Steve and I had stayed to make one last walk around the property and to reminisce about all that has happened there in the last 35 years- beauty, jubilation, a 1000 rituals, celebrations, sadness and mourning…. a lifetime of memories. We grieved the lost ones: Helen, Ron, Pat Burrows, Work Barbara, Pat Cianflona, Joy, Barbara and Larry, Mom, Mocha and all the cats- many of whom are buried there in some fashion in the family graveyard.

All of you have at one time or another, in one way or another, shared this extraordinary journey, and the ending is certainly bittersweet, but spent the afternoon yesterday meting the new owner and walking through the various ropes and idiosyncrasies…and he will clearly love the house, and we are only five mines away-so when in Ohio, we can drive by and keep tabs on the changes he makes and feel the connection from afar.

It was the best of times It was the worst of times…. now we move on.”

The sale went without a hitch, the Band played, we all got to say goodbye, and the house is now in the hands of someone who is really excited to have it, and will love it. I know this after spending two hours with him the night before closing and answering his three pages of typed out questions. Despite, Stu’s ongoing Change-Trauma, it was a happy ending. I am including below a link, for those of you not on Facebook or trolling You Tube, to the Last Dance music videos The Band (without Brother Al) did in the driveway the night before closing. Check out the brand new song about the world we live in. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGI0SwROVPgOvob3p8oGBhA/

Babies, Babies, Babies -Nanna and Papi went hog wild –seeing all the g-daughters in one week. Got to babysit Sloane and have multiple dinners… and visited with Quin-Lily and Baby Harper for the first time since February on the way back. Manna from Heaven…check out the updated Angel-Pix…. Sloane was perplexed to have us seem to emerge from the TV, where we seem to live through our Weekly Portals, and Quinn was eager to find out what we had for dinner….

Back to The Inn- The car had not stopped rolling into our drive when The Queen jumped out to begin watering the plants and herbs…and was soon on the road to locate horse shit…. maters, melons, beans all on the way…better late than never in our Northern climes…. Except for being down about two feet due to prolonged drought, THE POND was pristine and beckoning (foreshadowing for later) …. after a whirlwind week, we settled in for our Quarantine…

Car Repair in the Mountains #2- After getting settled, we headed up to the wilds of New Hampshire to pick up my car from the only place in the Northeastern United Sates that would repair my exhaust system. Returned home to car not starting and all the check engine lights on, so now have had to search out another mountain mechanic…luckily I discovered I can get it started by winding up the crankshaft, rolling downhill and jumping in to pop the gears (you’ve seen that movie, right?) ……so basically carless again, but who really needs to go anywhere anyway?

A Rare Sighting- after taking the car to Mountain Tony to computer the problem (of course it started right up and no check engine lights……he basically said take two aspirins and call me in the morning) …. we decided to stroll through the hills above Ludlow and encountered a Brigade of Hasidim from Williamsburg, moving into a forsaken ski chalet. The NYC folks are all trying to hide out in Virus-free Vermont…. but this is going to add some local color to our local ski community (along with the now ubiquitous Jamaicans next door) …I was trying to figure out how to surreptitiously take their pictures, to which Jenn said “just go talk to them, Jew to Jew” …I opted for the telephoto lens….

Kayaking on Blues Sky day– first time in six years without Lucy (who was howling with indignation as we left her in the house, and has since moved in with the Jamaicans) …. makes the trip quite a bit easier…and quick……good Quarantinie activity…

Jenn mows with The Bees– whilst I walked around in my underwear, and made soup, Jen got back on the horse –roaming the property in search of projects and decided mowing was in order, then proceeding to mow over a bee hive and, last I saw, she was flailing her arms, running down the mountain towards Rutland in her beekeeper suit………………….

Corona- treat– we have taken up traditional Chocolate Malt making (after spending a week finding malt on line…. where have the candy stores gone?) ….and this is our new late night Quarantinie activity-check out the machine…. when did you last see this?

And, the latest project– can’t keep a good woman down, so we are embarking on the replacement of the back wall of the old horse barn (don’t ask). We have someone with actual skills coming to assist this week, but we have the grunt work to do, which started yesterday with moving forty years’ worth of boards, flooring, pipes, hoses and general junk from the collapsed lean to built on the back of the barn…we yanked, we burnt, we stacked we sorted, we sweated…… and we finally crawled into The Pond in late afternoon sunshine for a floating beer and doze…. then down to pick up dinner at DJ’s in Ludlow and find the proverbial picnic table to eat it….we are slowly documenting all the abandoned dinner-worthy picnic tables in the State of Vermont…….

And that, my friends, is far more than enough….be well, stay safe, don’t hug strangers…….

Papi

Greetings, Salutations, Bow-Downs:

“It all begins when we say “I”. Everything that follows is illusion” …………………………………………………………………………. Sawaki Kodo Roshi

“I will be the hero! These morons — when this is over, I will be the hero.”………………………………………………………………Rudy Giuliani

“What happened to our promised land? Lost trying to cross the Rio Grande” …………………………………………………………New Days Risin’- (2020)

……………………. You’re my blue sky, you’re my sunny day….and it’s been a series of those days (thank you, Dicky Betts) here in the Greens……The grass is greenin’, the flowers are flowerin’, THE POND is emptyin’, The Queen is dirt movin’…. what a day for a day dream, what a day for a daydreamin’ boy……

Masks, Masks, Masks…. how many do you have in your car?…….Can’t go in the grocery here in the Greens or a Mart, without one……Mask Police at the door…. have you thanked them for their service?

Amazon in the Time of Corona- is better in the heartland…. ordered a two-day Prime delivery two weeks ago- took 12 days to arrive……can’t seem to find The Inn……you can’t always get what you want….

Bears and Brownies…. local King of Edibles, Master Jeb, left all his brownies in a cooler outside his trailer……and our resident local Bear found them…. he was discovered by an elderly neighbor two hours later lying face down in her yard with thirty-five empty bags of potato chips…

How about John Kasich……. you go Guv……….

Where are The Hasidim?…….with the state park they gather in closed …. they have taken up residence at the Rutland Holiday Inn…. a minion a day…

Third times a charm…after two recent aborted, ravenous treks to Rutland, to the fabled Ramuntos Pizza…which apparently closes randomly in Corona-land (you can only order and pay by phone and then open their barricaded front door and yell for them to bring the pizza) ….we scored last night….which resulted in our new favorite activity…..pickin’ up dinner to eat at the picnic table outside my closed chiropractors’ office….which surrounds Allen Pond, and has ducks for Lucy to chase around while we dine….

Goin up to the country, mama don’t you want to go…….Got stuck this week on moving mounds of dirt, plantin’ bells, continuing to beautify and organize rubber bands in the barn and garage space and regular Pond floatin’…so only managed one afternoon outing…..that meant a trip to Ernie’s Hand Carved for Brisket, Corned Beef and Pastrami…it’s not the city, but pretty righteous for the mountains….after cholesterol-laden cemetery lunch and very ominous thunder clouds, we started driving south to beat the storms and find a destination-dirt road before the skies opened…….found one south of Wallingford….and headed straight uphill for a  scenic hike….skies opened after two miles…and we jogged, rolled, sloshed back to the car soaked to the gills, with Lucy looking like a large wet rat…..camera got soaked and died (later repaired), money got ruined, shoes are still dryin’ out five days later….and then driving home in the floods, tried to avoid Trump-ish driver in middle of the road, hit massive pothole, and blew out exhaust system….the proverbial wet blanket…..

Speaking of machines (were we?)-……the ancient tractor is down again…. after fixing the broken deck spring a few weeks ago, the cable (which I refused to buy proactively after we drove an hour a half to pick up a spring) has now busted……penny-wise…dollar foolish……. F___ Me!!!!!……another parts trip to Brandon this week

When we finally returned our soaked selves home, sounding like a Panzer tank, we were so chilled, Papi channeled Bubby and made Matzo Ball Soup (see pix), which seemed pretty weird when most of our flatlander friends were lamenting 100-degree heat……but…it’s the mountains ya know……

Closin’-schmozin’………if the skies don’t fall in, we are heading back to the heartland next weekend for a week to close on our sale of the beloved ancestral home……it has been quite a haul, so keep fingers crossed…..time to say goodbye to the family estate, home of The Country Jew, family graveyard….luckily have had months and months to come to grips with this, so ready as can be…..will get to see the grandkids, kids, make nice with our new house, maybe gather the Bunty boys for a distanced jam…..

Thus…sad to say, but likely off line for a few weeks……Don’t despair, you can watch the news instead…or maybe listen to reruns of Prairie Home Companion…

To tide you over, we have included some pictures of Papi ‘s proverbial Summer of Corona state……hair has not been cut since February and is hardly ever attended to, mostly wearing just a swim suit or just the tidies, Bud-shirt and flips…who needs to get dressed any more, anyway?????…….

Stay well, drop a line, pucker up, it’s all in the game……

Papi

Bonjour Mes Amis:

“Doing nothing, but leave nothing undone” ………………………………………………………………………………………. Zen saying

“I tell you: one must have chaos in oneself, to give birth to a dancing star” …………………………………………Friedrich Nietzsche

“Sometimes things are just what they seem to be, that’s all there is to it” ……………………………………………Charles Bukowski

Rona-Rona- BoBona- Bananna-Fanna- Fofona- Fee-Fi-Fo- Fona…. Corona………………………………. Have we had enough yet?……….Unlike with some people and places, we are pretty much in total Exile here in the mountains…………………The state had a surge this week with 15 new cases since some fool from the South came to Manchester and spread their wings at the Outlet Stores (come to the beauty of the Mountains to shop) …. thank you, tourista……but that’s about it……first state in the country to go 30 days without a single death……but still we hibernate……long time comin’-gonna be a long time gone……

Tryin’ to figure out what exactly we do with our days here……always seem busy, but not sure how…..Cleaning: we are uber spotless…..Gardening: starting to look like the Botanical Gardens here  (TQ now obsessing over Herb Gardens….is that a Jewish garden?)…….Organization: working on ridding the Barn/Garage of 60 years’ worth of stuff, now have music out there via 60 year old solid state radio and lots of aluminum foil antenna, and have organized all my string and rubber bands into one convenient place…….Work: are you kidding me….is this what retirement is like?….did a two hour lecture to 20 small talking heads on The Zoom this week for the Vermont Law School- has anyone bought Zoom stock yet?……Binging– nighty TV and Corona Fritos (had not had one in two decades and have not stopped, as the Devil said they are anti-viral)…………Writing– lyrics, songs, Blogs, hate letters, curricula, hate letters, Reviews- with being a really bad typist, this takes up half of each day…..Talking- who knew we had so many phone friends…..Exercise– out in the Barn, on the Circuit three times a week, and running up and down mountains, down to weighing 47 pounds now…..Herbs (the other kind)- don’t ask……..Friends?– weekly dinner on the ground at The Big Table in the yard-do not dare to come in our house, fool…….Ponding- sinking a bit with concerted drought, but best ever, PRISTINE, 90 degree plus days shockingly for much of last two weeks, so a good deal of float time- clean enough for even TQ to delve into…..Outings: trying to uncover exactly how many dirt roads there are in Vermont, and walk all of them-twice a week we pack the car like The Beverly Hillbillies (prepared for any Virus or Republican threats) and head off into the great blue……… we are Dirt Road Royalty….

While I toil away at mostly doing nothing, THE QUEEN is distance gallivanting all over the county—-working at the organic farm to feel empathy with the deportables, moving hay bales back and forth over the property, coffees with the Trailer Masseuse, Scavenging with the Dump Master through the 50 foot pile of junk metal for potential finds, doing virtual Garden tours, presiding over the Mt. Holly Community Association…finding piles of rhubarb to make cake for post herb consumption, finding used furniture on the road to take up space in my pristine barn (which I the move back out to her trunk)….touching base every other day with the official Mountain-Yentas: the JPF wife, the French Chef Madam, the Trailer Masseuse, the Empress of General Electric and The British Deck Hair Stylist…..the woman is just plain busy….currently obsessing most about Plastics…..Plastics….

Okay, Kiddoes……since there is really not much happening here, it is almost POND time, and since I need to get in my obsessive amount of written words for the day…. here are three pop quizzes for you to mull over or ignore…all matching answers…. scored on a bell curve….

Song Lines

“Livin’ ten floors above me, in the tower of song” ____                                                                                                 John Prine

“Back of my neck, getting’ dirty and gritty” ___                                                                                                                 The Temptations

“Plant that bell and let it ring” Gram Parsons                                                                                                                             

“We’re the big door prize” ____                                                                                                                                             The Silhouettes

“Just my ‘magination, runnin’ away with me” ____                                                                                                  Neil Young

“With a road sign leading straight to Satin’s cage” ____                                                                                                   Lovin’ spoonful

“Ba-pa-Ba-pa…Ba-pa-Ba-pa-Ba- pa…. Get a job” ____                                                                                                    Leonard Cohen

Movie Lines

“I think we’re going to need a bigger boat” ____                                                                                               Dances with wolves

“Leave the gun, take the cannoli” thermal and Louise                                                                                                                                

“Lets you and me jump in that river” ____                                                                                                  The Untouchables

“You’re a real live outlaw, aren’t ya” Field of Dreams                                                                                                                           

“Individual achievement” The Godfather                                                                                                                                               

“Tatonka…..                                                                                                                           Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

“If you build it, they will come” ____                                                                                                                                         Jaws

Great Presidential Quotes

“Ask not what your country can do for you……” ____                                                                                                          Jimmy Carter

“99 % of virus cases are harmless” _ Richard Nixon

“I lust only in my mind” ____                                                                                                                                                       George H.W. Bush

“Masks are great, in the right time and place” ____                                                                                                               Bill Clinton

“I never inhaled” ____     The Donald                                                                                                                                                    

“A thousand points of light” ____                                                                                                                                                George W. Bush

“Mission accomplished” ____                                                                                                                                                      John Kennedy

“This left-wing cultural revolution is designed to overthrow the American Revolution” ____                                         Ronald Reagan

“All the waste in a year from a nuclear power plant can be stored under a desk” ____

“I am not a crook” ____

Fun time is now officially over……go do your Corona Lives Matter things……………………………………Can we bring back “W” please…pretty please……I’d trade my first born (sorry, Max) for Rayguns…… or even…. Tricky Dick, too……..

Bye-Bye, Love

Papi

Greetings Family and Friends:

I can drive away the sorrow; I can drive away the pain.

I might wake up some tomorrow, and you’ll pass my way again.

I would beg or steal or borrow, on life’s rapid moving train.

I would drive to west of Fargo, just to see you once again……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………” West of Fargo”- 2003           

My good friend, Steve Hekler passed away last Sunday night after a grueling yearlong battle with cancer. Steve was my first and oldest friend in Vermont. He was a funny, kind, unassuming and extremely talented man…and a wonderful friend. When we first came here, I was a bit lost without the music of the Bunty boys and I immediately met Steve, and he became my Vermont musical muse. We played, we ate, we laughed, we cried. He reactivated my long dormant Jewish roots after 45 years of separation from that culture. The fluent Yiddish of my childhood returned. Our Sunday night dinners at East were often the highlight of the week. He was a young man who left us way to soon, and leaves a giant void in many lives. He will be sorely missed and the world is just a little bit less of a graceful place without him.

Rest in Peace, Jewish Fish Monger.                               

I don’t have a lot in me after this very sad week, so will just throw out the highlights via my Blog Newsflash and let the photos tell the rest of the story………………………

Have now entered into the “Dinner on the Ground” phase of Corona 2020……having guests over to middle-of-the-yard dinners at a very long table for social distancing…who knew?

Made my first foray back to the Monday night Folk Club hootenannies on Monday…. standing ten feet apart on the Village Green…. I have been reluctant to go due to microbe expulsions that come with singing, but decided to gather with my other musical friends to sing Steve back home

THE POND is AMAZING……been in three times this week with very hot weather (90s in the mountains…. but no global warming going on here) and endless work on the property…. even got out the floaty devices this weekend…. clean, pure, cool………amazing…. again……who knew?

The funeral took place in 93-degree heat…. over 100 people gathered at the graveyard…and EVERY ONE of them wore a mask…. outside!……the Bernie-state is indeed impressive in it level of social responsibility…

The Moron-in Chief says “99% of Corona case are absolutely harmless” …. I’m fully relieved now…You?

Once again fixed the 45-year-old tractor this week and it’s back to running……My family always said that little Jewish boys from The Bronx are not supposed to grow up to fix tractors……but who knew?

Did several outings this week, north to Brandon and over to the rolling farm country of the Champlain Valley….and then down towards Brattleboro…..too hot to kayak even though we are now schlepping the beasts everywhere, but managed some very hot walks on the endless supply of scenic dirt roads….and a little Diner stop—–dining out in the middle of their very big yard…..this is our new normal-we only dine outside at restaurants that have pickup windows and very big yards……really, who knew?………………..

The Virus continues to rage in many parts of the country, people are scared and confused and our leaderless nation is suffering from the worst divisive inner turmoil in a century (or at least since 1968) ….hate your next door neighbor- but don’t forget to say grace…and you don’t believe  ___________________________

Be well…stay safe…. eat a little peaches….

Papi

Happy Independence Day weekend:

“You see more sitting still than chasing after” ………………………………………………………………………………………Jonathan Franzen

“Step by step, the early morning breeze” ………………………………………………………………………………………………Hakuin

“When you vote for a Republican…. God kills a kitten” …………………………………………………………………………. Vermont bumper sticker

It’s been a slow week in the Greens…. Aren’t they all right now? Vermont is beginning a slow reopening after being very successful at stopping Covid spread, but now the tourists are going to be coming from the cities, so who knows?

Spent part of last weekend trying to get Home Depot here to mix paint and deliver curbside, which required a note from God…. but eventually got it done after multiple calls and prowls of the parking lot. Nothing like having to work hard just to be able to work hard.

We decided on one of our trips to town that we just had to have fried chicken……so planned our trip to coincide with a stop at the Rutland KFC…only to find it had was gone (literally gone- no evidence of its existing) ….so began a whirlwind journey to feed the chicken-jones on a Sunday night…. ultimately finding the goods at the Price Chopper just before they closed…. surprisingly worth the hassle………………

After a number of fits and starts, we decided that Thursday was officially the start of kayak season, and spent hours assembling the kayak rack on top of my car. A major effort despite the assumed possibility of being more convenient. Mostly The Queen did it while I sat inside dabbling in word affairs…. a wrenched neck later (after hoisting the vessels on), we made our maiden voyage to the peaceful waters of nearby Lake Nineveh. Though the tiny parking lot was crowded with cars, the lake is large, so was the usual tranquil experience. As is custom, Lucy managed to stay on Jenn’s kayak for few minutes before spotting me and diving in, then spending the rest of a two-hour trip swimming after me…. little legs thrashing in the water…. it’s actually quite a sight to behold…. looks like a sea lion making its way across the ocean…

Friday dawned bright and hot for our outing day…. after I finished the workout in the barn, and a jog up and down mountainous Route 103 (my kingdom for a small stretch of flat land), we headed off to find our muse……wandering up through the Greens to South Royalton, with the ambition of finally making it to the legendary Worthy Burger…. only to find it closed for the fiftieth straight time we have tried). By this time, intense thunderstorms had hit, so we found Sandy’s small roadside snack bar (Vermont generally had the best snack bars known to man) and had more fried chicken under a little canopy area…. followed by what was clearly the best yet Maple Creamees (big, cheap, frim, full of maple) …. headed back out in the rain….and passed an empty parking lot –Dollar store- in the middle of nowhere…so resumed our three month quest of trying to find the things our brethren have been hoarding. Hazmat suit on, I scored a major coup…. emerging, fist pumping with multiple bottles of alcohol and peroxide, missing pasta boxes, kitchen scrubber (who knew) and a discount pack of tidy-whities (don’t ask) ……………

Arrived home in time for Jenn to get out and finish mowing…. culminating in a broke down tractor….it has been too good to be true thus far….so the 90-year-old machine going down seemed inevitable….

We had decided that since the hordes were going to be invading our safe space, we would stay around The Inn for the weekend and work on the property. Planned for a relatively light (is this foreshadowing?) wok day painting and staining the decks……woke up bright and early this morning, was a fine and love-a- ley day………eight hours in 90 plus heat, two wrenched backs, third degree sunburns, four bee stings, and the first dive of the year into the healing waters of the crystalline POND ….we limped back into the house…..is this a sign of aging?…..it looks pretty good out there …bur we only got one done….trying to see if joints will work enough today to do the other…and still be ready for the Jewish Pig Farmer and the Empress of Death to come later this afternoon for a masked cookout……..mountain work is never done……

My five recommendations for another week of enduring The Plague:

1. Get a vinyl copy of Neil Young’s newly released 1975 masterpiece “Homegrown”
2. Stream “Baptiste” and “The Missing”
3. Read a new book (see Stu’s Reviews for ideas)
4. Get out on the safety of the water
5. Avoid paining/staining projects

So enough avoidance with this shtick…. time to hit the chores and make the tea……

Be well…………… stay safe, sing a little song……WEAR YOUR MASK….

Papi

Greetings Brothers and Sisters and a Happy Father’s Day:

“Cause you’re
The kind of man you know
Who likes what he says
I wonder what’s it’s like

To be so far over my head” …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………” Last Train to TULSA”- Neil Young

“Too much talk will include errors” ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. Burmese Proverb

“The truth is more important than the facts” …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. Frank Lloyd Wright

Oh what a beautiful morning……have hit 90 a few times this week, which is Sahara like weather foe the mountains, but the nights remain in the 50s………some in the 40s. We have adjusted to our initial return traumas and most of the Inn at Scum Pond is now in working order, after exercising three 16 hour days of compulsive behavior to regain control of the waters and the weeds…………………The Queen has disappeared into the gardens and the embellishment of a myriad of small plastic storage baskets……………. Lucy is spending her days with the Jamaicans on the weekends when they are here……hoping for the big grill to be fired up down there.

We have been trying to figure out what our routines are here in the mountains in The Time of Corona. No Gym…. No Music gathering…. No Bebe to see three times a week……What do you do? What do you do?…………Jenn has been out and about making socially distanced reunions (with people I prefer not come here, since they are wont to barge in the house mask-less), collecting our vacationing house plants and starting back up rolling around in the dirt at the organic garden….I have decided to tackle the long neglected Barn Clean-Up project – my initial plan was to remove five items a week for The Dump or the burn pile but my first attempt, resulted in TQ taking back four of them, for some yet undetermined project- The Virus is creating role reversals in many ways, no?)

Speaking of The Barn…..it has become my epicenter and it houses not only all the yard machines and tools……but the massive Nautilus-like apparatus we inherited from my cousin when they moved back to the city several years ago, which took us two weeks to reassemble, and has mostly sat like a post-apocalyptic sculpture since……But Now….it has become workout central….maybe not to the standards of the Y, but pretty cool….plus trying to do a two mile run/fast walk three times  a week up and down Route 103……which seems moderately flat from the car vantage….but is, in reality, a minor mountain……so….What to do?……gym, run, occasional work remotely, read, serial TV (we rejected having cable for the first time ever, so no TV to speak of , except streaming -does anyone actually watch broadcast TV when there are no sports?) …and how much news can you watch without going postal?), dirt road walks, a bit of laying in the sun, a fair amount of phone chatting, house projects when forced into it, obsessing about selling the ancestral home (two contracts…two back-outs) ….and generally pondering the meaning of life in these dark times……

Thought we had the old house beast sold this week…had a number of critical step towards the finish line……BUT NO…. can I say how much I hate the house market game, the whole realtor rules thing, and every house buyer in the universe?

But……THE POND……up and running with the little makeshift fountain, cleaned up, bacterailized………Magnifico!……………….is this Stu’s happy place???????????????? Hot enough for dip today, if it wasn’t for the ice cold mountain waters…. maybe in August….

Tulsa…. are you kidding me?

VP-make a choice, already, Joe…let’s get on with it….

Is John Roberts the new swing vote on the high court? Who might have thunk it?

Had some major Virus firsts this week……. had our first major outing since mountain return, with a Thursday trip up north to Brandon and Middlebury. Made short stop at the Brandon Dispensary (unlike those in the big city, you can smell this one two miles away), on to Middlebury to Costello’s Italian-Deli take out and a long awaited visit with Mama Corleone, lunch in the shade of the Marble Works, then up over the Pass to the Snow Bowl and dirt road walk, then down on route 100 for the dazzling-ly Green drive down Vermont’s scenic highway. Gorgeous day, blue skies, puffy clouds, hot-but perfect on the shaded walk…what’s not to like?

On Friday night, we had our first restaurant outing since February, down to the Victorian Inn at Wallingford for al fresco dining. Thy have a nice little patio at this Swiss Chef –owned place and added Pub fare to their fine dining menu a few years go (Schnitzel to die for)…..but they had one cute little table literally out in the front yard…which was clearly for us and Lucy….Perfect night out, perfect setting, perfect meal…..a shade towards normal….which is a bit easier to think about in Vermont, where there have been no COVID hospitalizations for three weeks, are just now reopening…and where the restaurant is required to ask you five questions about your health before accepting required reservations….

Then yesterday we had our first social visit of the season with the Ersatz Russian Spy and the Mt. Holly Schoolteacher of the Century……very nice to while away some time outside in the yard with some other adult human beings…. a bit out of shape on social discourse at the moment…. but will hopefully improve with more human sightings……

And this week……On to The Grocery…. for the first store visit in three months……have our Haz-Mat suits cleaned and pressed and ready to go for the event….

I sit before flowers, hoping they will train me in the art of opening up…………………Be well………………Stay Safe…………………Be Happy (or at least close)

Papi