Category: Green Mountain Blog

Good Sunday to all:

“Among corn stalks…wind rippling….just for the corn”…………………………………………………………………………………Soen Nakagawa

“ The distant mountain reflected in his eyes….dragonfly…………………………………………………………………………Issa

“When the thumb of fear lifts…we are so alive””…………………………………………………………………………………………..Mary Oliver

“Excuse me…while I kiss the sky…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..Jimi Hendrix

On the countdown….snow- birding to winter in the heartland in two and half weeks(OY)…but…..this…..has been an interesting week here in the Greens…..Started last weekend with the peak autumn glory of Cider Daze….then down the hills to Albany mid-week for a whirlwind three day trip to very rainy Seattle…and back to winter-like conditions as he we approach Stick season and the leaves leaving for another year, here in the Greens…and, what day is this?

The annual Mt. Holly/ Belmont Cider Daze Festival brought hordes of leaf peepers to our tiny town Green last Sunday for the second day of a magnificent weekend…many thought best fall colors in many years, and somehow it held on an extra two weeks for the event….The Queen presided over the Fest this year…and was in absentia for three days….I snuck off to R-town with The Jewish Fish Monger for the Sunday night ritual Chinese Feast at East (CFaE)…

And…the Jamaicans were here for the weekend….the previously condemnable house looks incredible….they even have furniture and curtains in now….and all the little Jamaican children made a trip over to the festival…providing quite a visual, and adding much needed color to our neck of the woods….

Speaking of the Jamaicans….the uber-politically correct Jenn stopped down to talk to Stefan, the clan leader and owner …..and managed to instead have a conversation with his brother..…not realizing her mistake……to which she later related to me…”well , they all kind of look alike”…..Holy Cow…..what ammunition…. It’s now up on the bulletin board….

After spending most of a week in the basement stronghold of the local quasi-computer fixer guy….I am moderately back in working order….and have recovered 80 per cent of my lost data…which has made me a whole lot less cranky….can you say dependence?

Autumn leaves…….. Autumn leaves….….Autumn leaves……..Autumn leaves……..Autumn leaves…..……All work and no play make Jack a Dull Boy………..

Wednesday was our littlest granddaughter, Bebe Sloane’s, first birthday….WOW…..had a portal in the morning before I took off for the unfriendly skies…..quite the little lady….and……our…. big girl, Quinn, is coming for a visit next weekend with her parents…completing the circle………………………….the whole thing is kid of a miracle, NO?………………………..

So, hit the skies Wednesday for two nights in Seattle…who thought that would be a good idea…..Wonderful Casey annual conference…got to duck through raindrops and see all the peeps I’ve worked with for the last 15 or so years….and swap war stories /share brilliant ideas……despite feeling like a traitor, had a great stay at the brand new downtown Hyatt Regency there……with spectacular view from the 35th floor. Aside from much Yenta-ing for two days…..went to small reception at a local millennial hangout/ ping pong salon….which led to some images I should probably not be sharing (but, Hell…it’s MY BLOG)…it is safe to say that despite my advanced years.. I am still easily influenced and misled……And can you say JET LAG….up both Seattle mornings at 4 am….and then 12 hours of travel back……………………where am I exactly?

So….whilst I was gone…The Queen was in full pursuit of her latest health regimens…..which have lately included deep breathing, ingesting various micro herbs form the southern hemisphere and some mysterious powder snorting….but now, she has found the latest on line Guru (Mercola is demoted)….leading to the daily ritual of ice cold showers………initially for one minute each day……and leading up to six hours under the freezing nozzle….apparently the new Shaman has hiked Kilimanjaro in shorts….and….completed a marathon barefoot……..I am not making this shit up….

And now……I need to go find some kind of sleep formula…and watch the last of the leaves fall to the ground…….so….…till then….

Stu

Jimi Hendrix

Greetings Blogsters:

” Tell me baby….why you been gone so long, so long, so long”………………………………………….Mickey Newbury

Some of you have noted that last week the blog was in absentia……computer full out crashed last weekend…nightmare scenario….and has taken me a week to get semi back on line…so apologies….still dealing with mess, so will keep it short (really) this week …highlights and pix…

” Having no destination, I am never lost”…………………………………………………………………………..Ikkyu

” Like an echo…the drip drop of showers: falling autumn leaves”……………………………………….Sozei

” Why am I aging so this autumn?….A bird flying in the clouds”………………………………………….Basho

“Autumn lights fills the room…..Vacancy!”………………………………………………………………………….Soen Nakagawa

Last week started innocently enough, with a Sunday night trip to East…The Queen stayed home, so the Jewish Fish Monger and I went to dinner. Left to our own devices…it was a bad eating extravaganza…without monitoring, we went for the Pu Pu Platter….which I probably have not had since Sunday night Chinese dinners with the kids when they were little…actually quite satisfying…until later in the evening….

Early week was filled with beautiful days and rapidly changing foliage..with the hills dotted in red and amber hues….managed to get the Masseuse in the Trailer and her hubby out to a month’s long postponed dinner….not much of planners, those two…and just enjoyed the smells and sounds of the Fall…The Queen began her ascension to the throne with 12 hour days packed with preparations for the coming Cider Daze extravaganza………

Friday morning we took off, after our latest airbnb guests left, for The City (yes, that one) for an overnight with the cousins…and grand dinner in Westchester County…how cool is it to have found older cousins after 40-50 years..and o longer be the Patriarch?…each visit fills in more of our family history….Lucy, the worlds’ most adaptable dog, loves the visits to stay in the tiny apartment on the seventh floor of the city high-rise where she has mastered the art of the elevator system…

Woke Saturday morning to a totally dead laptop….but more later on this travesty…..gorgeous Saturday drive up the Taconic Parkway (where I drove with my late father over 60 years ago)…on up to old, old Woodstock (moonlight in the trees) for our annual pilgrimage to Levon Helm’s Barn…and a concert with the late iconic legend’s Midnight Ramble Band….100 people packed into his magnificent Barn space..all old friends… and acolytes of The Band…the Hudson River Valley is a magnificent drive this time of year, with long forgotten monasteries and center for peace mansions dotting the banks of the great river and the concert was a true happening..Spent the night at a Marriott in Albany…and on home Sunday.

The past week is a blur…have probably spent upwards of 50 hours trying to recover fifteen years worth of lost files and data on my computer…working with the very easy going local computer guy, who has wonderful equipment but a dearth of knowledge…have gotten about half restored, but have a series of absolute messes making my life semi-miserable…no end in sight…not a lot of resources in the mountains…but…at least up and running…and sending these musings to you…so not all bad….

We had two day trips planned for this past week-our annual fall outings…one of which went into the computer-rescue cluster- F….and the second of which landed us at the Wal-Mart in Claremont, NH……where we had car work done, shopped for groceries ..and did out planned hike around the Mart parking lot…kind of a wasted day, except that this Mart makes the most shockingly good fried chicken (six bucks for a 12 piece bucket)..so we also dined in the Mart parking lot

Jenn did manage to drag me away from my file rescue hunt long enough for a few dirt road walks and a trip down to Sal’s in Wallingford one night…but that aside, mostly going blind and stiff….and brain dead trying to reconfigure lost files…how did we get so dependent? Where are the men that I used to sport with?

Reluctantly left my Jones on Saturday to play a set at the majesty that is Cider Daze in our little burg of Belmont (a TOP Ten New England fall event)..for which the dark day turned bright and sunny…for the peepers to see the leaves in full glory….stopped along the way to see all of our local cronies gathered in one place…went straight from the gig to the Odd fellows to serve for the annual wildly popular Roast Beef supper to benefit the fire department….reliving my old waiter incarnation for three hours and two sittings(no tips) of congenial community connections…I managed to nab my own little 12 yr old busboy..and gave him the traditional five dollar bill cut in half, so that he would spend his time helping me and not the other servers (worked in the Catskills!)…Little Davey and I had the most satisfied tables in the hall…making the Queen crazy in her role as the expediter of the plate food coming out to be served…knocking over the other staid and elderly serving staff to get our tables served first…he got the other half of the fiver at nights end…and… made an astonishing 30 bucks in tips from the local curmudgeons

Returned home to our airbnb guests who had arrived while we were gone…quintessential Midwestern couple from Chicago..who left the vast bedroom and bed very little..but were very pleasant to hang with this morning…best kind of guests: come late, leave early, eat no breakfast..and love the place.

And that is it…Jenn is somewhere in Belmont Queening over the Festival..she has spent 10 hours a day for the last two weeks creating the perfect event…

Though this may seem simple…… I currently have no editing program (excuse the typos)..so will now take me hours to edit the garbage I have written..but who’s counting.

Hope to be better next week….Happy Leafing…

Stu

Take me home, mountain roads….and happy Sunday:

“Such stillness
the cries of the cicadas
sink into the rocks”……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………Basho

“Everything that has a beginning has an ending. Make your peace with that and all will be well.”…………………………………..Jack Kornfield

“When I think about the good things you gave me….I cry like a baby…cry like a baby”……………………………………………………….Dan Penn

ALERT*…ALERT*…..ALERT****…….Photo OVERLOAD- Beach Tripping and Fall foliage-make for too much temptation…sorry about that……….ALERT*………ALERT*…ALERT******

Sundays in the mount….mean a walk and dinner….Fall colors up the Hateful Hill (dirt) Road (really)…and then on to the Pine Hollow Farm and the Jewish Pig Farmer for the last late afternoon picnic diner of the season….The JPF slow cooks his pig meat on a state of the art/super-heated/Gonzo/ slow burner for 90 hours…to die for…the man is a closet Black Southern Baptist at heart……

(Note- pictures go in these spaces between musings-but don’t apparently copy from the e-mail version into the text here- so if you want to see the pix in context-read the e-mail version)

Speaking of late afternoon picnics in late September….been close to 80 all week in the Greens…unheard of this time of year…..shifted this morning to classic Fall chill, illuminating the rapidly Peaking autumnal splendor….Gods Time in the Mount….

Fall Outing time of year…this week was first…left Tuesday morning with no destination in mind….turned right out of homestead and headed for the most likely source of sun and warmth…which led us amazingly to the Coast of Maine (under the rubric of can’t get there from here…we have to drive two and half hours south to head north…damn mountains in the way)……..spent three days traipsing up the Coast- from the NH border, to Kennebunkport and Wells and on up to Rockport….Rachel Carson Nature Preserve (she of Silent Spring), rocky coastline devoid of peeps, smashing waves, small village harbors aglow, and ancient lighthouses….cabin in the woods for night near Kennebunk and a lodge north of Bath for night two…..Papi on the daily hunt for Maine’s best Lobsta Roll and Clam Basket (whilst the Queen ate salads)….is the Ocean a creation for our awe and amusement?

Back Thursday night…up early Friday for the breathtaking morning mist- on the hues of the trees…on the drive over several mountains to South Royalton, for a conference presentation, at the Vermont Law School….took my training group outside in the 75 degree sunshine for the afternoon session….which made me the most popular instructor in Vermont….free standing law school in tiny old hippie village in Central Vermont, nestled in the mountains ….we live in a world of contradictions, no?

Saturday dawned bright and sunny…again…after morning chores we fulfilled obligations of El Presidente/ Queen of the Mt. Holy Community Association to strategically put up posters for the coming Cider Daze extravaganza on Columbus day weekend…traversing several mountain ranges to reach the bucolic country inns in our neck of the woods…with dirt road hike thrown in…stumbling upon the homestead of the organic/Southern Baptist/ postmodern hippie couple who sell their home grown grass fed swine at the farmers market….and have now begun a major Hemp growing operation….dirt road walks lead to strange encounters…..

Returned home in time to greet out latest Airbnb guests…an Indian couple (dots, not feathers) from San Jose, with their 20 month old daughter and ancient auntie an uncle….Baby Mira spent 12 hours chasing Lucy around the house, while we came home from a trip to town to a scented house of Masala and assorted Vegan Indian curry cooking….sent them on a fall foliage hunt this morning, and made a trip down the hill to see the Jamaicans (a very cultural morning), who have now moved in furniture to their budding summer estate…….

….and now….it is REST TIME…before w start all over again………See ya Besties…..

Stu

Brethren and Sistren (look it up!): Alert: No website access for Blog this week; Domain expired- working on renewal….Bummer……..

“We all have an old knot in the heart we wish to untie”……………………………………………………………………….Michael Ondaatje

“ Often I am still listening when the song is over”………………………………………………………………………………….Marquis Jean Francois de Saint Laurent

“You cannot be rid of problems without abandoning illusions”……………………………………………………………..Nisargadatta Maharaj

“My my, hey hey…rock and roll is here to stay”………………………………………………………………………………………Neil Young

I always wanted to be a Blue-Hair- Our personal British – On-Demand – Hairstylist came to the house right before we left for the hurricane, and insisted that I try a Blue coloring in my hair, which she thankfully did lightly….good preparation for going to the land of blue-hairs…mostly washed out now….but apparently more blue coming next visit, if I don’t escape to a Marriott……..

Colors….Colors…Colors- The autumnal spectacle has begun in earnest…after our return from the tropics to the chill of the Mount… we have had a spectacular week with days in the 70s to low 80s and nights in the 30s and 40s….which has turned the hills into a burgeoning wonderland…and…oh….the Moonlight in Vermont….

The Counter Culture lives- Made a run down to Brattleboro on Tuesday for a meeting with a Casey colleague for half a day…met at The Super-Fresh-Organic- Mindfulness- Tantric Café….where nothing remotely related to animals is allowed (except for the roaming canines)….the town looks like a lost movie set from 1968 with people chanting mantras in the street….and an ever present allure of tie-dye and patchouli…and you know what wafting….

Car repair in the mountains- you go up a winding dirt road to find the car wizard-walrus, who grunts instructions at you….and has you park your car in the woods…until he sees fit to fix everything on it and call you to come get it the hell off his property….customer service…

Take another little piece of my heart ,now baby- after my return from Brattleboro on Tuesday, washed up and headed back out for another trek up I-91……up to Lebanon, NH (crossing the border under cover of dark) and it’s 150 year old Opera House for Jenn’s birthday soiree…stopping at the Wicked Awesome Bar-B-que in White River Junction, where I compensated and balanced out the Super Fresh Tantric experience…..then on to see the original Broadway touring company production of “An Evening with Janice Joplin”….WHOA…..off the charts…cycling my day with another retro visit to the lost days of the late 60s….the Opry was filled with a bunch of former back –to- the- land -communers who have now become Town Select Board members (this is a typical evolution in Vermont), and drive Outbacks…but the show, ….shockingly dead on…the woman who played Janice was a tour de force and an almost – doppelganger….and has been so good on Broadway that she has been touring Europe for the past year with The Original Big Brother and the Holding Company….nine piece band-with a horn section, four amazing soulful AF.-AM. backup singers….and blew off the roof from the jubilee…Hey, Hey, Hey…..Ba…Ba…Ba…Bobby McGee

On the road AGAIN- Back out on the road on Wednesday…this time for the beautific and beatific run up the splendid Route 100 for an overnight at the Waterbury Marriott…replete with napping, internet catching up, a little joggin’ thru the hills and the traditional Thai dinner experience….all from my Super Titanium executive suite upgrade overlooking the mountains (all this whilst The Queen labored away at The Inn, filling the accumulated mélange of storage containers)….then Thursday on to my monthly Governors council for Children meeting, which I have managed to not attend even once thus far this year…but amazingly remain a member in good standing (hard to find willing folks, I guess). The meeting is at the state office complex, with security that would make the Pentagon weep….which is quite ironic since there is zero security to enter our statehouse (only a bunch of easily replaceable legislators)…..not so bad though compared to across the border, where the folks chant “Live free or Die”…

The Vinegar Rules- never, ever believed I would live in a house that perpetually and redolently smelled of Vinegar……which is to The Queen what Windex is to the Greeks……

Burger hunting in Vermont- Friday night, Jenn went to some witchy-woman meeting in town, so I made plans to hang with the ailing Jewish Fish Monger. He had decided he craved a burger (medical MJ influence)…and despite the allure of all the local, grass-fed, homegrown, free-range, tantric alternatives…..he wanted to try the newly opened Five Guys in Rutland. First we went to an art opening at the local art center (Magnifico 1896 Victorian with multiple turrets) for the new show profiling the art and culture of the 60s in Rutland and Vermont (is this the theme for the week or is it just me?)..…amazing show….fully engulfed with what it was like to move to Vermont from the cities in the day, and take up the Freak Flag….after that, took TJM for his first ever Five Guys experience (this for someone who is generally a food snob)…..the result of which you can imagine….and I might add, that this outlet is worse than any previous experience with this austere chain that I have had…don’t imagine that we will be going back…..came home and ate…

It’s that time of year- Hit out first foliage event of the season on Saturday- The Chester Fall Foliage Festival (a top ten New England event)….magnificent low 80s sunny fall day…with tchotchkes abounding and peepers plentiful….as someone we overheard said…”we came, we walked, we bought”….Lucy was the toast of the town (WHAT kind of dog is THAT?)…what a day for a stroll…..I might add that the vendors at Vermont festivals take the prize for being the most friendly of anywhere I’ve been….even for non- buyers. Picked up some sandwiches at the legendary Lisai Market and found the green in Proctorsville for picnic lunch….then back to the ranch for once a year cleaning of the vehicles….we have somehow become car junk accumulators in our declining years…

And, that, my friends, is all she wrote…….

Au Revoir,

Monsieur Ferlin’

Greetings and Welcome back (to me, to you….to us all):

“I will lead you to fields you know nothing of”………………………………………………………………..William Carlos Williams

“Through the ample open door of the peaceful country bran,
A sunlit pasture field with cattle and horse feeding,
And haze and vista, and the far horizon fading away.”………………………………………………Walt Whitman

“Blow up your TV throw… away your paper….Go to the country, build you a home
Plant a little garden, eat a lot of peaches, Try an’ find Jesus… on your own”…………………..John Prine

And we more or less did just that. Did you miss me? Did you notice? Been gone fishin’…more or less. Been a long two weeks comin…gonna be long two weeks gone…It begs the question…how much does or should one man have to say. ..I believe the answer at the moment …is…not much……though…. the answer, my friend, may be blowin’ in the wind…

Just back last night from ten days of family vacation on the North Carolina beach…

We managed to avoid the hurricane by a day, and the area was in good shape…

Spent the week before (the one you all missed) dealing with my latest mystery health adventure (much better), taking care of our ailing Jewish Fish Monger, convincing the Dumpmaster that The Queen would indeed be back, and readying for our departure on that Friday….then down the mountains to the first airport in the US (the capitol of the great state of New York) and off the Charlotte…

Spent a few nights with my eldest niece and nephew , Missy and Omelio….together with the wandering prodigal jetting in from San Diego and Tees, Jake and Bebe – who had motored down from Cowtown..

Then it was off to the Beach for a week…Sunset Beach on the NC/SC border, where my childhood friend Rick has a condo he lent us…and then it was the disparate family there together for a week of old time rock and roll….it was record setting, Ungodly hot with day temps in the 90-95 range, so being out with Bebe was somewhat prohibitive during most of the day…did our excursions early and late…good pool sessions with the little one…legendary Calabash style fish to eat… a highlight trip to Southport along Cape Fear (yes, that Cape Fear….could almost see Robert Mitchum lurking in the shadows)….had some excellent beach walks and swamp visit….and did mostly the things that families do when they don’t see each other in a while and are not used to living together (I’ll let you fill in those blanks on that one)…

Friday afternoon we put Max in an uber to skip up to Wilmington for his flight home and the rest of us headed back to Charlotte, for another night with the extended family, now including my younger niece, Melanie and husband Les..

I don’t think there is much more to say about all that…you’ve all been on a family vacation and know the drill…the hassles and negotiations can seem a bit much… the time together is PRICELESS…
Back at the Inn now…where Fall is setting in, in earnest….quite a shock to go from 95 to 45…but very good to be home…where little Lucy looked like she might keel over with a stroke with excitement at our return

It’s Jenn’s birthday today so we went to the Johnnycake in Rutland for brunch …and I’m off to make birthday dinner…and in truth….a picture is worth a thousand words…so knock yourself out with these….

Happy Trails,

Papi

Bonjour mes amis:

“Let your life lightly dance the edges of Time like dew on the tip of a leaf”………………………………………………………….Rabindranath Tagore

“What really counts is to strip the souls naked”………………………………………………………………………………………………………Joan Miro

“I leave…..you stay…Two autumns”…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………Shiki

Good morning star shine-the Earth says hello………May your Labors be always fruitful….and May you stay Forever Young…….Betcha you woke up yesterday and said “what the hey”….where’s the darn Blog….but Papi was taking an off day to nurse his ailing ankle, the result of the bite of some hill creature of the night (no, I wa not in The Pond)…but today is a rainy day after two weeks of near Autumn perfection in the mountains….so let’s take a little ride…

Speaking of The Pond…my tears of loss should almost be able to fill it’s disappearing water level after no rain for six weeks….oh the water…oh, oh the water…let it come tumbling down (check out the utterly depressing photo)….so we left its lack of tumescence last Sunday for the weekly find-a dirt- road walk….visiting a long line of local friends along the popular Tiffany road, and basking in the wonderful midafternoon early Fall sunlight…..

Monday was a back to routine day in advance of the arrival of Sister Jane on Tuesday for her annual visit. Picked Jane up in Albany on Tuesday morning and spent the afternoon meandering up the Hudson River Valley to the wildly touristic Lake George, where we ate a takeout lunch, from what may be the last remaining curbside A&W (really), by the shores of Gitchy-Goomey….We had planned a quiet first night dinner at home, but wound up being invaded by a string of drop-ins, several from The Queens’ Court, which turned into an unofficial klatch , to which The Blogster went looking for a place to hide (no Marriotts readily available)..when they finally left we settled into watching our latest serial obsession, the melodramatic “Yellowstone” with the I’m over baseball- and now I’m a Cowboy, Kevin Costner..

It was actually a pretty slow week, since SJ really likes to hang at the Manse and groove to the stillness, so a lot of breeze shooting, meal prep and Lucy-lovin’….but Wednesday night we made the onerous 22 minute trek down to the Playhouse to see Weston’s production of Edward Albee’s “Whatever Happened to Virginia Wolf”….a finely adapted play that requires taking double doses of anti-depressants before attending…..perhaps the whole point of the play is to make you feel better about your own life and loves….Mission Accomplished…

Thursday was the annual performance by our local Folk Club for the last week of our Belmont Music on the Green series…the Blogster has insidiously worked to broaden (possibly undermine) the horizons of the FC and generate some affectation of rhythm into the mighty wind numbers….which seemed to pay off this year, with many in the crowd noting the surprisingly expanded (maybe more enjoyable ?) repertoire of songs for the nine piece group squeezed on to the tiny town Gazebo….in any case, it was an absolutely gorgeous, warmish early-fall night, which is a rarity for late August…and much harmonics achieved….(and you can catch a once in a lifetime pix of the Blogster singing alongside The Jewish Fish Monger, The Erstwhile Russian Spy and the Empress of Mt. Holly-wood)

And….have I mentioned PLASTIC STORAGE CONTAINERS?…which have become this year’s sequel to bedding accumulation…each week resulting in the infusion of some new color, size or closing- device- capacity for the ongoing organizing of home items…

Friday was a washout day…devoted to pursuing the elusive cure for the beast-bite…and Saturday then dawned an absolutely perfectious Fall Day…inspiring a morning jaunt to Rutland to the largest Farmers’ Market in the Northeast… and a quick side trip to the beloved Ramuntos for the two slice special…From there it was home and pack up for the holiday weekend drive (can you say State Police) down the I-91 corridor to Hartford to send SJ back to the heartland…having dropped her off, we decided to lollygag our way back, cruising the old route 5 through the top of rural Connecticut and historic Western Mass…..stopping at a Sea Shanty (where was the sea?) for a traditional eastern fish fry dinner……

Sunday of LD weekend is always the annual pilgrimage to the Calvin Coolidge historic homestead in nearby Plymouth for the Folk and Blues Fest (lots of folk, not much blues)…a pastoral hillside setting in the heart of the mounts…heard a couple of aging hipster folk duets, who were shockingly good….and whiled the day away in picnicking nirvana, whilst Lucy went nuts with the sights of so many potential playmates…as is the custom, we took TJFM along for the ride, who seemed to immensely enjoy his rare outing away from his homestead….

And that my friends, brings us to the rain colored day…which will allow for more resting up for the week ahead and leaving Friday for family vacation on the Carolina coast (should be quite unpopulated as we pass all the Hurricane evacuees leaving as we arrive)…The Prodigal is making the jaunt from Paradise and the Bebe and her parental units driving down from the heartland to meet up at Niece Missy’s house in Charlotte, before seeing if we can cut through the barricades to the coast…but that will be a later story..

Most likely off from blogging next week…by stay tuned….and be well.

Stu

And so it goes…..

Look past your thoughts, so you may drink the pure nectar of this moment……………………………………..No spring nor summer beauty hath such grace as I have seen in one autumnal face……….

What a day for a daydream, what a day for a daydreamin’ boy……………………..Bewildered, Bewildered, you have no complaint, you are what are- and you ain’t what you ain’t….Everything is passing, enjoy its momentariness…….When I get offa this mountain, I know where I wanna go………………………When you arise in the morning- think of what a privilege it is to think, to enjoy, to love……..Nothing was delivered, now I tell this truth you -not out of spite or anger, but simply ‘cause it’s true…..I will be the greatest “jobs president” that God ever created…..

The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind-the answer is blowin’ in the wind…..There’s a saying about dating in Alaska: “The odds are good, but the goods are odd”………..You can’t start a fire without a spark……We’re gonna need a bigger boat….The mind is an elusive thing- don’t think for minute that you know who you are…….Don’t think twice- it’s all right…….Won’t you scratch my itch Sweet Annie Rich- and welcome me back to town……….Disbelief in magic can force a poor soul into believing in government and business…….

Acres to mow…the blight of city boy soul
Brandon, Vermont…take me to the dispensary , please
Customer Service…where hath it gone?
Denial- the bull goose looney of psycho-babble
Eastern world- it is explodin’
Friends-“with benefits”…what the heck that does really mean?
Grandparents…..are NOT parents
Heaven…is a cool and sunny autumn mountain day
Inna De Gada De Vita…..BABY
Je ne sais pas…maybe?
Kent…tin soldiers and Trumpson coming
Long may you run….with your chrome heart shining in the sun..
Minnesota…actually has a Jewish Deli…
Never say never….or almost never say never unless you mean never…
Oregon- is like Vermont plus survivalists, minus Bernie
Peaky Blinders- check it out
Que Sera Sera….oh, F__k it …
Randolph Scott……Hmmmmmm
Sunset…kiss another day goodbye..
Time…is on your side…yes it is…
U yes U…can make all the difference…BUT NOW…
Vhat the Hell…
Wonder….wa-wa-wa, wonder….why, why, why ,why .why…
Xcellent, dude….
Yaba…Daba…Doo
Zomething is not right in Denmark……

Ferlin’

Bonjour Mes Amis:

“We live in a rainbow of chaos”……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..Paul Cezanne

“I live, which is the main point”……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….Heinrich Heine

“Enlightenment is when a wave realizes it is the ocean”………………………………………………………………………..Thigh Nhat Hanh

“Il n’y a pas de verités moyennes”…………………………………………………………………………………………………………… Georges Bernanos

Recovery week…..The Band all hit the road last Sunday morning, except for The Nave, who stayed around an extra night for rest and for cleanup day. After a pretty smooth clean up morning , we picked up the Jewish Fish Monger and went down the pike to the Weston theater, to see their offering of “Always Patsy Cline”….extraordinary….the young aspiring aspiring Broadway actress who played Patsy, was unreal…a doppelganger in every way…must have been studying Patsy for years….gonna be a star this one…Broadway lite….what a gift to have 20 minutes away….from there to Sunday red-gravy dinner at Sal’s in Wallingford (where the red gravy dishes are good, but hard to distinguish one from the other) ….and then we all crashed….the Nave off on Monday morning and we to the couch for the afternoon…what a week-played music seven straight nights……and caroused ala 1978…how lucky can we be to do this after 40 plus years…have next year’s dates set already for the band return…which will provide a good 50 weeks of needed recovery….

Transitioning….had our first of three majestic Harvest moons this week….and the beginnings of the Mid-August start of foliage appearing on the mountain roads…to say the summer is short in Vermont may be the understatement of the year….time to get out the fall ensembles…..no rain to speak of for about a month, after the two month monsoon season in late spring…which has left a lot of brown grass and rapidly emptying Pond (no picture, too depressing)….but it remains crystal clear-….without any kayak- straining by Stu……

Definitely catch up week here in the Mount….cleaning the house, back to reading and catching up on our serial TV watching (finished the third overwhelming season of Handmaid’s Tale and started the absurd “Corner Gas” on Amazon- (Seinfeld in Saskatchewan?), finally got to the stores to re-provision and the Queen was aback to managing Mt. Holly (she is now the President-elect of the Community Association and the Bull Goose Looney of the therapeutic riding school)…got back to the gym this week (ugghhh) after a ten day hiatus…and basked in the mostly perfect late summer weather….Wednesday night, after shopping run to Rutland, we stopped for dinner at the Swiss Wallingford Inn….can you say Schnitzel to die for?…..and ran into our father and sons plumbers and the whole family celebrating forty something wedding anniversary….the cantankerous plumber (and our sewage savior), who has never before smiled, greeted us like long lost Miscpucha…hugging and grasping, like we were the lost flatlander part of the family….amazing what the context of shared meal can do….

Thursday was a planned outing day to visit the Quebecois….left early with our friends Peter and Penny (the erstwhile Russian spy and the town- hero school teacher) for the three hour jaunt to the tiny hamlet of Frelighsburg in southern Quebec. Only five minutes north of the remote border crossing at Franklin, Vt.….you find yourself plopped down in the heart of the French countryside…another world… of little English, all signs in French, small bistros and Parisian chocolatiers….not Kansas anymore…seems to get a lot quieter once across the border….had long ,classic French Table de Hote luncheon on the patio of a little bistro, with the small river rushing by beneath our table…and spent the afternoon drifting around the area and stopping in small french shops (organique, biologique, ou est le dispensarie?)…picture perfect 72 degree sunny day for our quick trip to get Europe fix….perfection of the day only spoiled slightly by the Gestapo-like experience at customs when crossing the border back to the US (the Canadian side do not really care, it seems)…do these guys have to train to develop their rudeness quotient? Is there a prescribed amount of time they are required to make you sit there before making eye contact? What is the correct answer to the query of whether you have any hemp products….hit the cute little burgh of Bristol, on way home for local pizza joint dinner at sunset. A delightful excursion…and did I mention the chocolates???????

And, finally, yesterday was the annual Summer Palooza benefit for the Rainbow Riders therapeutic riding program- organized by our official team hair stylist, mostly- British Tracy. The Queen held court at the tie- dye tent all day and I wandered over late afternoon to play a set of tunes with my local cronies…..before the deluge arrived around 6 pm…returned home soaked after huddling under our tiny musicians tent and gobbling dogs and burgers in the rain….followed by a sampling of each of the 43 desserts made by the volunteers….my instruments are still drying out this morning…but it’s another fine day destined for a dirt road walk and traditional Sunday night trip to our beloved East….

Off this week to the great Midwest for work….but will bring Sabu along with my pen…just in case….

Au Revoir,

M. Stuard

Sunday, Sunday….can’t trust that day:

“An empty bottle, a broken heart…and you’re still on my mind”…………………………………………………………………………………………………….Luke McDaniel

“Ooh, Eee, ride me high….tomorrow’s the day my brides gonna come”………………………………………………………………………………………..Bob Dylan

“ Some say that I’m an outlaw, some say that I’m a thief…but here’s a Christmas dinner for the families on relief”……………………Woody Guthrie

Oh what week it’s been….the Bunty band made the annual pilgrimage to the Greens and did the mountain music scene nonstop for six days….the absolute joy of having a house full of Bunties, and an endless array of jams, communal meals, walks in the woods…and a distillery collection of spirits.

All presided over by the hostess with the mostest….THE Queen of Mt. Holly, who worked from dawn to midnight to keep The Inn in tip top shape and the food and fun flowing……

The Nave and Lucy’s BFF, Rosie-Posey, arrived on Sunday night….so Monday and Tuesday were devoted to early preparations and long walks on dirt roads…Al, Lloyd and Mitch all arrived on Tuesday and our long lost brother/bandmate, Phil (Feel) arrived on Wednesday…thus completing the circle….and providing us with a chock full house of testosterone for the week………

The music this week was the culmination of an eight month odyssey that began when Nave, Feel and I met up in Baltimore last December to go to Bethesda to catch the 50th anniversary tour of the Byrds celebrating their 1968 seminal Sweetheart of the Rodeo album. We were so moved by this experience, we decided we needed to replicate the album start to finish, note for note ..which we did twice this week…almost getting good at it…

The band, in one form or another, has been at it since 1978 (Really!) ..and we had all four original members (that were Steaks and Chops) here this week, when Brother Feel came up from his garden state homestead……….

Brother Al, our original (and forever) bass man, rejoined us this week , coming up from Florida where he has escaped to (leaving us without our foremost rock and back beat)….Al makes all the difference…

We played the local Music on the Green series for the third year on Thursday, joined by a local fiddle player extraordinaire, Bob the Fiddler, and folk club friends Marty and John on slide guitar and percussion….thus becoming the Sweetheart orchestra….all hosted by Jennifer….. our own Sweetheart of the Rodeo (catch her garb))…..when we put our CDs out for this, we will be using her image to replace the original cowgirl featured on the 1968 Byrds album cover…….

Friday we went back into the local TV studio and recorded the entire Sweetheart set….I will send out a link to this, once it is mixed and edited by the sound engineer, in the next few weeks… after two nights of practice and two days of shows we were spent on Friday night and all stayed home at the Inn to have pizza and lubricants….but Feel could not abide by the laziness, and pulled out his guitar around 10 pm…leading us through drunken transitions of some of old standards. Jenn posted some of these on Facebook ( “going viral”), and the link to this is here if you want to laugh your head off…..

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipPZLALESymVfQnbm7XcXX_1z8gI3gBEUiIRpPVJiE5JeCeLwdnA6vrIqDLrLRyG3w?key=QVVTM3l2YXkxdzB1MGg2Z1pEM3JrS1N6ZDlod3Jn

On Saturday we hosted our 20th (or so) annual Tie-Dye Festival (third straight in Vermont)…and had a wide array of music, food, games and majestic Tie-Dyeing…..completed by the late night campfire…..

Now, with all but the Nave on their way back to points south and west…it’s time for cleanup, multiple naps and a matinee show in Weston this afternoon….closing an absolutely unforgettable week…

But…enough….they say that every picture tells a story…so I will let the attached photo display speak for itself…

Good Yontif…….Ferlin’

Happy summer Daze to all:

“Seriousness is the only refuge of the shallow”……………………………………………………………………………………………………………Oscar Wilde

“Nirvana is right there before our eyes”……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….Hakuin

“ In the summer time when the weather is hot…..you got women, you got women on your mind”……………………………Mongo Jerry

Back again from the Heartland Sahara…..to mountain paradise. After the swelter, our return night Sunday was around 50 degrees…..that’s what I’m talking about…… continued to have majestically dry and arid weather all week creating perfect mountain Green Daze….and need-a good –blanket nights…..I’m reminded of why city people have always headed for the mountains in August…

The Belmont General Store has a couple of small tables in front windows for the consuming of questionable deli fare…..and when you go to pick up your mail at the po box….you run into the old pot belled stove crowd malingering at the store all afternoon….that usually includes the Dumpmaster and his cronies and our local stonemason/rock and roll king….when one stops to say hello …it is like disappearing into the Bermuda/Mt. Holly triangle….Yenta Central….

We bought a bag of ripe red cherries at the Hannaford……which in Vermont and it’s three week growing season, is like buying 40 carat gold……Jenn shows up at the checkout with a bag that probably weighed three pounds and rung up at a week’s wages….so if you come to our house and we put out the priceless cherries…..there is tip jar to put in your forty cents per pit…..just a head’s up….

Oh, what a beautiful mornin’…..continuing our summer season at the Weston Playhouse, we made the twenty minute drive down route 100 for the ten millionth performance of OH….OH….OH…..KLA……HOMA…….Amongst the many reasons to go to the 100 year old Weston theater…is that we are often (yes, even me)…the youngest people in the house………huge cast….tiny stage….magnificent mini orchestra….thought The Queen might explode from demurely keeping her vocals in check…

With gorgeous mid-70s, no humidity day in store on Thursday, we took a trek……cruising up Rt. 100 for a meandering drive up the Gold Coast Road, which is our top secret bypass to circumvent the hub-bub of Woodstock….and houses all the cloistered mansions of the movie star and Mafioso set sequestered away in Vermont (it’s not called the Gold Coast for nuthin’)……then made our way to the far side of Woodstock to the Quechee Gorge…..dubbed (quite boastfully) the Grand Canyon of the East…..though that may be a bit of a stretch, it is indeed an magnificent 1000 foot deep crevice formed by the ever decreasing glacial movements…..beautiful hike down to a world class swimming hole, which Lucy proceeded to drink gallons out of…….

Having accomplished our healthy activity for the day, we wove our way down the Connecticut River valley on old route 5…to Claremont NH and the state of the art Walmart there for tax free fried chicken, which is clearly very bad, but is achingly good…and has the bonus of the most classic array of Walmart shoppers, ripe for the camera…..

The artery clogging Fried Chicken proved a valuable addition to our evening picnic at the Belmont Music on the Green…..featuring Mt. Holly’s own Piano Man….whose house Jenn cleans on the side…..Very popular with a loyal local following, the Piano Man is eerily similar to the old Bill Murray Lounge Lizard on Saturday Night Live….close your eyes and you can hear….”Feelings”…..

We’ve spent a pretty lazy weekend, with visits to Ramuntos for Friday night pizza, a late night grocery trip to Hannaford’s and a Saturday evening visit to Sal’s in Wallingford for some red gravy shit…..so I guess it’s time to visit the ever- dwindling (no rain for a month…its either feast or famine) POND and get to some chores….Music week is coming up this week in the Greens, with The Nave arriving tonight and the rest of The Bunty Station Band by Tuesday for our Thursday Music on the Green gig , Friday recording session and Saturday annual Tie- Dye Festival….naps will be required for all….

Stay tuned for next week’s music week report……..

In Sha Allah…………………………Stu