Category: Green Mountain Blog

Short report…long day of training in St. Vincent….location is everything….It’s really St. Vincent AND the Grenadines….very touchy here about leaving that out….and Grenadines is where you want to be…somewhere over the volcanic mountain….that’s where all the Yanks go to sun and sun….I’m at the best part of St. V.-a small inlet area on south shore….but the rest….well, it’s a bit like most of Mexico…..Kingston Capitol….dirty, grimy, poor…..picked up by full-fledged military camo guy this morning for hair raising ride through the hills to avoid rush hour traffic….several teeth loosened from the potholes…..training was in ancient church biding and was a cluster of chaos…need to send them to Granada for some tips…break snacks unimaginable- in church basement, but took one for the team, tried everything to be a good American ……goats, sheep, feral dogs abounding… the locals seemed to like Ol’ Papi…only white man for miles around…..today was a roomful of very colorful women…..no men in sight…crawled back to the villa for more work and dinner under the Noel big top…..fish and more fish…and more rum punch….off to St. Lucia tomorrow with a terrible four hour layover in Barbados….Coup still potentially in the offing at next stop of Dominica so not sure if I wind up stuck in St. Lucia for better part of a week ……………………..could be worse

Highlight of day ….for three bucks had my sewage pants washed and pressed….ready to go……

Up at four….90 year old taxi man comes up the mountain right to my cottage to take me to tiny airport in Grenada….board fight to Barbados to then sit for three hours to board second flight to St. Vincent…but they change flight plan and land in St. Vincent first-so then have to talk my way off the plane and convince someone to get my bag off….quite the negotiation… the result was that I arrived at little resort by the sea before 9 am….after a wild locomotive ride from the airport…barely missing sending many of the goats and sheep along the road….to meet their maker….which is just as well, since I dined on one of them tonight…

The Beachcomber’s Resort is tucked in a little bay on the south end of the island….not quite the accommodations I had in Grenada…more a hotel room deal….but a gorgeous property…with pool and sea fifty yards from my door…

Th rest of the day went…..breakfast, ocean, pool…..lunch….work, nap…..ocean, pool….work….dinner…with harrowing walk to nearby tiny town fit in, in blazing sun and lunatic drivers honking at me at every turn….and on the wrong side of the road I might add….it is so British that even the natives speak with a Brit accent….very formal…when I walk into the office…all the women behind the desk immediately jump upright….

There is a cool little boardwalk along the seaside that you have to periodically get off and walk through the tide….and many Rastas….all of whom offered to take me home and share the goods (even with my buzz cut, they seemed to infer I was of their ilk)…

Lots of fish to see in the water, even without my snorkel, which my beloved convinced me I did not need to bring…

And Christmas….these people are nuts…endless loop of Jingle Bell Rock playing and the like…and the dining room decked out with Christmas placemats, candles tree and lights…they are all in….

Last time I was in SV was on a Windjammer cruise with Tess…when she literally hurtled off a cliff into a small pool of water…while all the cruisers watched in horror…..less drama this time…..

Off tomorrow for big day in Kingston capitol…they are sending the military out to pick me up in the morning…..

Are you keepin’ up with this?

Early morning hot rain…..wandered out to breakfast nook high up in hills- could not find my way back to cottage-the place is a maize…

No US electric service…bought converters on Amazon but they don’t work here ….had to borrow BIG black box transformer from hotel…..weighs 20 pounds….lights flicker when it comes on…

Long first day of training….but Grenadians are just wonderful folk…..was at best hotel on island with massive spreads for breaks and lunch for overlooking the ocean….probably all downhill from here. Flight tomorrow at 5 am to St. Vincent, where I have no idea who to contact or where to go……island style..

Jenn should be happy…..eating nothing but fish and salad…but quite hungry at night…….need some pastrami….

Rum Punch…….running on fumes already…and four islands, 12 flights and numerous punches to go….

Got filthy typhoid pants and sox hand washed and dry…but had to go find the massive hotel exhaust fan to lay out my soaked sneakers…still going to be a wet foot journey tomorrow….cooties abound

Place filled with Brits and Aussies …all watching Cricket….what’s wrong with baseball?

Trainings here all start with prayer and national anthem….I wept…..and that was before they read my bio for ten minutes….

Surrounded by warm ocean and hot swimming pools…and no play time….ugggh….

Another long day with dinner poolside with my local peeps…….Onward…..

Been sending nightly dispatches to the family on my Caribbean project travels…and thought… what the hey…should put them on the BLOG….so here’s all of the last week’s…WHY NOT?

Want to keep up with Papi????…here’s the brief synopsis…

CMH at 6 am for flight to Miami…the on to Granada….uneventful….arrived at Grenada (GRUN-NAY-DA)….around 3:30 local time (hour ahead of EST) and emerged to 86 degree steam…..found old taxi-man…spoke some kind of English though I could not get a word of it….hotel eight minutes away……Blue Horizon Guest Cottages…very cute and three mutes from the majestic Grand Anse Beach…600 yards of pristine white sand….Cottages sit on 6 ¼ acre bid sanctuary with 27 species of tropical birds, who will likely keep me up all night…..Had drinks with two local juvenile justice ministry ladies…one of whom was probably is a recent Miss Granada….then a very slow dinner by the pool (island time)…big doings down the road with thousands of Grenadians arriving for lighting of Christmas lights and fireworks….went out to take a peak and fell in a ditch of typhoid quality sewage water (like father, like son )…with all my good clothes on I had worn to dinner…spent last hour making cottage filthy with residue of scum and took three showers….cannot imagine how my shit is going to dry in this heat…including my tennis shoes..

And this is …just…. Day One!!!

Buongiorno:

“Having precise ideas of often leads a man to doing nothing” ……………………………………………………………………………………………………..Socrates

“The torch of doubt and chaos….this is what the Sage steers by”………………………………………………………………………………………………….Chuang- Tzu

“Those were the days my friend..…I thought they’d never end”…………………………………………………………………………………………………….Mary Hopkin

Sunday morning 9 am….November 3rd

There’s a light……..some kind of light……that shines its light on me……I want my life to be…..You don’t know what it’s like…..you don’t know what it’s like…….The time has one…..bittersweet endings approach…and Cowtown beckons….Thursday it is!…the end of another season of wanderlusts and Mountain Zen life……..but…not yet…..

It really seems like it is time to go….the leaves are gone…and it’s officially Stick Season on the Mount…restaurants are closed, people are hibernating…we can see the road from our house with no foliage…a stark kind of beauty, in reality….and getting’’ mighty cold…

Our delightful weekend with Ry, Lauren and The Mighty Quinn ended last Sunday night with a Full Monte Vermont fireside dinner in the rarely used living room that is the Walter and Karen Shrine (unchanged since the day they left the house to us )…..then Monday morning they were off to the heartland….

The last week has been a blur with a series of “lasts”….transitions suck….REALLY…but we are relatively on top of it……So…..Endings are what we are currently about….went to a cocktail party , hosted by The Queen last night….to honor the retiring Queen Emeritus of the community association…..filled with locals we usually don’t see or interact with….Friday night was our final trip to the beloved East, the most elegant of Asian emporium’s, for one last dinner date with TJFM…who we will miss greatly as he continues his ongoing battle with serious illness….

And packing, organizing, lists galore, arrangements….that is who we are right now…..so….this will be short, by necessity….will there be more?….who knows….Is winter life as Snowbirds to Ohio Blog worthy?….only your hairdresser knows for sure….

But tonight…. is our last hurrah….eighteen of our nearest and dearest gathering here for the annual Friendsgiving supper…..and They will ALL be here……so in honor of that…and of the impending leave…..I will be posting tonight a photo gallery of BLOG character credits with photos after The Soiree….as I know you have waited for years with baited breaths to see what the cast of Vermont Ramble look like in real life (or maybe surreal life)….

So put my symbolic pen down for last Sunday preparations, last visit to The Dump, making friend deposits, the post office box…..and to see the bare trees….and he will finish this post later tonight…after The Soiree, with the inclusion of The Gallery….

Suffice it to say….I will miss The Weekly Sermon from the Mount….and now sign off from The Inn at Scum Pond…until we meet again……….

Happy trails to you,

Ferlin’/Papi/Chuck/Dad/Cuz/Uncle/ TCJ/Skippy

Ola:

“Over railroad tracks…wild geese fly by…..low on a moonlit night”……………………………………………………………………….Shiki

“Everything will come….exactly as it does”…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….Zen Proverb

“When shall we live, if not now”…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..Shirley Jackson

“Be an idiot on your own time”……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..Lauren Butch Cross (to husband JR)

Ola:

“Over railroad tracks…wild geese fly by…..low on a moonlit night”……………………………………………………………………….Shiki

“Everything will come….exactly as it does”…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….Zen Proverb

“When shall we live, if not now”…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..Shirley Jackson

“Be an idiot on your own time”……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..Lauren Butch Cross (to husband JR)

Leaves forever…..the gift that just keeps giving….the week has been filled with falling and turning leaves, as we scampered up north to extend the magnificence of Autumn….and….took way, way too many pix….forgive the indulgence….and…by the way….

THE POND….is BACK!!!!!!!!!

Last Sunday led to one more walk up the hill to catch the late afternoon shadows…SHADOWS….of the season…not a long walk up the Bowlesville road…..but quite the blow getting up there for the view….found little men hiding in bushes with bows at the ready to bag their five pointers (bright clothing a requirement for any walk at the moment)….came home to prepare for our long awaited (thrice cancelled ) Jenn birthday dinner reservation at the legendary Downtown Grocery (for real) in Ludlow (with our handy dandy birthday gift certificate from Tess and Jake that we had been trying to use all summer)….BUT NOT….ten minutes before we walked out the door they called to say we ware their only reservation and they were going to close up rather than serve us ….only in the mountains……we then spent an hour trying to find somewhere open on a Sunday night in shut down, Stick Season…all dressed up with nowhere to go….eventually winding up at old standby, Harrys ’Café just up the road apiece….

And, speaking of Stick Season…..indeed it is….just returning from a rainy, bare tree excursion with Ry, Lauren and our little darlin’ Quinn-Lily, who made a quick weekend visit…our last hurrah of friends and family…since we are on the 12 day countdown to THE RETURN….todays adventure started with a visit to Farmer Jeff to send the family back with winter meats from the free range-organic- grass fed- poison free hill farm….thought it was to be a quick visit…but Farmer Jeff had some very expansive opinions about how to divert water to THE POND…which led to an hour long manifest on all things spring-fed like……from there it was on to the glory of the Vermont Country Store…for the Emporium of Tchotchkes…and filling Quinn up on samples of every sugar imaginable…she managed to find a broken package of tiny air darts and proceeded to delightfully terrorize the rest of the happy shoppers….along with a howling Lucy, who was enthralled by the sailing darts….now back home, she is parked in front of Elmo….and possibly headed into nod off mode….

The kids arrived yesterday on a sunny, chill autumn day….and hung out (playing with Quinn a dozen varieties of Papi generated marble games) until it was time to go into Rutland…for the annual Majordomo Halloween parade extravaganza….over two hours of floats, marchers, masked Donalds….and an astounding level of mayhem and tomfoolery…..before escaping to Ramuntos for pizza……Quinn quite the site in her little pumpkin outfit…..and despite having no bag or sack prepared, she came home with enough candy for the millennium..…moved home to needed but unhappy bed time……conquered with a rousing rendition of “Where the Wild Things Are”…….

The rest of the week was devoted to our final Fall outing…the annual trip up the Islands. Yes, we really have Islands in Vermont…sort of the like the Lake Erie variety, for you flatlanders…and similarly, they are a very unique culture…not quite the Caribbean variety, but quite different than the mainland lifestyles…..before leaving Jenn had her now -up- to -five minute- ice cold shower together with her newest guru….Sven.. the invincible (I climbed Everest barefoot in the blizzard, in four hours with no food or water guy)…I am desperately trying to capture these moments on record, as they are not to be believed without hearing them…. Then on up through Burlington and across the bridge to the very quiet an empty Islands (South Hero, Grand isle, North Hero and Alburgh)…to our regular cottage stay on the banks of lovely Lake Champlain…120 miles long, 12 miles wide at it widest and 150 feet deep at its deepest….coming in just short of qualifying as one of the Great Lakes…but majestic nonetheless….AND…it was amazingly PEAK fall colors everywhere we went…which combined with sunny, 60 degree weather (unheard of), and nobody around….was simply pure magic….we had a deck on the water, a fireplace and a great view of the Big lake and the Adirondacks behind…which is really the way to end Autumn…

So….what do you do on the Islands for three days in very low season….well, you drive around the lakeside dirt roads, take 200 pictures, look for the best foliage and bird boxes (an islands thing) you can find, hit he Dunes at Alburgh State Park, take a bunch of little hikes….and naps at the cottage…there is a little store to pick up lunch and have a lake picnic….and we have discovered a remote smokehouse down a dirt road, which raises and butchers their own elite chicken and beef…so we had an extraordinary smoked chicken pot pie….enough to feed eight…back at the shack for dinner one night….there is good WIFI…a moderate phone signal and cable tv….and…Tuesday night was the promised land night of the year in my book…Game one of the World Series (Go Nats) and the start of the NBAs season (go Cavs….really???)…a very happy respite before taking on the last days of prepping, schlepping and cavorting to leave the mountains foe the winter……

And…a tale of two meals…up at the islands, we discovered the quaint and lovely Ransom Inn (Alburgh)…blink and you miss it…and we were the only people there…where they wined and dined us at a candlelit, fireside table for a lovely evening. Food was just decent, but a most welcoming and intimate experience. Then, Friday night we had our re- scheduled dinner at the Grocery…..which was loud, disorganized and chaotic..…service as terrible…but the food was magnificent…and…they bought us dinner…for the Sunday night cancellation…quite the dueling dining experiences……..

Quinn-Lilly is demanding attention….and this has probably been a most disjointed blog…as I have done it in between bursts of two-year-old energy lapses….so….enough for now…

Until next time,

Papi

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’