Category: Green Mountain Blog

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

“Hot town summer in the city……back of my neck gettin’ dirty and gritty”………………………………………….John Sebastian

“These ARE the good ol’ days………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..Carly Simon

“Ain’t it good to be back home again”……………………………………………………………………………………………………John Denver

Back in the mountains after a ten day surge in the heartland….Saw Sister ‘Jane yesterday at Ry and Lauren’s Pool Party in Cleveland on way back (that means Sloane and Quinn-Lily in one place!!!!!)….Jane says BLOGIN’ A MUST after last week’s absence….so maybe just a little one……..

It was HOT,HOT, HOT….hit 120 heat index last weekend….which sent us out to split wood for five hours……I was so much older then…..I’m younger than that now….

Old houses don’t do well sitting empty in summer heat for four months……managed to get room AC in dormer-bedroom as soon as we hit the home return….and immediately blew all the circuits….

Lawn company decided a quarter of our yard was too wet to mow…..FOR THE WHOLE SUMMER…..so had to get 35 year old unused-for three- years tractor started and show them how it is done….IT WAS A JUNGLE…..good help hard to find…

Lots of Sloane….Lots of music playing….Lots of first season Sopranos on VHS (Really!!!)…since we have no TV or internet (barely any phone service) at the shrine……….

Reunion of 3 out of five of our kid brood from the 80s-90 (my Moon children came to town) ….with new generation of them…went and replicated our traditional Friday nite hide and seek on the Ohio State Oval (Quad)….Sloane very excited by the drama….despite 90 degree plus heat….

Delaware county Juvenile Court (1984-2003) reunion…….WOW…time stood still for an evening….

Birthday dinner for Nave and Suba….for the 32nd straight year…..a tradition like no other…..

Pool Party with both granddaughters at once in the pool……PRICELESS

Quick trip to Toledo for work…and the air conditioned and internet accessed reprieve of the Marriott…….

And…..Condos….YES…looked at bunch of condos….just let me stick my head in the oven…..but Jenn says it’s time to not have TWO 150 year old houses-each with two acres…..to maintain in our Golden Years…..CONDO?????……..REALLY???………………………..

Almost made the trip back without one giant crisis (never happened yet)….but we lost our cat Gracie at the Erie Marriott on way back….spent 45 minutes shouting for her on all four hotel floors and the breakfast nook….and knocking on stranger’s doors…only to find her waiting back in the room….always some kind of hitch….

Got nothin’ more….till next week……

Papi

on way back….spent 45 minutes shouting for her on all four hotel floors and the breakfast nook….and knocking on stranger’s doors…only to find her waiting back in the room….always some kind of hitch….

Got nothin’ more….till next week……

Papi

Take a load off Fanny…….

“No one’s mouth is big enough to utter the whole thing”……………………………………………………………Alan Watts

“Practice ……thirty more years”…………………………………………………………………………………………………….Zen saying

“When I get offa this mountain…..I know where I’m gonna go….”………………………………………………Robbie Robertson

Does it get hot in the mountains?…….Last week we hit 90 a few times ….no one has an air conditioner…..it’s either the POND or the woods……Sunday hunting for cool glades by the streams…..Driving in Dumpmaster informed blind circles of love down mighty mtn.-dirt roads….in search of the elusive Pond cleaning crawfish…..round and round we go……crawfish, crawfish, no one knows……..not today……lots of dirt road manna…..find a shade walk…..to magnificent marble and slate graveyard with Deliverance undertones……marble, marble-makes me warble……..shady grove walk…and then….. on to see the Trout King…but that we can’t find….the King always has crawfish……see The Queen spread the little devils in the brown murk….see the giant crawfish and the motherlode of holding tanks…..make good clear Pond….soon…………….

How do you get to Minneapolis from here……orange barrels, orange barrels…down the I-91 crazed northeast corridor …..the sweltering hamlet of Hartford….. big white Deltabird….full house….get nine month old next to me….boding poorly…..turn out he likes Papi…….a lot…….hold and play with him between nursing bouts……Tess asks “what woman in her right mind gives her baby to lone wolf traveler calling himself
Papi ?”………is this a legitimate question for our post-Donald modern world……..who do you love?………..on to St. Paul……STEAMY……but better than February ice sculptures and gloom…….work….work…..work…….we gotta get out of this place…….Twin-Cities oasis at Moscow on The Hill……Wodka….Wodka….Wodka……mile straight up….mile straight own…..big ass Wodka walk…..long journey into night back to the Mount……to the cool night breeze….down in old, old Woodstock……..

And……..Bebe Sloane poses in yard in “no nap for me” photo……..…..And….Quinn-Lily calls Nanna and Papi for animated bedtime story on Portal……..Huff..….Puff……..BLOW…….

The mountain –skislope -gourmand gym is all mine….mine….mine….this time of year…..Wahoo….anybody home…….just Estuardo in his private exercise manse…..a little tubbing… a little schvitz…..new best friend…..the exotic Francisco …..Tall, handsome, androgynous actor-boy from the city……doo-wah, doo-wah, doo-wah ditty……talk about the boy from New York City…….man-child leading the current Weston stage production……he likes Papi too!!!!…..everybody wants a Papi……yes?…..tiptoe through the tulips….

Friday night recovery-sustenance….down to magical Manchester Art space……..zoom….zoom….zoom…..round and round up another mountain…..acres of art……see the sky about to rain?……….who made this place…….Dinner question from The Queen: “ do you consider this to be DATE NIGHT”….Hmmmm……can you say CONUNDRUM?……..probably not a good answer? to this one?……….annual visit to hear THE BAND re-creators…….The Wait (Weight) Band……close your eyes…..and…it….is…. the Last Waltz………O..P..H..E..L..I..A………come back home……dancing in the streets ….multi- faceted old hippie drunkenness……crazy Chester followed me all the way home……..got my cannon ball……

Oh….No…got to Go…..Ohio mid-summer visit prep…..Nous Allons Mardi…..kids, babies, old friends, house rodents……may not be reporting for next few weeks….find some other Sunday morning pleasures……..CHEERS…..

Stu

Oh Beautiful for spacious skies…..Happy Independence Day to all…..are we going to be independent any time soon?….ya know what I mean….

“Attention is the beginning of devotion”……………………………………………………………………………..Mary Oliver

“”The problem is not enjoyment….the problem is attachment”………………………………………….Tilopa

“”The moment is the sole reality”…………………………………………………………………………………………Karl Jaspers

“You can get it if you really want it”……………………………………………………………………………………..Jimmy Cliff

Blog, Blog…everywhere a blog,
Fillin’ up my mailbox, making me sob,
Do this, don’t do that,
Can’t you read my blog?

Hot 90 for two days in the Greens this week….wilted…no AC….then it rained like the Noah thing yesterday…today 73, sunny, big ol’ clouds, zero humidity….paradise on the Mount…….

We had our first group supper of the season last Sunday…and were besieged by the usual cast of characters: The Jewish Pig Farmer, The Self Proclaimed Russian Spy in Exile, The Retired- Name Dropping Surgeon, The Trailer Masseuse, and The Master French Chef and his Yiddish Wanabe Bride….quite an extravaganza…beautiful dinner on the big ol’ porch table….and of course, smoked pig stuff from TJPF…classic…

The Queen is on a roll….barely saw her all week, as she went form community organization meetings, prepping floats for the six minute parade on the 4th, leading said float, volunteering at the Rainbow Riders therapeutic horse school, cleaning houses, obsessing in the gardens…and sneaking in some debatable house painting when she thought I was not looking or would not notice…hard to keep up with her….I do my best to take naps during all these events…

The annual 4th of July parade was the traditional spectacle….line up along the route way in advance, chat with all the locals on the most recent gossip, have Lucy pull me after every barking and sniffing dog, dodge the shit left by passing horses….end eventually observe the wonder of the six and a half minute glory of the award winning parade…you have to see to believe it… We snuck away from the festivities for a ride over to Lake Bomoseen and to Roxy’s best-in-all-the –world french fries (and lobsta role for a jonesing Stu)…then found a super-secret back road along the 20 miles of Lake Bomoseen…perfect for an out of the sun, cool in the woods, dirt road walk..

Continued my efforts to find the perfect pair of free reading glasses, when I went for a docs appointment and found a full basket of loanable readers at the front desk….boy, was I excited…discreetly picked out a new pair that I really liked (along with all the office staff…”where did you get those cool glasses?”), and left my old ones to be someone else’s’ perfect pair…..this is the official mountain eyeglass exchange program….I think…maybe?

Jenn tells me that everyone should be watching the video of various celebrities’ reading from the Mueller Report, thus if so inclined , here is the link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeGZ-xL6FNU&feature=youtu.be ……….is anyone getting interested in Mayor Pete?

After five years of talking about it, we made the trek on Friday night, over a couple of ranges, to visit the truly eccentric Hall Art Foundation in middle of nowhere Reading (not PA…. Vt.)….This is one exotic of an art event that is only open a few times a month (mostly by appointment) and free on the first Friday night of each month, April through November. Endowed by a very rich Brit, on a remarkably converted old working farm, it features just one set of exhibits every season (almost always from expat British artists)…in a series of magnificently restored farm buildings….I have no idea how people know about this- or where they come from….but the hayfield parking lot was packed when we got there late….after mystical dinner at some roadside attraction butcher- restaurant in the even more remote hamlet of Brownsville….(you may or may not find either of these places on a map)…The whole experience is surreal and worth many visits… http://www.hallartfoundation.org/location/vermont

And thus….I think I am out of words for the week… have a mission today to go dig up crawfish from some top secret hole the Dumpmaster told us about….to rejuvenate the somewhat ailing Pond…and maybe a Creamee or two along the way..

Stu

Ob-la dee…………Ob-la-da……

“Wherever YOU are, is the entry point”………………………………………………………………………………………………….Kabir

“Where can I find a man who has forgotten words? He is the one I would like to talk to”…………………..Chuang- Tzu

“Stop acting so small! You are the universe in ecstatic motion”…………………………………………………………….Rumi

“This little light of mine…I’m a gonna let is shine”…………………………………………………………………………………Harry Dixon Loes

Ten Mountain Questions

How do you know it is summer in Vermont?

Some time at the very end of June it hits 80 degrees and the sun comes out…..Jenn does not leave the house without her netting mask to subvert the swarm of Black Flies……THE Pond gets full…….the Green gets Greener….the flowers are popping….the Poppers are poppering…..there’s music in the hills…the pile of mulch arrives…..and snow is gone on the slopes (maybe)

What does one do on a lazy Sunday afternoon after The Blog and the chores are done?

Well when the sun is out, one pulls out their walking shoes, puts The Lucy in the car…and heads off in search of a dirt road hike…..said hike usually involving various forms of power equipment buried in the bush, sweeping mountain views, houses that look like old railroad cars- alternating with hidden treasure Mc-mansions and…. rusted double wides…..and tries to avoid the Black flies…..

How do you hava threesome in Vermont?

You go to the chiropractor’s office in Rutland on a slow Monday afternoon…and get both of the chiropodists to work on you…..whilst you gyrate and moan….(helps with the moaning if one of the Cs is a little cutie fresh out of manipulation school)…then you walk out through the waiting room to the envious stares of the waiters…..happy endings….

What do you eat of a warm evening, when The Queen has worn herself out moving a few inches on the giant pile of mulch and keeping the Black Flies off her netting?

You go see the curmudgeons at the Belmont General Store, and if they have not shut down the grill early….you get local grass fed burgers and greasy frozen French fries (may or may not be potatoes)… …….take them home and eat out on the massive table on the newly discovered inside porch….then you try and decide what might be for dinner….

What do you do when you get the itch to see a few people of color?

You head down the Route 7 mountain corridor to Bennington, pick up the legendary Taconic Parkway (built by FDR so he could easily get from The City to his hideout in Hyde Park….which, by the way, has been crowned the most dangerous road in NY state))….and go down to The City….where the thermometer reads 95 degrees –in the shade- –but feels like 110 in the concrete jungle………have a lovely dinner with the long lost Paul cousins at mob-vibe Angela’s of Tuckahoe……….visit Cousin Joel at the Rehab Center where is recovering………try to get Lucy to shit on the concrete or walk a mile in the heat to find some grass…sleep…..wake….pick up crazy priced Jewish Deli to go ($40 for two sandwiches and a knish!) (at one of the two last standing Jewish Delis in the Bronx…which had over 150 of these gems as recently as the early 1960s)…..then…. drive back the way you came….having now had your fill of third world languages for the month….

What do you do when you are away from mountain splendor and spending the night in the north Bronx and it is too hot to go out?

You watch ten ambitious lunatics on the telley yell at each other for two hours for the right to have an eighteen month pissing contest with the moronic Sir Donald (and if you’re really feeling it…you do it again the next night)…and you wonder what happened to Democracy…are we passing the torch yet?

What does one do after returning to the Green from the rigors of NYC outskirts driving, too much red meat, the heat of the concrete jungle…and a dose of third world countries?

You meander over the hill to the Belmont Body and Soul shop to see the Blue Skies Dominatrix …for a grand Trailer Massage…..which encompasses a full review of the 20 crazed Donald wannabes, applied patches of the oils of some place from the sub-continent and the majordomo finish of smoke waving of sage to ward off the evil spirits….then you go home and take a two hour nap…

How do you hit the week’s finish line in the mountains….with a bit of culture?

You make the twenty minute drive down Route 100 to the lovely hamlet of Weston for your first show of the season at the historic Weston Playhouse….and see a laborious rendering of the longest running musical since the Greek Revivals….the venerable Fantasticks……the mountain equivalent of going to Broadway…sans cars, people, horn honking. $40 parking and riot ready NYPD Blue…

What do you do at 8 am on Saturday morning on the Mount?

The Queen rises, leaving The Sage in repose….and treks to see the Dumpmaster with Lucy in tow. Whilst little Lucy rediscovers the wondrous aromas of the “transfer station” (who came up with that moniker?)….The Queen cavorts with Kevin the Walrus…who is again disturbed that both of us had not made the weekly pilgrimage… and threatens to come down to join me in repose (apparently the Walrus goes both ways)…..

How do we celebrate life in the mountains????

In late April, the community lost a founding father, my folk club friend, Jim Osborne. Jim showed amazing dignity in a ten year battle with Parkinson’s. Most of the town gathered on Saturday afternoon at the ubiquitous Odd Fellows Hall to celebrate Jim. Amidst the many testimonials, emerged the theme of an extraordinarily caring person who helped about every person on the Mount at one time or another…as well as a full review of Jim’s propensity to wax philosophic about anything under the sun. I once went to see Jim about possibly fixing a broken led hanger on a piece of stained glass…….resulting in a two hour oral history on the use of led in primitive cultures…..a sad yet joyous day of life celebration…..Will the Circle be Unbroken?

If you have further questions…..feel free to ask…..

The Sage of Mt. Holly