Category: Green Mountain Blog

“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

Greetings fellow Earthlings:

“The ego says, “It’s always something.” The spirit says, “It’s never anything.””…………………………………………………………Alan Cohen (candidate to be a Haiku for Jew)

“ IT is everywhere”…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………Chuang-Tzu

“ I only go out to get me a fresh appetite for being alone”…………………………………………………………………………………………..Lord Byron

Well……it just might have hit summer in the Greens….and it’s….well…very Green……The flowers are popping…….The poppers are poppering…….The grass is multiplying……The POND is full……The Turtle is sun bathing….The Herons are visiting……75 and sunny…..coolish nights…..Rain, the rest of the week……………………….Summer in the mountains……..

I’ve been ruminating on what went on during the past week…..and it more or less leaves me vacant…so may just stick with the Headlines……

The Prodigal is wandering around somewhere deep in the Andes…….

Quinn-Lily loves the Portal…and the musical story time with Nanna and Papi (Itsy-Bitsy Spider)…………..and had her first dentist visit….

Bebe Sloane tuned eight months …..and is proving to be an eating machine………..

My other son, Jesse Moon….had a baby this week…WOW………Papa Jess………………

Sunday nights at EAST Asian with the Jewish Fish Monger….are the bomb……………………..

This is the primo time of year at the gym at Okemo…..it is just me, the massive building…..and Led Zeppelin on the sound system…..

It’s a long, boring drive down to Hartford to catch a flight….though the stop at Lisai’ s market in Chester for road lunch…makes it bearable……..

Mid-summer in the Twin cities (they are not really Twins-one is lot bigger than the other) is much better than mid-winter there……and….Minnesotans are extremely polite……

After two long days of training….the hike up the VERY big hill to the St. Paul Russian restaurant extravaganza…is quite the reward…32 kinds of homemade Wodka….and The Borscht….and the Bilinis…

Delta is a vastly improved airline…they have little quality TVs for each seat where you can catch countless episodes of The Sopranos…..woke up this morning……got myself a gun……

Justin Trudeau is hugely more photogenic than The Donald…can’t we just have him?…….

The Vermont State Legislature is almost 100% Democrats…and they can’t agree on anything………….

Jenn has assumed uber-Goddess status with Kevin the Walrus Dumpmaster….he saves junk for her every week (“ I think about her all the time”)…why am I the one going to The Dump?……

Deadwood…..Yes……..

The logging trail behind our house is finally dry enough to walk up….though standing water has been replaced by Black Flies (spoken only in hushed tones)….

The Condemnable Shack below is being transformed into a cute little house…..the neighborhood is changing…..-thanks to the carloads of Jamaicans visiting every week…..got the inside tour last night….Amazing….and…… a weekly new supply of goat bones for Lucy to obsess over….

Ramuntos Pizza….Yes……….

Sunday morning with not much to report….Yes….Yes….Yes…..

No….No….No….Uggh…Uggh…Uggh…Snug in a rug……Give us a tug……Time to unplug…..Oh, what a mug……Been tipping the jug….let’s all have a hug……

Go…………..GREEN………..Go…………

Stu-Bert

Happy Father’s day to all:

Wanted to say a special FD shout out to my Pops followers:….Phil…. Bruce…Les….Omelio….Jeff G…….Howard…Joel…David B……Bud….Doug….Bill P…..RCD…….Eddie…Ed….Berms….Nate….Paul…Jim B……Mitch…Mike M…John M…….and Yumi…..

And….to my special young sons of various types- relatively new in fatherhood:…Ry….Jake….and Jesse…….

And….a very special shout out to THE Nave…who had been a second father to my kids, for more years than I can count, and through thick and thin….

“This morning it rained. This afternoon is sunny. How is that not like the mind?”………………………………………………………………Mathew Kewley

“ History doesn’t repeat itself….but it rhymes”……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………Erroneously attributed to Mark Twain

“My love language is about affirmation….and it is a language you do not speak fluently”………………………………………………..Jennifer Burrows (to you know who, for you know what)

Well it it’s a rainy Sunday FD morning…..and this father had a big day yesterday, late night…and The Queen of MH is making him a breakfast…so I may (may is the operative word) keep this short and go take a nap (FD privilege). Had a four am e-mail this morning with FD greetings from the prodigal-somewhere high in The Andes…and waiting to have portal activity with the others….

Been a weird week in the Greens…alternating between a very, very late spring….and a very ,very early fall….cold and rainy going down to high 30s some nights…and up to near 80 some days….keeps us hopping…

The Jamaicans next door are far into the roofing and siding beautification project, which has had an interesting assortment of colorful folk here through the week…we’ve had the Full Monty Jamaican clan….a leftover group of Mexican itinerant laborers camped out in the primitive shack setting all week (I assume they snuck trough the dam unguarded Canadian border)…and a dozen (at times) Vermont Woodchuck contractor types milling around drinking beer and occasionally tapping a nail somewhere….the whole project is the talk of the town….

We The North…hooray for the Canadian Raptors…..Trudeaux for President….

And…who the hell would want to shoot big Papi?…….

The Jewish Fish monger is trying to charm us into going down to a greater Boston Jewish enclave in few weeks to catch the first ever “Yidstock” Festival…this is Real……..oy …

Hit the road this week for an overnight to steamy Baltimore….lucky enough to catch a flight out of Albany…which means the beatific drive down route 7 through the Greens…though two hours , it seems like no drive at all, surrounded by the pastoral beauty…plus….. leads to a stop at the Greek Diner classic in Troy for a fresh ham sandwich (why is there no “fresh ham “ in the Midwest?)….have always wanted to try and walk around the entire Harbor area in Baltimore.. and it was the perfect night for a five mile stroll before the requisite fish dinner….I am certain there are more people of color(a lot of colors!) in circling the Harbor than in the State of Vermont…..maybe we need a Harbor here?……

Our roads supervisor, the Bowbee, stopped by this week. When he thought I was the only one here, he was going to turn his truck around and leave…but then he spotted Jenn on the mower….and settled in for the periodic Greasing of the Bowbee…he had a list of things to go over with The Queen (don’t ask)…but really wanted to know what was up with the Jamaicans…not that anyone rally cares…

After a long week of travel, rain, POND activities, basketball and more rain…Saturday dawned bright and sunny…after the weekly required trip to see the Dumpmaster, we took off for a day log adventure….driving up to the north central part of the state for the 10th annual Podocks (not Podunk) Music Fest in trendy and hippiified Bristol, and the 35th anniversary retrospective at the wonderful Alden and Mary Bryant Gallery in Jeffersonian. The day took us flush down the middle of the Greens in all their early summer splendor, with a host of sweeping vistas of the rolling hills, farmland and mountains beyond. Caught lunch at the newly trending General Store in quaint Jericho Center, found a couple of dirt roads for Lucy walks, stumbled onto a secret observatory in Hinesburg (two wooden shacks on a hillside)…..eventually making our way north of Stowe to the gallery, which welcomed Lucy the Art Dog with open arms. Took the long way back down, over the magnificent Smugglers Notch and through summer-quiet Stowe, back to Bristol for the delightful street fair…with the hip Burlington undertone vibe….. Had the requisite street food, Creamees and listened to the latest of a long line of Phish wannabee bands (though quite , quite good). A perfect Saturday afternoon in the Greens…except for getting lost coming back, and missing the festival by being four hours early the first time around….so…..mountain perfect, maybe?

And that, I think….. is all I got…until there is more….which may eerily happen next Sunday…….who knew…..

Best of the Best, Papi

Happy June my fellow travelers:

“The meaning of life is to see.”……………………………………………………………………………………………..Huining

“Explanation of the unspeakable cannot be unfinished”……………………………………………………….The Buddha

“Long may you run”………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..Neil Young

Happy June my fellow travelers:

“The meaning of life is to see.”……………………………………………………………………………………………..Huining

“Explanation of the unspeakable cannot be unfinished”……………………………………………………….The Buddha

“Long may you run”………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..Neil Young

Spring seems to have finally sprung…at last….in the mountains- with four straight sunny days in the 80s…Praise Be…..when you step out our front door, you inhale a plethora of lovely botanical smells, THE Pond is perfectly full, the wetter than wet grass cut…and colors abounding (mostly Green)…we can soon settle in for about six weeks of summer, before we head back into the 20s at night….

In the mountains , there is not much radio reception in the car, so we mostly listen to VPR talk radio. The network regularly features these little ditties on Vermont…. called Brave Little State…which though I roll my eyes when hearing…is actually pretty truthful. The level of social consciousness and community involvement here in the Greens is quite unlike anyplace else I have been. Woman’s rights are hugely valued at every turn, all children have access to health care, the legislature is soon to pass a 15$/hour minimum wage law (in a very economically challenged state) as well as required paid family leave…and….RECYCLING is a mania…we soon will no longer have plastic bags at any store-and have required composting laws for food scraps. This shit is serious….and moving.

Speaking of social consciousness, the Jamaican clan next door are hard at work on overhauling the crumbling edifice you pass on the way to our house…which means carloads of very exotic folk (for these parts) ensconced on most weekends…as well as: loud music, laughing children abounding, roast goat, backyard fires all night long…and a draw that keeps Lucy wandering down day after day (luckily, they seem to love her….and she seems to be cued in to crossing the railroad tracks)…the minority population of Mt. Holly quadrupled this week…….

Tuesday, Jenn was off gallivanting (feeling better after being down for almost ten day) so Lucy and I hung and took our first walk of the year up the still very wet logging trail that abuts the rear of our property…it’s like a post glacial experience- tip-toeing on boulders most of the way….and avoiding the newly empowered hordes of black flies……When evening came and Jen not home, I made the 45 minute- back road voyage to a small country inn in the hamlet of Perkinsville (two ridges over) to see The Jewish Fish Monger play with his buddy (Stu-2) at the venue. They had two other friends there and we were about the full audience….. but had a great time with these classic Vermont types and listened to the tunes while eating country rustic…one can surprisingly find some very kindred spirits in the mountains…both these fellows were artists and….amongst many typical Vermont -like endeavors, they have developed a small humidor device to dry pot in one week…..mountain ingenuity at work…

In between walking the trail and finding the pot trailblazers…I had a deck – side visit from our British Hair Maven….who home delivers our haircuts and lively across- the- pond wit….in exchange for various Jen home improvement projects at her house….she wants me to consider blue streaks for the next cut…

Thursday afternoon sprung the start of our current weather streak- so we meandered down to the Ville of Weathersfield to see the painting studio of one of the humidor pioneers….Vermont oil scapes and French Plein Aire works in a two hundred year old Vermont classic cape….new bestie!…then on to the never before explored Dam on North Springfield lake….for a bewitching hot afternoon walk around the 1920s era Army Corps project – one of a lot in Vermont…these guys do good work…

Friday, we spent the day manicuring the yard for the first time without puddles of water, and then went down to our first Ludlow farmers’ market of the season- to meet our weekend Airbnb guest- a many time stayer with us. We had a nice Jenn inspired dinner together- watched the Heroes of the North dominate the hated Warriors and then got up Saturday (leaving Lucy with our houseguest) and after a quick stop at the Dump (Keven the Walrus Dumpmaster gets very feisty if he does not see Jen for two straight weeks) shot down the I-91 corridor to Skunk Misery Rod (really) somewhere in the midst of mid-Connecticut…for the third annual reunion of my childhood Bronx posse. This is an unreal, larger than life gathering of six guys (and spouses) who had not seen each other for forty plus years until reconnecting in our close –to- twilight years. To say this is profound (as well as raucously funny) is an understatement. Three of us have known each other since grade school days…which exceeds sixty years…Holy cow-that is SICK……It was a memorable overnight, only slightly dampened by our phone conversation with the soon departing prodigal son for an Andes trek, losing track and …then…amazingly running out of gas on the busy interstate on the way home….

But now…it is Sunday night…we are safely ensconced in the manse…the Jamaicans have fled back to the city…and mountain quiet has set back in…

The hills are alive…..

Stu

Ola Mes Amigos:

“In an age of constant movement, nothing is more urgent than sitting still”……………………………………………………………….Pico Iyer

“When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves”…………………………………..Viktor Frankl

“OM”……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… Ferlin’ Norris

“Five thousand years a
wandering people–then we
found the cabanas.”………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..Haikus for Jews

Ola Mes Amigos:

“In an age of constant movement, nothing is more urgent than sitting still”……………………………………………………………….Pico Iyer

“When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves”…………………………………..Viktor Frankl

“OM”……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… Ferlin’ Norris

“Five thousand years a
wandering people–then we
found the cabanas.”………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..Haikus for Jews

Well, I’m just about recovered from our nine day odyssey with Little Quinn…though it took two days and a lot of naps. Jenn has been sick the whole week after her herculean effort at mothering a two year old. Moral of story…… it is better to be grandparent than be a parent.

Mountain Reward- after returning from Boston and a few naps on Monday, we tooled down the mountain to Rutland to the beloved East for sublime Chinese food on Memorial Day and a visit with our bestie Mexican waiter, who is passing for being Mongolian.

Glasses shopping in the mountains- in between a ton of rain, more napping and a little actual work, I went down Tuesday morning to see the local Chiropractor. Last time I was there they lent me a pair of reading glasses to schedule an appointment. I really liked these old Walmart-type throwaways (of which I have a magnificent collection)….so I brought a pair of my own down this time…and was able to consummate a trade…this is how one obtains new glasses in the Greens.

Mountain dining- about five minutes down the road to Ludlow from our house is the veritable institution of Harry’s Café…which made a triumphant return to this remote location last fall, after a three year sojourn in some ridiculous airplane hangar of a building down on Route 100 (close to the winter ski hordes’ appetites). We used to go there all the time, but A- it is hard to get in and B- they have ski tourist pricing…..but Wednesday night, we could not think of anything to do for dinner, and went down for a combination of faux Thai and British Empire dining….came home short on wallet and long on carbs…

Day Tripping- on Thursday, we woke to a classic mountain day- 70’s, middling sun, no humidity….and took off for our first real outing of the season….heading up the Route 7 corridor to the charming burg of Middlebury. Hit the Middlebury College Art Museum (world class for its size) and their two new and major retrospectives. The first was a retro of the photographic genius of James Blair, “Being There”- which showcased his work of 35 years as the primary staff photographer for National Geographic. Blair was not only a traditional (pre- digital) photo genius…. but a world class social activist (some of his American series photos were part of a book hastily put together by NG in an effort to defeat the environment onslaught by Reagan and James Watts in the 80s……where is Blair now when we REALLY need him?).

From there it was on to their “50 for 50” exhibit with one major art acquisition presented for each of the museum’s fifty years. Amazing shit (who says thee is no culture in the mountains)….and a great way to start an outing. After the museum we motored over to the great Italian deli , Costello’s, for a picnic lunch orchestrated by the apparent Mama Corleone. We even had the Don Barzini sandwich to be one with the moment. Then it was onto the search for a dirt road (around Leicester-pronounced Lie-ster….since we always drop the “ces” part in New England), where we did our first real walk of the year…to Lucy’s delight. We have had so much rain, the Black Flies apparently have not yet realized it is spring, so it was relatively pain free. After several shopping stops in Rutland on the way home, we got back in time to watch the Toronto Raptors whip the hated Warriors in the NBA finals….Oh Canada….my favorite new song…

The Trout King- made a trip on Friday over the mountain to see the Trout King and obtain the yearly supply of POND bacteria and some pond trout. THE POND is looking a little shaky…so hopefully the insertion of the magic bacteria ball- bags will alleviate the need for the kayak/kitchen strainer activities. Lucy loves their big old drooling dogs…and the endless pools of millions of spawning trout…and no one leaves the King’s lair without a half hour oratory on the godliness of all things Trout…..

Name Dropping in the Greens- a few years ago, I met a guy at the gym, who is retired heart surgeon…out of the game due to a near fatal heart attack (missed his own advice apparently)… and quite the guitar payer…and oracle. I see The Irish Celebrity Doctor a few times a week at the Okemo gym and on Monday nights at Folk Club. His heart attack left him with some residual brain affectation, so he tends to tell me the same stories repeatedly …sometimes 2-3 times in same visit…His stories, often set in Dublin, are always amazing, but this week he managed to relate, in one sentence, having had dinner with Richard Thompson, RD Laing AND Margaret Mead……I am working on my own matching story to rise to the occasion…ideas accepted!!!…

The Angst-Ridden Yard Boy- we have had a long history of young men assisting us on our two endless-work properties. My dear young friend, Marcus, long ago set the gold standard for yard boys back in the Ohio homestead, and, we have had worthy competitors since…..the mountain yard boys are another story. For a while we had a very nice young man, who spent most of this time staring at the primordial life in the POND, whilst occasionally picking up a shovel or weed whacker. Our current iteration is in the form of our young family friend, Ian, who is a pretty good worker, when he manages to remember to come down the hill. Yesterday, we had made plans for him to be here at 9 (I dragged myself out of bed after a late night at 8:30 and got right to work)..…he eventually arrived at noon….AND.. had to leave by one. Of the hour we had, half of it was consumed by his morose tales of self-discovery (and trying to get out of his mother’s house where seventeen people are now residing in multi- generation harmony) For the remaining half hour, he alternately weed wacked and kicked and screamed at the ancient whacker with threats of taking it to the Dump…Good help is hard to find?….

And so it goes….Sunday June 2nd…in the Greens….

Stu

Oh boy…..Oh boy……

“Some people feel the rain. Others just get wet”……………………………………………………………………………Roger Miller

“Knowledge is learning something every day. Wisdom is letting go of something every day”………Zen Proverb

“ Grandparenting….The Ultimate Extreme Sport”…………………………………………………………………………..Pinterest

“Lightbulb out again
how many of us must meet
to change it this time?”……………………………………………………………………………………………………..Haikus for Jews

Happy Memorial Day…..It’s a beautiful day here in the mountains (finally) and we both took two naps this afternoon after getting back from Boston where we a returned little Quinn and even littler Olaf to Ry and Lauren, who arrived back from their European sojourn late last night….I think more naps are in store after nine days of being full time (I mean 24/7) Nanna and Papi….. Quinn, who Jenn has dubbed Quinn-Lilly (when you ask her anything that starts with “Who”-as in “Who is a big girl?” or “Who made a big potty?”…she answers with something that sounds like Quin-ill-Lee- so she became Quin Lilly….anyway Quinn-Lilly is a true delight…BUT…she is all of two….and we are all of fifty and sixty something….

It has been thirty plus years since either of us had a two year old…and saying that clearly we were out of practice would be an understatement. We were just getting the hang of it, when it was time to turn her in….and time for us to take the rest cure…thank the Lord for ants and rocks which we have an unlimited supply of…..and which turned out to be QL’s favorite pastimes …bending down and screaming at ants and heaving every rock in sight….

Though I’m sure there are other things that went on in the Greens in the last ten days….we were oblivious while trying to keep up with a two year old.

Thus, I will limit my musings this week to the observations and leanings of nine days of Nanna and Papi-hood…and then go take another nap…..

• 2 year olds require a routine…and it changes by the minute….making plans is a fantasy
• I know remember why kids go to day care and parents go to work
• The Vermont Country Store is a built in babysitter
• TV is GOOD…..VERY GOOD….
• Kids LOVE Maple Creamees
• It’s good thing to spot the returning (from where does he go?) snapping turtle in your yard so that two year olds can go out looking for them again every day
• It’s not a good idea to take wee ones to Walmart at night…can you say MELTDOWN…in front of a hundred commenting Walmart shoppers…
• Papi should never let Nana disappear for four hours in the middle of the day
• Kids love the “Magic Bridge” that swings uncontrollably on the Appalachian Trail
• The Children’s Museum in Rutland is your best friend
• When you have a two year old for nine days…there is NO Nookie…
• There are many more questions than there are answers
• Nine days with a two year old makes housekeeping irrelevant (It’s a mess!)
• You wake up tired and go to bed tired…
• The winds change very quickly…
• Celebrities we read about who have babies in their later years…have LOTS of hired help…
• When the two year old takes a nap…you better take one too..
• Having nine days with your two old sweetie is PRICELESS!!!!!!!!

I’ve been reading Howard Mosher’s’ novel about being raised by his old school farmer Vermont grandparents in the remote Northeast Kingdom in the 40s and 50s….and keep wondering what did those folks do when their two year old went nuts that we should be doing? I’m still mulling that over…which I will be ruminating about into my next nap….

I think the pictures tell the story better than I can…

Goodnight….again…

Papi.

Guten Sunday:

“The more a thing tends to be permanent, the more it tends to be lifeless”……………………………………………………….Alan Watts

“Just practice Zazen….Sit…..like a person deaf and dumb…”…………………………………………………………………………………Dogen

“I always find beauty in things that are imperfect- they are much more interesting” ………………………………………….Marc Jacobs

“ How soft the pedals
of the floral arrangement
I have just stolen”…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….Haikus for Jews

It’s been a fast week in our mountain home…….was gone much of the week…..and it finally turned to some form of spring in the mountains, whist I was away cavorting in the Twin Cities. Seems like it turns Green overnight, though the waters are still hurtling down the mountain trails and the high peaks are still snow covered.

Sunday last saw the Cross family-with little Quinn in tow, head off to Boston for their flight to Europe, and the handoff of Quinn to Great Aunt Jennie (GAJ) for the week. After 24 hours with our two year old, we were exhausted. Did some clean up, took several naps and then went down for our triumphant return to the great East in Rutland, with our Jewish Fish Monger dinner companion . We had a young Asian waitress who was telling us her story of graduating and not knowing what to do next….we convinced her to take a gap year, which I’m sure her parents appreciated.

Monday dawned with winter back ,and by evening we were down into the 20s and then had two inches of snow overnight….in mid-May for Christ’s sake. So…..Tuesday morning, it was time to go for the tropics…which meant the 2 and half hour drive down to Hartford for a flight to Minneapolis…where it was an astounding 75 degrees…who would think of going to the Twins for the weather?

Our TSA at work…..I took with me a quart size bag of Epson Salts on my flight (don’t ask)..which despite looking like a pound of cocaine, was not detected at screening (pre- check is the bomb).

Spent the week in St. Paul doing my training thing and wandering the balmy streets. Though generally speaking the Twin Cities, is a foodie wasteland, I have discovered this magnificent Russian restaurant (Moscow on the Hill) that requires a 45 minute walk straight uphill…and features 45 flavors of homemade vodka, as well as Borscht to die for. After an immense meal, and several of the flavored vodkas, I was forced to call the hotel shuttle to come get me…and then went back to my room to do two hours of heavily sedated follow up work.

The plan was for me to pick up Quinn and GAJ at the Hartford Amtrak on my return flight Friday…..but Jenn had neglected to inform me I was supposed to take her car, in which Ryan had installed Quinn’s car seat…thus making a return trip prohibitive. So, we skipped the Friday pick up/arrival and had a recovery night at home. GAJ switched her train ticket to come to Albany instead on Saturday morning…and the day dawned bright, sunny and heading for 75. It was like the ending of the ice age…..So, Jenn went down to Albany to pick them up in the morning, while I headed out with Lucy to do the Saturday thing. At the dump, Dumpmaster Kevin the Walrus, bemoaned two straight weeks without a Jenn sighting…and wondered aloud to me if Jenn thinks about him each morning as he thinks about her……Wowish….

The clan arrived back in late afternoon…the Amtrak was predictably quite late (They, like the postal system….should never be counted on)….and we spent some time on the Pond pump installation ritual (dodging massive puddles of water all over the yard), and then Quinn and I applied the anti- schmutz miracle bags (form the home of the Trout King) to the Pond…..see the water spouting into the Green Mountain air…….

GAJ heads back to the Apple on the 5 pm out of Rutland this afternoon, so we will do some mountain hanging today and then deposit her….which will leave us fogies for nine days of two year old heaven….please send whatever energy remedies you have at your disposal….

And bath time is now ending, so Papi needs to joint the game….so….Dat’s all Folks….

Big Papi