Category: Green Mountain Blog

Happy Mother’s Day to all my friends and family, welcome to spring and back to the Greens:

You’ll note that I have gone back to the direct e-mail style due to problems this winter with the website direct mail. This means you may get both the e-mail from me (Max says it is my mass marketing tendencies) and the one from the website, so you can read whichever you prefer, if you read it at all……. I am also attaching a link here to the website posting for this blog- which some people like better to look at pix(though won’t be many this fist go around).

Long winter in Ohio filled with the construction of the devil parkway outside our kitchen window, which was quite a disturbance to our longtime country living. We also finally sold the house of horrors in northern Vermont, though it was three months of trauma to get it done.

So, on April 29^th, we set out for our home in the mountains. As usual, we had packing/leaving trauma; this time etched in our leaving morning. As we went to pack the last of stuff in the cars on leaving morning, discovered that our effort the day before to jam a box in the far rear had resulted in an exploded can of shaving cream, which provided a nice coating over all our packed belongings. This resulted in an unwanted last minute unpacking effort to clean up everything and re-pack…. We left two hours late. Spent the night in Albany at a pet friendly hotel and arrived at our little red house on the hill, at The Inn on Scum Pond, at 10 on the 29^th, just in time for the always amazingly on time (every time) plumber to show up to turn the water back on. This went well and we put in a new pressure tank for the well, so I can actually have water reach my bathroom at the top floor. So far, so good; moved on to unpacking and getting connected…not so good. Nothing way turned on, which also means we have no phone since we are run off the modem. That resulted in a lovely drive to the highest spot on the mountain road to Ludlow to find a cell phone signal, to call the hated cable company. Hours and many calls later we were up and running. We were soon greeted by our friend Robin, the masseuse in the trailer, with hugs and a pot of soup. We spent the day unpacking and headed down to Ludlow, for our beloved early bird, at Sams’ steakhouse, only to find they were “closed for spring break”…it is mud season here and no one goes out apparently…closed for four weeks, mind you. Thus put a damper on our return, but we adjusted grudgingly.

Sunday the first was my birthday, so after more house opening activities, we went up to Quechee, near Woodstock, to the Simon Pearce Gallery and restaurant for a special birthday dinner. Great place with tables overlooking the waterfall, though coming back early, (ten days earlier than we have before) has meant bare trees and late winter climate…definitely has not turned into the Green mountains as of yet.

For ten days, we have had cold rainy weather for the most part, and have run out to clean up the yard and take a drive whenever the sun has come out…it’s getting close though…. The house is in shockingly good shape after ebbing unheated for another winter and we now have all the boards/plastic down and the yard set up. We even got mowed this week once we got the dead mower going, just to get it in before the mower died again. We have been pursuing our usual activities. Me- reading a lot, puttering in the barn, going back to the swank gym at the ski resort, having post workout lunch at Java Baba, watching the Cavs run through the NBA playoffs and taking a daily nap, working now and then, but not much; Jenn: making vast lists of things we need to fix and or buy, taking inventory of the bedding, juicing and making wheat grass poison concoctions, stripping wallpaper, going to yoga and visiting all her friends. Had my first trip to folk club last week, which was a nice reunion, especially since the crazy woman was not there. We also made a run mid-week to see the Poets of Fish in Fairhaven, for the Prudential (nicer phrase for early bird) dinner. Been to two farmers’ markets and got into our usual Rutland weekly shopping odyssey (how long should it really take to buy four items at Walmart?). Jenn installed new motion detector at the top of the stairs –which has changed our lives and resulted in much less falling down in the dark, and we inherited three trays of prime wheat grass, from my friend Peter, from folk club, since he was making his annual mysterious trip to Moscow for three weeks (Peter claims to be on the FBI most wanted list for UN-American activities, which we take with grain of salt, but who knows, he does go to Moscow!?).

Yesterday we spent the morning picking up trash along roadsides for Vermont’s Green- Up day. We eventually wound up back on our road, scrambling up the embankment to make our first effort to clean up above the stream bed, where our old neighbors, the Manuals and their ancestors dumped shit for forty years. We went back to town last night for a dinner at the upscale Chinese place with our friends Scott and Robin, the Jewish pig farmers and our good friend Steve, the fishmonger.

Lucy is still adjusting to her new life, but spending more and more time roaming around outside and inspecting the logging road for vermin. Old George (somewhere between 80 and a 100) stooped by twice , for no apparent reason, which is the norm…he does appear to stay notch longer when Jenn is here…He was our “caretaker” this winter and finally delivered us a bill for all of a hundred bucks for his weekly efforts to keep us safe and sound. I think the payment was probably more for spending hours on hoards standing in our kitchen while he grumbles about local news.

We arrived to find a Mallard duck residing in our Pond, which is probably desirable due to the rich variety of nutrients contained in all the sum (see picture) and we appear to have a robin and her family of unhatched ones living in the garden. We’re waiting for the trees to fill in so we don’t have to listen to noise form route 103 and the crazy neighbors’ carry all-night howling dogs, up the hill on Bowlsville rd.

All in all, a good return and feeling warm and fuzzy back in the mountain life. So, until next time……(fill in)

Holy cow- the sun just came out….got to go…..

Love and Peace to all (Feel the Bern!)

 

Stu

 

 

Greetings Friends, Family and others:

So, we have come to the end of the line…Stick Season is upon us, the leaves are gone and winter has set in here in the Greens. Two week ago we hit highs of low 40s and lows in low 20s. Last week, we had a reprieve with a soaring sixties- like few days but now back to early winter…gray limbs blowing in the breeze. So, it appears to be time for us to regrettably head for the heartland which we will do this Thursday. Naturally, we are frantic and overwhelmed, but thought one more blog post was in order, so this is it…the au revoir to Bernie and all things good and green for the time being. We prepare to leave with a heavy heart…and a lot of shit. Daunting re-entry tasks await. So… this will be the last post for a while…unless I think people would like to get posts from the heartland ruminating about far away life in the mountains…I doubt it, but we will see.

This is going to be a return-to Zen post, as time is short and I have had some lamenting from some of my readership (you know who you are) about posts being to lengthy…so back to the basics:

Solar Farmers- we are you know! Had our grand celebration of the first year of solar farming at our own little solar farm array. We had ribbon cutting, the appearance of the only black man in Rutland county , donuts and a drone…really-see the pictures. We did not pay a single dollar to the electric company in 2015 until this month, so I guess this sun shit actually works.

The last supper- we crammed fifteen friends and enemies, and one famous brownie-baking teen ager- all of whom we more or less like- into house for one last pot luck. We had the Jewish pig farmer, the Yid fish monger, the shop girl’s boss, the trailer park massage therapist…it was a who’s-who of mountain living… and a great meal (love the kosher – pig stuff)

House of horrors- is sealed up for the winter with our post Norman Rockwell young uns’ ensconced in the apartment. Welcomed them to the house, collected some money, put some holy water on the house itself to maybe draw a potential Catholic or Republican buyer and then went to dinner with Shaky Dave (our prodigal neighbor who has returned form the wilds unknown) at the truck stop. David delivered a fine monologue on the virtues of chauvinism…not bad and mean chauvinism, but noble and kind chauvinism (his words). Of course, he was carrying weapons so we listened politely and made good eye contact.

Traveling life- as you know, travel from here is somewhat of a challenge…it’s hard to get out of the mountains. I made consecutive week trips to Richmond and New Orleans. I secretly broke my allegiance to Southwest air to fly to Richmond on the heathen competitors, which took me four hours instead of 11 (on beloved Southwest I fly to Orlando to commune with the Mickey-heads in order to get to Richmond)…but not as much fun. Have you ever thought about the business acumen of travel loyalty programs. I often fly three times as long to stay on my beloved Southwest where I have many perks. After this recent “third of the time” experience, I thought “no mas”…but then my beloved Southwest sent me my lifetime membership in “TSA pre-screen” and I am again hooked. It’s like dating a really bad for you, but irresistible lover. Did also get to go down to N’Awlins for few days of work, food, and music. I met my friend Rachel for a drink late one night at the Bywater area, which MapQuest said was about a mile from the Quarter , but turned out to be closer to five, walking through dark warehouse neighborhoods which apparently only really crazy people and criminals generally walk through. It was pretty entertaining until I got to the dark and foreboding part, first passing a group of naked Halloween partiers and then a group of transvestite partiers…all of which were far preferable to the dark hooded gang-looking members I came upon just at Rachel showed up cruising in search of me to take me to the gentrified part at the other end. Good exercise I might add.

Machines and Halloween- in the mountains, we take care of our own equipment…so on a nice day, I went out to clean up, winterize and store all our yard machinery, which resulted in a slight hernia, many bruised knuckles, a hoarse voice from cursing and several jump starts from the car battery…the joys of country living…but all is now put away for the winter. So, then Jenn set out for the annual Halloween party at the Library in Belmont in her leather array, while I retreated to the couch to watch the Mets get whipped and lick my wounds. Her last words were I’ll be back in a couple of hours, from which she showed up at 1 a.m. with quite a buzz on. Apparently, the party was quite the fun.

Celebrity sightings- even in the mountains, we get our fair share of paparazzi-have I mentioned that the “most interesting man in the world” lives in nearby Chester? (he’s actually a 75 year old retired Jewish actor- hopefully that does not spoil the image for you). So Friday , we went to the hamlet of Saxton’s River to see Jimmie Dale Gilmore and his some Colin in this very cool little local art center. About 50 people in all, with great acoustics…very intimate. Jimmie Dale is a national treasure- one of the original alt-country boys from Austin and did not disappoint with a great show of his musical influences and his long rambling stoned, Zen-mystic, Texas faux cowboy rants and rambles. Each song is mixed in with half hour reveries that go in circles. He says “digression is my profession” which is no lie. Then, yesterday we went down to Cavendish to the library to hear Archer Mayor read from his latest (26th in the series ) Joe Gunther novel. Turned out to be three Vermont authors reading and Archer was last. We sat through the first who read excerpts from is futuristic fantasy novels (ugghh) and then I went out and took a nap in the back of the car for the second reading until Archer and his wide, Margot, showed up. Archer is a master storyteller and had the audience ins stitches. We then reconvened at a local coffee house to catch up. We used to see Archer every fall on our annual forays to the mountains, but had not seen him since we settled here, so it was good to meet his new wife and catch up on years of stories. We’re hoping to lure him to our house next spring, despite his obvious anti-social nature…he likes Jenn though and still refers to us in public as his favorite stalkers. .

So, here we go. The bedding and laundry baskets are all stored for the winter, the fake cameras and security signs are up and ready to go, the plants have been moved to assisted living and we are busy having many last hurrahs with our friends. By the way, the POND is looking very full and really good….for now. So, until the leaves return to the trees and we once again become ex-flatlanders, be well and stay in touch.

Love to most,

Stu

Greetings fellow travelers- from the Snow-Belt:

“Why Should it Cost Ya”?   Phil Unetic and Maux McCormick

Nu (So)? We’ve seemed to come to the end of the spectacular fall foliage season in the mountains and have begun a rapid descent towards winter. Last Saturday, we were at the Townshend Pumpkin Fest in the afternoon, and it was a gorgeous day. We left around 2 to drive home ….52 degrees, sunny, blue skies, brilliant colored leaves…and got home 40 minutes later where it was 35 and snowing (two inches). A little early, no?
We have pretty much ended our lodging season with a number of guests for fall foliage. After the great Danes, we had two woman form Germany and California…elite softball playing pen pals who travel together once a year. They had been traveling for three weeks together and may have turned the corner on their time together…so came here for four days. They were a lot of fun, but stayed up very late watching the baseball playoffs. So, we went them down to Cooperstown when they left here, to feed the jones. As soon as they left, we went from international chic to Midwestern kitsch with couple from Kansas who showed up at the door, with him yelling “is this the place that advertised free beer?” They claimed to be official members of the NRA (Never refuse anything). They also stopped on way here at the Ocean State Job Lot (think Big Lots) to buy and bring their own pillows to our house. …….This was quite the adjustment for us.
We did get out in between for a brilliant fall sunshine drive. The colors were at absolute peak and shimmering in the mid-day sun. We stopped at a recently plowed corn field to run around yanking up corn stalks for our front door decoration (see the featured photo) – in between hiding from cars going by (this was a desolate road, where the hell were they going?). On the way back we stopped at Sal’s Italian joint in Wallingford to sit on the sun drenched patio and have some pizza, while Lucy sang love songs to the little pup ignoring her across the road. Wallingford has the last traffic light you can find before you head up the mountain to our house. Usually, you get one car every three or four light changes-…but fall foliage…we watched them backed up on Route 7 for a mile or so, while no doubt thinking how charming Vermont life is. I told Jen we should carry some maps and planned routes printed out with us to sell for five bucks a hit to the beleaguered leaf peepers.
This past weekend we had our last friends for the season, when Phil et Maux came up from Jersey. We had a great couple of days with vast rambling conversations touching on estrogen deprivation, various penal issues, the true meaning of the word ersatz, and our uncle Bernie. Entertaining, to say the least. Maux is recovering from shoulder surgery, so was limited in exercise to lifting variously filled glasses and knitting…but we schlepped them around any way hitting the “early bear” dinner at our beloved Sams, doing the Vermont Classic Charming Village tour (a must when you come, and we give a great discount… plus all the dirt roads you can handle and and unlimited ponds and stone walls). We took them up in the woods to see Maya, the legendary potter with the kiln bigger than several of our bedrooms. Luckily it is warm in her studio, because it hit a low of 18 that night. We once again decided to name our bed and breakfast The Inn at Scum Pond, if we can find someone to make up that sign. These people never stop laughing, nu? Phil joined the ranks of my band mates to come to play at folk club on Monday nights. I had to keep him reeled in as his fingers clearly wanted to move rapidly out of the folk vein into some bluegrass or such. All my band mates have been very well received by the music group, and add much needed jolt to the proceedings.
By the way, since Maux was here, Jenn has now taken up knitting in earnest in between house remodeling projects and planning more remodeling projects, winter gardening, buying up bedding and laundry baskets, organic farming, shop girling a b-and-b hosting.
We made another trip this week down to the Bronx to see how people live on another planet….and to visit my old fiend Bob who is still imprisoned at a place very generously called a “rehab center”. We are trying to battle with the enormous NYC bureaucracy to get him some advocacy and a decent place to live. This has been an important reunification for me and will miss seeing him once we return to the heartland. See the photo of him and I cavorting on the institutional patio. From the “home”, we found a shockingly hold- over Italian neighborhood in the Bronx for some mojo pizza eating and people watching, and a sneak trip to the bakery for cannoli’s. What a bustling place and way of life …more people on one city street than we see in a month in the mountains……..but less moose, ponds, stone walls and woodchucks. From the city we headed north in the manic traffic (have you ever drove the Taconic at rush hour) to visit Joel and Sherry up at their manse at pretty High Falls. Had a good overnight visit. My cousin Sherry, who is my oldest living family (take that, girl) has determined that she is my “Jewish alter-ego”…which I clearly need to make amends for my many lapses and to avoid purgatory, even if most Jews don’t think it exists.
We also made one more (maybe not the last) trip up to the house of horrors, where to our own amazement, we have managed to re-rent the apartment (you didn’t really think I was going to say we had sold the house, did you?). We found this uber-cute young couple on Craig’s List, who are SOOO excited to have their first apartment. They are 20 but look 15 and resemble post Norman Rockwell Vermont counter culture poster children. Of course, we want to adopt them and make them our newest refugee children. It is good to have someone there and we managed to get heat on before the pipes froze (in mid-October mind you).
So we are home approaching the home stretch with but three weeks before we make the trek back to the heartland….oh, it’s gonna be flat. I will be traveling much of next two weeks in between getting house closed up and vast arrangements made, but will get in one more post before retiring the mountains for winter.
Love to the masses, Estuardo

 

Happy Autumn to all:

“The TRUTH has few moving parts” Joshu Sasaki Roshi

Autumn is in full glory here in the mountains and has produced an extra busy few weeks with a variety of B&B leaf peeper guests, several fall outing trips for us, community suppers, festivals and long hikes with the Lucy. Our international roll of guests continues with lodgers from Denmark and Germany ..I think we have now hit all the EU countries and practicing our own form of détente. Our favorites have been the family of six very large Danish people (the Great Danes) who took over the house for three nights. They were all surgeons and such and a very warm and fun family…occupying every inch of bed and floor space we have. They all banged their heads regularly coming down the stairs and ate massive amounts of breakfasts- we had to go to the store daily to replenish the morning loaf of bread consumed. Did I mention they all had blond hair and blue eyes? The prep for their coming was interesting as we had to go find air mattresses to accommodate all the big children (20 somethings all). I went out to get the air inflator from the garage, but Jenn had decided to blow them up by mouth…so I came back to find her passed out with an air nozzle in her mouth on the floor next to the Singer sewing machine in our small bedroom. It is good to have an inflator. When not passing out from inflating, Jenn has been busy gobbling up every laundry basket in the tristate area from garage sales , flea markets, thrift stores and peoples’ unattended basements….this has now semi-replaced bedding as her newest passion. Our house is filled with laundry baskets, which the cats adore.

We have been out watching the leaves do their thing for the last three weeks: making trips up to the Islands (Champlain, not Jamaica), the White Mountains (not the Greens…we have to cross the border surreptitiously at night to go over to the hated New Hampshire for the Whites) and all around Central Vermont. The fall colors have been late, but brilliant. I hate to say it but the Live Free or Die (what kind of motto is that for children) state leaf colors have surpassed our own beloved red maples this year. We came upon the Saint Gaudens National Historic site over in the LFOD state. What a find….an artist colony of Cornish folks in the 19th century with lots of Game Hens, amazing grounds, gardens, manses, and studios. It was just us and four hundred blue hairs on very large busses. Luckily, we were able to outpace them and stay ahead of the pack, though Lucy saw some major treat getting opps there. We then headed up to do the White mountain circuit doing the infamous Kankamancus Highway- a scenic loop around and through the majestic Whites…who knew the mountains were so much bigger there. Got in a series of short hikes….one of which led us to some sort of bear trapping cage deep in the woods and the remains of a Moose carcass. We brought home a giant moose femur bone for decoration, but Lucy is slowly reducing it to rubble with no appreciation of the archeological significance.

Our annual trip to the Islands was primo laid back, as usual. Kind of rainy but nice drive round weather with almost no one in sight, and our annual cottage right on the shore of the great lake. We headed over to the Adirondacks to follow the sun one day and wound up back in Plattsburg, NY….a truly remote outpost with great ethnic dining (go figure) where we went back to our favorite Himalayan restaurant. I guess remote NY state has some similarities for the Sherpas. We also have done some nice hikes in our Central Vermont region discovering the Sand Hill trail in N. Springfield and the Healdsville trail- practically in our back yard, which eventually leads to the top of Okemo Ski Area…we gave up halfway and went to have Maple Creamees (the best we have yet found in Vermont).

In between pleasure trips, we jetted up to the house of horrors to reboot the ‘apartment upon Spencer’s leaving, but he truly had done an amazing job and somehow managed to remove the most extraordinary pile of stuff (ok- really it was shit, but this a family blog) out of the garages and barn. He really left it “broom clean”, bless his heart. We have had a series of absolute morons we have dealt with trying to rent out the apartment- a bunch of no shows (one at lease signing!) and several who have sent us dirty e-mails…have I mentioned how much I hate being a landlord….and what a deal we will give you on this magnificent property in the fabled northeast kingdom of Vermont? We wound up in Groton very late that night (painting, caulking)and came back to find all the Great Danes having entertained themselves, cleaned up , answered our phone for us and gone to bed. I tried to get them to come to Groton with us…thought they could use a 4500 square foot vacation home in the states. I thought I might have Dad interested after the fourth time he hit his head coming down the stairs that morning.

We had the opening reception for the Mt. Holly photo contest last weekend and I was disturbed to find my entry badly placed on a very dark wall. I wanted to switch it with one I did not like but Jenn said I couldn’t (I hate having a conscience) speaking of which: is it appropriate to vote for your ow photo entry? And if so, how many times?

Last week we did a belated trip for Jenn’s birthday to see the Arlo Guthrie 50th anniversary Alice’s’ Restaurant tour at the magnificent restored Paramount Theater in Rutland. Great show….Arlo is a one of kind story teller and brought alone 50 years of home movies and a myriad of stories about his father (Woody), Pete Seeger, Ramblin’ Jack and many great American bluesman. His offspring Sara Lee (really) and Abe play with him and are quite the menschs in their own right.

So- it’s Columbus Day weekend here… a holy day in the northeast, somehow associated with Jesus’ rebirth, though I’m not clear how…so the population of Vermont has gone form 400,00 to 12 million… we are laying low. We have our annual Cider Daze festival in our home town of Belmont which has been named to the state’s top ten fall attractions (bringing in an additional 10,000 people) and I got to play a set there yesterday morning. It was 39 degrees and my fingers froze to the mandolin, but otherwise went well. Last night we volunteered to serve at the annual roast beef dinner fundraiser at the Odd Fellows hall (look it up) and Jenn worked in the kitchen with an eastern European schmatta over her head(see the pix)

So- it’s been a busy and very fun time in the mountains and it’s now time to go find some red maples and some laundry baskets.

Sorry about so many photos this week- but , well, I really have no excuse…

Be well, eat maple syrup , drink cider, have fun. Love to most of you.

Stu

Good Autumn Sunday to all:

Well, it’s been a busy few weeks (and month) here in the mountains. We had a month full of friends and family visiting interspersed with a number of Airbnb guests….keeping us hopping. While we were running around changing bedding and making our day trip itineraries, autumn began descending in full regalia. Heavy early September rains ( much needed) have turned into brilliant sunshine filled days and very cool nights…the Vermont standard for this time of year. Jenn, the shop girl, has been plying her trade more frequently at the “Treasures” shop and Stu has been busy trying to create an entry to win the annual Mt. Holly photo contest (see the featured photo for this weeks’ blog).

After Steve and Sue left, we immediately hosted another contingent from the Bunty Station boys, with Mitch and Cindy’s arrival for a two night stay. Mitch got to go to Monday night folk club and fit right in. We decided to perform the Bill Monroe classic, “Wicked Path of Sin”, with the group… which was a real stretch , since it’s a true four part harmony, call and response number. But, in a quirky gift from the tower of song, we had two other visiting guests at the folk club that night and this couple had total mastery of the remaining two parts…turning us into a 1940s hillbilly ensemble with lead bass singing….it was A moment.. The following day we set out for a classic central Vermont tour, heading up Brandon and Middlebury way for a day of Italian feast picnicking, a trip up the amazing Bread Loaf ski area and then over the Middlebury Pass, a walk on the eccentric Native Spirit hiking Trail (sayings from Dr. King, Moses and Jerry Springer posted on trees along the trail) and back down magnificent route 100 with a stop at our favorite Maple Creamee place (when you come we will build one for you). By the time we left, we swore no more visitors (even though we loved all our visits) until spring…but then more Airbnb guests arrived. So, back to changing bedding, sweeping floors, making scones and creating trip – tiks for people.

The guest register has continued to be a quite interesting phenomenon, with recent guests including a couple from Harlem, who arrived in the middle of the night, spent two days running the Spartan races at nearby Killington, and left like pleasant ghosts in the night. Then we have had a young couple from Italy, seeking the full power of foliage season…so that has resulted in us flexing our 251 club muscles to try and create the perfect itinerary days for them…even in running the guest house we have performance anxiety (and trying to keep our string of five star reviews intact). Next up , we have a family of five (yes, count
‘em…five) coming from Denmark (probably, not directly) for next weekend…so I guess we will be moving out to the barn for three nights, which makes me grateful for all that extra bedding we have been purchasing. Before that, though, we are heading up on our own first fall outing, with our annual trip up to the Champlain Islands for three days this early week. This is always an interesting adventure, as we don’t make any reservations any more for our fall outings, and with Lucy, that becomes even more of challenge, but it always work out…and if push comes to shove, we have blankets and roof rack to sleep away from the moose.

We celebrated Jenn’s birthday last week with a dinner at the Inn at Weathersfield, a romantic getaway we had stayed at years ago during our fall adventure trips. Hard to find, tucked away with quaint Vermont Inn type dining area, it was beautiful dinner, until a group of loud drunken golfers showed up and started telling everyone about their successful investments….we prefer the local woodchuck mafia types here in Vermont. Jen worked at the shop, selling people boutiques last weekend for four straight days, so Lucy and I wandered around chasing leaves of various colors, which included a day at the Chester Fall festival. Chester does it in mid- September to beat everyone else’s’ gig, and it does not hurt that the village was voted one of the loveliest in New England (go ahead- ask me who voted). The place was packed with noshing, buying, picture taking flatlanders on a perfect 75 degree fall day. Needless to say, Lucy had many admirers, both canine and upright.

After three weeks of looking the other way, it was clearly time to get THE POND cleaned up. Still scum- less, but filled with pond weeds, I had my young helper, Seamus, come over (as we like to say, Marcus he is not, but a good kid nonetheless), and I actually set he and Lucy to the job…but after an hour, felt compelled to dust off my strainer and join them. Two men and a dog playing bumper-kayak in our little pond. But, see the pictures…we have had to beat away the local munchkins now wanting to swim in it’s purity.

This past week, we made an overnight trip down to the Bronx. My childhood friend, Bob, who was my first mentor in life, is confined to a city run nursing home there and thanks to the endearing HIPPA laws, we cannot find out anything about what is going on. So, we loaded up Lucy on a fine fall day and headed down the Taconic Parkway. Being a totally lapsed Jew, I did not realize it was the eve of Yom Kippur, which resulted in a frenzy of escaping Jews from the Bronx….all trying to get home to a massive meal before thy ostensibly begin a day long fast (my experience of that is it is a periodic fast with surreptitious trips to the local deli in between prayers) We had a moving and pretty upsetting visit with Bob- the place is classic example of what none of us wants to have happen in our old age. But, we came away with a plan to try and get involved with his appointed guardian to try and find him a better place to live. When we left we blitzed into crosstown traffic to find the place the Jews still roam (Riverdale) and a remaining archetypal traditional Jewish Deli. We got there 20 minutes before they closed to go to Schul (though I was suspect, since the only people left to work there were Puerto Rican), had a great nosh and hit the road with pounds of heart stooping smoked meats. We took a detour on way home to stay with my cousins Sherry and Joel, up around Woodstock, where we actually benched licht (lit candles –refer to your Jew dictionary) and spent a pleasant night and morning with them before heading back to the safety of the mountains. Did I mention it was Yom Kippur?… but luckily they were not too committed to not feed us a little something for dinner… thus we did not have to sneak out after they went to bed, as it would be a long way to find a deli. On the way home, we took a long meandering drive along the Hudson river and went through the quaint and clearly progressive little town of Catskill NY, which is apparently so open minded it has a bowling alley called the “Hoe- Bowl”…we should consider moving there..

So…back at the mountain paradise and getting ready to head out for another day of wandering, hiking and stooping to have people ooh and aah over Lucy. Hope your day is a good one!

Be well to all my loved and semi-loved ones.

Estuardo (Stu in Yiddish)

“There is nothing useless in nature, not even uselessness itself.”….Montaigne

Happy post Labor Day to all:

Almost there- I have finally been able to enter and edit all the archival blogs and reviews on the website- so look for an e-mail soon with the link info. Once the web-site is up, you will get an e-mail letting you know there is new entry (from the webmaster instead of from me) which will let you click on a link to open and view the latest entry , and have access to all the archives.. Think (hope) you will like this. Google ads can’t be far behind- once the site goes viral!

So am going to start with this one trying to return to Zen roots and make these Rambles a bit less rambling and more haiku like…..we’ll see how that goes…..

When Stu leaves…………..Jenn does projects. Went down to N’Awlins for three days week before last for a little work and Cajun cookin’. Hot, muggy and fun. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Jenn strips the wallpaper in my bathroom (I really do have my own bathroom) and paints it. This apparently required a lot of removal of various objects and a lot of caulking to put them back. Which led to Stu’s return to a beautifully painted and not quite caulked bathroom, which meant, with company coming, having to use Jen’s shower until this all got filled and dried….so Stu went on a shower strike…which led Jen to go out and buy more bedding…life is a circle.

Our good friends , Steve and Sue, came for a week’s visit, with Lucy’s good finds, Rosie and Maggie. Maggie is pretty old and spends most of her time laying around blocking various doorways, but Rosie is a quasi- identical twin for Lucy…and that leads to day long wrestling matches of one big ball of black fur flying by everywhere you go….see Lu-Roseie run….. We had a great visit with lots of music, walks, kayaking, dinners and Vermont drives. We went to Springfield to check out the Jewish fish mongers’ inaugural public set with his Beatles band – the Fabs.. a beautiful early fall day and they were pretty good for first time out. Then to Weston where we decided to show them the Priori (we are still trying to find the DaVinci code). We always leave the Priori the back way down a dirt road which comes out close to Weston. Seems like a short way. So- we parked at the Weston end and derided it would be a nice walk back up to the Priori….well, it’s one of those “longer than it seems” walks, so an hour and a half later we strolled into the mystic…the dogs thought his was really great fun.

On Sunday last, we had a day of music, spending the afternoon at Plymouth Rock and the Calvin Coolidge birthplace, for a folk and blues fest. A perfect early fall Vermont setting- good music, great views, maple Cremees. That night we went into our little hamlet of Belmont to the town library for the annual Jazz Cabaret, which featured a local couple doing Billie Holiday influenced string bass and vocals…shockingly impressive, and as a bonus, Steve sat next to the stacks, and found a Calvin Coolidge book to read while humming along….providing a synergy to the day’s events.

Steve and I got to do a kayak at Lake Nineveh and several morning walks up our own neighborly hills. One of the cool things about Vermont, is you can more or less take a walk anywhere and find a nice view to boot. Only downside is the prevalence of boundary-less New Jersey woman prowling around in their Bimmers, who tend to stop and swoon over the dogs (“oh god what are they?”) and tell you their life stories… but, ok, New Jerseyites are more or less people too…right? We also went over to Hubbardton/Mt. Zion to make the requisite hike to Moot Point- best view in Vermont you can get with only a 20 minute hike

We took our friends on the mandatory (do you see a theme here? Imprisoned by all the places we MUST take people who visit…Jenn is so driven by this, you see…) trip to see the house of horrors, which included nice stops in Montpelier to search for Bernie (no sightings) and to Barre for our semi- annual trip to the amazing Hope cemetery (if they build it, we will come). The house of horrors has taken another cruel twist, with our apartment renter, Spencer, giving us notice and moving out end of month. So, now we have to decide how to maintain the property and whether to shut it down or not. When we went to take a look to tell him what needed to be done to move out, he had locked us out and no-showed to meet us there. Looking forward to another highlight- of –a- landlord month. Will anyone out there take this place if I pay them and become their indentured servant for ten years and give them Max?

The weeks’ high-brow and low-brow highlights also included a trip to the Weston Playhouse for the last show of the season- The Glass Menagerie- do you think Tennessee Williams suffered from depression? – and a stop on way home form Groton to the legendary Whippi- Dip Snack bar in Fairlee. We love going to snack bars because: a-they have outdoor seating for Lucy, b-they are cheap, and c- early bird is not required…and wow, they are not what they seem The Whippi –Dip is really the bull goose of snack bars with fresh fish daily and homemade bar-b-que, taken in the owner’s secret garden out back…can you say “another roadside attraction”? We finished up the visit with a grand tour of the QUAINT…Weston (the Vermont county store for kitsch), Chester (the home of THE most interesting man in the world) and Grafton (can you say so quaint that Bing Crosby may have been here for White Christmas). Along the way, I took the dogs out for a constitutional at the wonderful Green in Weston, where I came to the conclusion that Rosie is a transgender dog (is this possible?- this would be accepted in Vt., you know)- she lifted her leg and peed on every tree on the Green (she has vagina, mind you!)

So , Steve and Sue left Friday morning and on Saturday, we went back in search of additional and upgraded bedding and did our usual chores. We went to Wal-Mart to get flu shots and took Lucy with us. We got our shots but they would not give Lucy one…apparently her insurance does not cover it at the Mart…see photos…can you take dog to Wal-Mart?,,,..not sure, but we did anyway…and she loved it. We also found another snack bar to try outside Rutland…I think, in some ways, you can reduce the Vermont experience to Farmer’s Markets, snack bars and bedding…….

So- in addition to everything bad about the hose of horrors (Groton) and Sawmill Parkway (Delaware) we now have learned that the state will be closing the bridge to get to our house for possibly a year- which means we will have to go up and over the mountain to get in and out….stop, your’ torturing us (Yiddish, whiney accent for this)

So that’s; it…not quite haiku I don’t think, but will do better next time.

Until then, may all your leaves turn bright red….enjoy the birth of autumn…

Estuardo

Greetings friends and family:

Scribing from 10,000 feet on way to N’awlins for a few days on secret assignment….a relatively short trip from Vermont (the place where no planes seem to fly to)- will only be about 8 hours travel time as I took a shot at a night flight with very short layover and made all the connections…must be living the life. But, actually it’s Trench Girl who has taken on the “I love my life” mantra (which is usually accompanied by asking me if I am happy…..which then leads to a discussion of 2000 years of Jewish struggle and despair….which hopefully might someday result in no longer being asked that question)…..but back to Trench Girl- who is not only the Queen of home repair, but the proprietress of our thriving Airbnb, and an aspiring organic farmer and yoga master as well as a recently employed shop girl…so I guess you might see where this is life to be easily loved…..

We have now finished our foundation project and put back the shrubbery…looks pretty damn good for do it your-selfers. Plus we have had a run of warranty work….have I mentioned how much I adore my garage door opener…my first ever (don’t remember ever seeing one in the Bronx?). With that and leak repairs by the Roto- Rooter man- we are almost caught up with the needs of our 175 year old house. For a while we have been suffering from REALLY bad water pressure (like having to catch drops as they fall out in the upstairs (read=my) bathroom- to fill a glass to brush teeth). The Roto guy said we needed a new pressure tank, or we could blow our well pump, and said tank would be a 1000 cool ones…ughh…our lives have become driven by water…So-I called our usual plumber (non-warranty) and Bill the Grumpy Plumber, said “nah, check the damn filter system”. So I did…and it was filthy, and I cleaned it out and changed the filter…and, lo, the water gushed forth like the Red Sea (you know biblical, but the red is really more a metaphor). In Vermont, we learn to really appreciate mono-syllabic, grumpy plumbers.

So- after all that- Jenn’ sister Jane came to pay us a visit- to celebrate both their September birthdays. Janes’ flight was due to Manchester (NH- a nifty 2 ½ hour drive for us) at 9:30..but as luck would have it, we enjoyed the fruits of minor Hurricane Danny…and Jane was re-routed through Chicago (never go west to get east) for a 1 a.m. arrival. We took Lucy and headed for the Diner ,and hung till they threw us out and then waited curbside (one a.m., the TSA take pity and let you sit there). Once Jane arrived and we had our hugs, we got in the car to find all our sitting with doors open for Lucy, had led to non- battery delight…and everyone gone. Luckily, the airport kindly keeps someone on site for the yokels who run it dead. We got home at 4..…a jump start to our visit.

So- the highlights of our visit with Sister Jane:
• We visited Jenn’s’ organic farm where Lucy got to frolic with the piglets and we came home with a bumper crop of organic melons
• We made the required visit to Ramunto’s- to get Jane the best slices of pizza outside of lower Manhattan
• Jane got to attend the last Belmont Music on the Green of the season- which featured the musical stylings of yours truly along with Belmont Mountain Boys (the local folk club, really)
• We took Jane to lake Nineveh for her first kayak experience ever (see Jane row)- to go with Lucy’s first real swimming experience- she swam most of the lake (see the wet dog pix)
• We had the Friday evening mountain immersion experience, with a trip to the Ludlow Farmers’ Market, the early bird specials at our beloved Sam’s Steakhouse (when you come, you too will be treated to the famous early bird!) and then Friday night music at the Okemo Resort
• Jane read and napped a lot and looked at the stars and mini harvest moon

So- after a day of doodling down to NH by the back roads we put Jane on a flight Saturday evening and came back to the homestead, where we resumed water blockage duty on Sunday. After Jane left , we had some last minute Airbnb guests on Saturday night – a very nice Chinese couple from Burlington, whose names I could not quite remember- so invented some for them…Max rolled his eyes over the phone when I told him this, and cautioned me to use my plurals (i.e.- two hot teas, not two hot tea…you may have had to be at Sunday night dinners at the Ming Flower to appreciate this nuance). BTW- Max is drifting around the Central California Coast in probable search of the perfect wave-check out the picture of him in the gallery. The family is currently in planning for December trip to Hawaii- so we are warming to full battle mode in preparation….which may have sent Max scurrying….but enough of that.

So- relatively short and sweet in advance of the Labor Day holiday and the official end of summer. Steve and Sue will be arriving this Friday for a week and then we will hit foliage season full stride, with lots of Airbnb guests and our own hunt for red October. I’ll keep you posted…soon to be on the website-you might remember…
Love and kisses to most everybody, Stu and his multiples……..

Greetings and salutations:

(Spoiler alert…..Max and I are in the process of turning these “Rambles” into a real life blog. Have been loading in the archives…all the past blog entries are in and now working on Stu’s Reviews, for those of you who receive that, so in not too distant future, will join the 20th century –not 21st mind you- and you will get to read these on line. More info to come…kind of cool though)

Mid- August…the leaves are changing, the mornings are chilly, the light is turning to autumn….and we are back ensconced in our beloved Greens after our mid summer trek back to the heartland. It’s been a very busy few weeks with visitors, end of sickness and lots of work on the homestead.

Have I told you about contractors in Vermont? It’s kind of like Jamaica, running in different time. About three weeks ago, the Barn painters showed up…two months after our scheduled time. Wow….four hours in and out…and we have a newly painted horse barn. They are from Alabama which may explain the time thing, but they did an amazing job, whirling around like dervishes to scrape, spray and fix wood. In the end, we now have bright red New England barn. Barn fixing begat water leak fixing, so that meant our local guy, who shows up unpredictably unannounced some mornings and gets to work . We now have the sun room with new flooring and under supports and the roof sealed up…which led to…… the Foundation issues. One of those “dig it out and patch it up” sort of things. Except when we dug it out on a 90 degree day last Monday (12 feet long, four feet wide, five feet deep), we found a gaping hole between the foundation and the original field stone foundation…the size you could crawl into and spend the night. So, Stu picked up and left for the week and Jenn took it on. The contractor turned out to be more of a supervisor than a worker, so Jenn got a mason out here to block it up, then (on her own, stubbornly refusing to call anyone for help) she got stone delivered, put it in, laid pipe, more stone and then sealed it up and filled it in. Stu showed back up from Richmond, VA. in time to fill it in and help grade it. And did I mention, we hit massive rock everywhere we/she dug? Jenn will be on the cover of this months’ “Woman dig Holes” issue (#666) and you can see the cover photo in our attached gallery. The local men all think this woman must be the catch of the year….I mean, what’s not to like, right?

So- now we are hopefully water tight and will not sink…..at least until the next seepage. 160 year old houses do present some conundrums….

We had our good friends Jane and Jeff here for five days, and did the total local Vermont thing. A show at Weston (The Road to Where), two straight days of kayaking at Lake Lowell (our newest most favorite) and Lake Nineveh, a hike over at the hidden -trail man in Hubbardton up to the majestic Moot Point (really) (best view in Vermont for only a half hour hike), Music on the Green in Belmont and some great dining. It was a really nice visit defined by Lucy swimming a half mile back to shore after Jen dumped her in the lake, magnificent star watching, and an ongoing debate on the wisdom of calling woman “handsome” (the lead woman in the play, a seventyish ball of energy was by my account a “handsome woman”- which sent shivers through Jane and Jenn’s cerebrum.) The defining moment of our visit occurred at the music on the green in discussing whether to make a rather long trip over to Maine to lap seawater….debating the merits of going, Jeff stated he really did not need to make that trip since “You are my ocean”…got to put that one on a scroll on the wall, no?

So as I said, I made a side trip this week down to lovely Richmond, Virginia to help save the children. Richmond in mid-August…kind of like the “smell of napalm in the morning” (check your movie trivia)…hot and steamy with a hotel full of Chinese expats. But, you’d never guess, that Richmond turns out to be a food mecca (really, no shit!) and my wandering produced some memorable Italian and Cuban meals . It did take me 12 hours to get back to the mountains on Friday starting with a cab drive to the airport from hell…had to wake up the driver sleeping in in his cab at 6 a.m., and he then he proceeded to drive the wrong way down Richmond’s busiest thoroughfare and go through three red lights at full speed…starting the trip off really well. Then, in the great tradition of trying to fly back to Vermont, I took flight number one from Virginia down to Orlando to get a flight back to the mountains. Orlando, always a lively stop, happened to be besieged by last minute, before school starts, Disney aficionados, so flew back between two people wearing Mickey ears…oh to be home again…

One interesting thing in our adopted state is the prevalence of old deserted mansions. Our favorite is the magnificent Clarendon house in tiny Clarendon Springs, a massive example of country shtick opulence that we have been watching be resurrected for the last 15 years. We drove over last Sunday for a picnic on the porch and stroll through the ruins. We love these places and wonder why were they there? That’s your assignment for this week.

Last night, we made a pilgrimage with a group of friends to see the Poets of Fish over at Fair Haven, where we not only enjoyed the great Prudential dinner (early bird) but got to share the room with a wedding…fun was had by all. Today we head up to see if the house of horrors is still standing and see if we can flag someone down who might be driving by, that we can turn the deed over to.

Good news for the week: Stu had a follow up Western Blot blood test (this is fancy stuff- goes to the Mayo Clinic) and has “converted” (no, still a lapsed Jew)-which means an indication that I “had” Lyme disease rather than “have” it….good riddance.

Well, miles to go and mountains to climb…got to get Jenn out of the ditch and head up to Groton…so until we meet again….

Love and kisses from the Lyme man and the Trench girl,

Stu/Da/Cuz/Ferlin/Uncle

Greetings from the Greens:

Well- it’s been an eventful three weeks since my last missive- filled with Ticks, hot and steamy trips to the heartland and red leaves showing up in early August. But. ..I get ahead of myself. When last penning the chronicles- I was off to the dinner party with pond-induced rash in hand. Well, it got worse and worse, and after having a fever shoot up to over 102 that Sunday night, and feeling like death warmed over- we set out to find medical care. So…..we are in the mountains and don’t know from shit about where to go, which eventually led to an hour and a quarter drive and delightful 5 hour stay in the Dartmouth ER. Long story short, I apparently had a lost battle with a tick and wound up with Lyme Disease. By all counts , it is acute rather than chronic- which hopefully means my 20 days of gut killing anti-biotics will do the trick. Follow up in progress- but mostly better.

So- after that crisis- we had the Belgians show up the next day for two nights (see the pix)- who were absolutely wonderful with two teen age boys who were working on their English –which led to requests for “we-fee” (internet access) and turning up the bass (rhymes with pass, like the fish ) on the stereo. We have continued to have a great run with our Airbnb guests- all of them being incredibly pleasant, considerate and fun- with the possible expectation of the woman from the Bronx who got out of the car complaining (hmm-must be hereditary). We had our most recent guests very impromptu last night a very nice uber-nerd couple form UMASS who may have done a bit too much acid in the day and walked around staring at trees for 36 hours.

We spent about ten days journeying back to the heartland for a whirlwind visit, which included a plethora of dog play for Lucy with all her cousins, a manic two day trip to Toledo for work (the Subaru went down- so I drove the ancient Jeep- and got stuck on the magnificent I-75 for an hour in bumper to bumper with no AC), a Jenn visit to Cleveland to Ry and Lauren’s new house warming party, several Lyme related doctor visits, and a number of social outings..…all in the context of 90 degree-90 percent humidity weather with no air conditioning and house shut up for months…delightful…..AND…. no internet, cable or cell service at the house, which led to the hunt, for entertainment, (Trainwreck movie with Tess), phone service (find a spot in yard and sit real still) and internet (driving around to find a free pirated “we-fee” in the middle of the night). As I said, delightful.

We also had a few really fun events at home: consorting with Marcus in the yard, doing the annual Pelatonia benefit gig with the Bunty boys and gathering for Steve and Sue’s birthday dinner the night before we left…which also included our dear and longtime friend, Ed Uhlman, who has made a sudden decision to re-locate to the homeland in Germany…..so turned out to also be farewell dinner for him. Tess and Jake came to both the concert and the birthday dinner- so we packed in a lot of family time in the heat and humidity…the family that stays together, sweats together. .

Worst part of being in Ohio though, was the imminent advance of the evil empire in the form of the construction of the long dreaded Sawmill parkway, which is moving forward after years of being stalled. When we next return, we may well find ourselves in the middle of a golf course development…..also delightful. Had to convince Jenn not to tie herself to a tree with a yoga mat and a shotgun.

You can check out pix of the above events (which I have conveniently labeled for the first time( which must be Lyme induced OCD)- and make sure to give a good look to ‘Marcus’ yard masterpieces: The Slice of Life and The Soul Patch…the boy is apparently bored at “the farm” without me.

So- all told it was really good to get back to the mountains. We did it on Monday the 3rd in a blitz 11 ½ hour dive straight through- which Lucy, bless her heart, slept through most the whole way. We stopped twice for meals (both McDonalds where we had not been for ten years, but try finding something else on the NY thruway).We took I-90 which saved a little time- but almost drove us to early death through boredom and eating Mickey D (the Big Mac was almost $5- the last time I was there it was under $2..and overpriced then) for that part of the journey, Jenn insisted on drinking coffee and then we would have to stop for her to pee on the side of the road. I tried to protest, since we kept seeing signs that said “It Can Wait!”- which she thought was about something to do with cell phones..…I think that they were clearly a message to her.

We got home to have the contractor we had been trying to locate for two months- show up unexpectedly and ready to work early the next morning…this is Vermont you know. So- we are underway with our water stoppage projects—- on top of that the barn painters called back after a month of being lost to say they would be here tomorrow. Hopefully, they will not collide. I will try and find somewhere to go all day so Jenn can manage these home improvement projects.

We’ve had a busy week since our return with a trip to the Weston Playhouse (Guys and Dolls), several esoteric dining trips to the middle of nowhere, and a beer soaked night at Hops in the Hills at the ski resort, and sundry guests…plus we got out for our long missed Kayak on Friday….see Lucy go….

Jenn has finished her objet d’art with her new antique table…you can see it in pictures…and is currently out trying to become a master gardener, or just to have gardens look acceptable in case Karin shows up at some point to see how her babies are doing.

We start this week a month and half of visits from many friends and family from the heartland with Jane and Jeff Grummel on their way as we speak. In case you wondered, we are giving friends and family a VERY GOOD deal for the room- despite what the Airbnb website says….so feel free to make an offer, we can be quite flexible on price- especially if you bring your own breakfast.

Wednesday August 5th- woke up to red leaves outside our bedroom window…..what is wrong with that picture. It is coming, isn’t it?

Love and Peace….Go Bernie,
Stu/ Dad/ Uncle/Cuz/Ferlin’

 

Greetings from the Greens:

Summer is in full, bloom here- albeit somewhat short of duration; the gardens are blooming, the days and nights are mostly delightful (except it is almost 90 and humid today), local organic tomatoes are starting to make their short term appearance and music and festival is afoot. We have had some torrential rains without any leak from our various porous holes, which is good since we are still waiting for the contractor who was due three weeks ago to show up- ditto for the barn painters we had decided to have work on our old horse barn. Not sure if this is because of lots of business or more of a quite slow  “islands in the mountains” kind of work approach. I have been at the pond for the last two weeks and it has been remarkably good- though it may well be the slime is just waiting for hotter weather so it can come home. I’ve actually had a few swims, which I should say no one else will do- which may be wise since I seem to have developed quite a rash recently (less from swimming I’m guessing than from floating around on an inner tube with a mountain of lake weed that I pulled up laying on top of me).

You can check out pix of the pond in the attached as well as vote on Jen’s new pixie haircut.   ______ Yes, you go girl, that looks like fun and oh so easy  ____________ Are you kidding, you look like a recently released prisoner of war.  All votes will be kept strictly confidential.

The AIRBNB business has been quite brisk for the last two weeks , with quite the international flavor: a woman form Britain, by way of Westchester, a couple from the south of France, a family from Belgium (tomorrow) and a number of single woman picking up their kids at summer camp- one a “foreigner” from the outer reaches of the Bronx, the other a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader…all quite the stimulating range of conversations. Our favorites thus far have been “Jill- Bear” and “Ter- Raz” from France. Not a lot of English but a lot of spirit. We took them to the local music on the green series for “le musicque- heel- bill- lee” and a picnic. Gilbert queried about our now vacant neighbors’ house, left in utter shambles…”Ze house is Dead, non?” All this activity has required Jen to  make the purchase of much new bedding supplies

We have been out wandering around quite a bit. We made another trip to the great Fair Haven Inn to visit “the poets of fish” (honestly, on their card and website- you can look it up). We took our friend Steve, the Jewish Fish Monger-as he supplies the poets their muse- so got treated like royalty by the Greek family that owns the place. We are making a list of eateries Steve supplies so we can go with him and be treated like this regularly. Last Sunday, we made a day trip over to the Connecticut River Valley- first to explore bedding, then for nice hike along the river at Wilgus State Park and then down to the lovely and hip hamlet of Putney for their music on the green. Wow- talk about popular and lively…Lucy went nuts with the music loving dogs. The band- “The Mike and Ruthie Band” from THE Woodstock –was really, really good (even bought a CD). They have been regulars at Levon’s shows at the Ramble and are friends with his daughter Amy, a fine musician in her own right. This also appeared to be the mecca for all the lovely hippie woman who have disappeared to Vermont to become massage therapists…a lot of rubbing going on. The highlight was an original song called “The Ghost of Richard Manual” about the tragic and great singer from THE BAND…find it on the net and give a listen….all in all a wonderful experience.

We have also made the traditional visit to the local scum filled lake (worse than mine) for MT. Holly Daze with our neighbors, gotten in a couple of good kayaks and hikes and made it to our second community supper and play at Weston for this season. The Weston show was a traveling company of the Broadway hit, Peter and the Star catcher- quite a production for  small theater, with a lot of nod and wink British humor (I both nodded and winked). This last Wednesday, we took a drive down to Manchester for the famous Farm Night suppers at the once magnificent (still pretty damn nice) Wilburton Inn. All vegetarian- everything served at the supper is grown on their farm. An absolutely magnificent setting (see the pix) we made some new friends, wonderful shopkeepers from Manchester, who have now become members of this blog community (I sent him all 35 archival editions, and he actually is reading them all….are you?).

So- it’s pretty good to be in the mountains, non? We are off this week for ten days back to Ohio to visit family and friends and do the annul Pelatonia benefit gig, so will talk to you after that…gotta go treat my rash…

 

Love and Peace….go Bernie,

 

Stu/ Dad/ Uncle/Cuz/Ferlin’

 

 

Gr