Category: Green Mountain Blog

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

Happy holiday to all:

It’s 4^th of July weekend in the GM and the tourists are roaming about. We have been entertaining our first Airbnb guest this weekend- a young couple from Rhode Island up to do some hiking, which has led Jen to a frenzy of baking and preparation  and Lucy to walk around all day with her pull toy in her mouth waiting for the guests to take up the challenge. Really nice kids and it seems like it has gone really well- so hopefully we will have our first positive on line review. The 4^th itself was a rainy day here which dampened the festivities. We geared up for the parade in our local town of Belmont; got everything together and our chores done to be in front of the general store at the 11 a.m. start. A lot of buzz, our local state rep announcing on the loudspeaker, the store doing mega business…and then the parade began and lasted for six and half minutes…five floats and the firetrucks. After the excitement of that, it poured- so went spent the day in search of more and better of the elusive perfect bedding, venturing into tax free New Hampshire, where we eventually wound up on a  secret trip to Walmart, where we got oil change and a bucket of chicken. Friday night, we went up to Jackson Gore with five hundred tourists visiting the ski resort to see the free concert featuring faux Beatles in faux Beatles suits and with faux Beatles’ accents. Lucy loves the Beatles (and the hundred or so dogs there who also love the Beatles apparently).

Leading up the weekend- we had our fist Weston Playhouse show of the season on Wednesday night- a folk musical called Pump Boys and Dinettes set in a rural southern gas station and diner. Well done, as usual. We did the pre theater dinner in the basement there- which has been taken over this year by the fine dining restaurant in our area, the Downtown Grocery. Quite the dinner, quite the price…next show we may have to go back to the early bird. Thursday we spent the day visiting with my cousin Joel who has been ill in hospital in Albany. It was a nice and easy 2 hour plus drive down and a good visit with my cousins and their two boys. On the way back, we hit the dreaded traffic snarl in Troy, that was so bad we had to stop at the Mart for a while to take a break. We then checked out the authentic British fish and chips place in Bennington (it is pretty authentic) and hit the Blue-Ben  diner for take-out desert, a massive dish of chocolate cream pie which we then left in the car while going to the grocery. When I came out, Lucy, who hates being left in the car, seemed unusually docile and content, snoring an amazing sugar snore in the backseat. I licked the remains from the container….

We have been out and about a fair amount lately- in between an unusual amount of rain and thunderstorms- so we have been continuing our season long informal surveys, and have concluded there are more self-storage places in Vermont (23 so far) to people of color (21)- though we had a big day yesterday at the Fletcher Farms annual art festival- spotting an amazing 8 people of some color in 15 minutes. Conclusion: Vermont is lily white and people here have a lot of shit they can’t quite get rid of or need to hide.

Last weekend on one of the really rainy days, we decided we were in dire need of a film- so made the requisite journey up to Hanover, NH to the art house there, to see Love and Mercy, the Brian Wilson biopic (see my review). Very good film (see Paul Dano sing the Pet Smiles album parts, wow) and an amazing story of who I believe to be the pre-eminent popular music composer of our times. Genius and madness at its most poignant. Of course, there is a closer theater in Rutland, but I’m way to much of a movie snob to see Max, Ted or even Entourage (though tempted by that one); hence the two plus hour round trip. But we get to soak up the stuffy academic lure of Dartmouth and this time we found a wonderful Nepali eatery and discovered another in a long line of negro oriented art places , the Black Family Visual Arts Center (Jen stubbornly insists I am wrong and that this really is just the name of some family, but I prefer to think we are  finding more “brothers’ art).

Summer in the Greens, aside from all the rain we have had of late, is really pretty amazing , with days on the mid 70’s and nights in the 50s. We don’t have AC anywhere and I’ve used my car AC twice this year. So…let me tell you about culture and weather shock. I went to Chicago for three days last week and it was brutal sticky, in and out of 90 degree heat/humidity, and freezing air conditioning…please, please take me back to the mountains. On the way there, I flew out of Hartford (shitty trip to make) and wound up on phone with the Nave and sailed right by the airport exit (not really in Hartford)- winding up 20 miles later in downtown Hartford. I only made my flight by illegally taking the HOV lane back at 90 mph and being lucky enough to have TSA pre-screen. Though I got to have dinner in chi town burbs with my other son- Jesse- which I always look forward to, still….The moral of story is to stay in Vermont…

When you come to visit here- be wary of totally relying on the GPS in Vermont, often goes haywire and leads you up the wrong dirt road. As soon as I finished my last tales of the mountains a few weeks ago, which was around 11 on a very rainy Sunday night, I heard unusual noise in our drive and went out to find three sets of state police with lights flashing and guns drawn approaching our door. After absorbing a few minutes of absolute paranoia, I was able to help them realize they wanted an address on the other side of Gates road which is not accessible from here due to the logging road. They left pissed off and made ruts in my yard since there is nowhere for three vehicles to simultaneously turn around. We need to put up a no outlet sign I think!

It’s dawned a beautiful sun drenched day here this Sunday morning, so things to do , dogs to see. Be well, stay in touch and do good work.

Love,

Estuardo

 

 

 

America Embraces Gay Rights!!!

America Embraces Health coverage for all!!

America Rejects the Racist flag!!!!!

America begins to embrace Bernie!!!!

It’s been a good week- America is catching up to Vermont.

Go America, Go Bernie, Go Freedom. https://www.yahoo.com/politics/white-house-buildings-across-the-country-light-up-122601444526.html

http://reverbpress.com/discovery/living/entertainment/satire/joe-biden-wears-gay-pride-flag-cape-viral-parody/

Greetings to all and happy Father’s Day:

Well- it happened again- spring has fully come, albeit late to the mountains, and all of a sudden Karen’s wonderful gardens are starting to bloom with color- along with everyone else’s. It’s a good time to get out and about the mountains…and so we have.

We visited the Jewish pig farmer and his wife Robyn and few weeks ago on the way back from an excursion- so Jenn could make her weekly visit to see the new puppies that they have bred from their beloved Trudy and Malcolm. Five really cute herding babies- which Lucy had to stay in the car and drool over- since Trudy would have eaten her if she came out. But, Stu got to hold the babies- see the photo, it really happened. Since then, Jenn drops me a slight hint every day: “there’s only one left”, “look how cute you looked with the puppy”, “poor Lucy is so lonely around the house”. I’m thus far playing deaf.

One of the few things I have struggled with in our life here is not having the Y close by- sort of to exercise, more to use the hot tub and schvitz. But, this year, I discovered the marvelous “spring house” at the Jackson Gore ski report. Booming in winter, it is a ghost town in summer, and, catch this, offers midweek daily passes to “seniors” for 3.00/day. Oh my, what’s not o like- so I schlep down there a few days a week to ride the elliptical and stare out the window at the ski hill, so I can then go take a soak. Such a deal……

So, this year we have decided to do one weekly outing to discover a new farm to table restaurant each week. Since we can get anywhere in the state in 2 ½ hours or less- it leaves lot of options. Last week-, we took a rambling drive with several walks along the way, up to Bristol where we dined at Mary’s Inn at Baldwin Creek. Beautiful place we had only seen previously in the dark- set back off a small road in nowheresville. . It also allowed us to make most of our way there on and off our beloved dirt roads. When we can’t easily find a hiking trail- we just park and start hiking up a dirt road- which exposes us to all forms of Vermont life. Check out the 1920s truck from a farm on top of such a dirt road that may have record for views and acres. We are considering a trip in which we go as far as we can taking only dirt roads- which would likely result in our driving for 8 or 9 hours and finding ourselves the traditional 40 miles away.

Check out he emerging garden pictures and our little wren box –which had a group of babies squeaking daily outside our front door…which Lucy feels she should be able to play with, and Gracie stares out the window forlornly at. THE POND is also still looking pretty good, at least in certain light, but there is definitely some foreshadowing of doom in the works.

We had our fist dinner of the year… an apparent Yiddish affair with the Jewish pig farmer and the Jewish fish monger telling horseradish jokes and howling at the moon. They kept talking about the corner store run by “the Cohens”, which I took to be metaphorically representative of “the Smiths” with a Yid bias. It was actually very nice; we cooked out on the grill and ate on the sun room big table…so far we seem to have stanched the leak in there- along with the one in the basement, so more water is currently going out of the house then coming in, which is a good thing here in Vermont.

We had our first kayak with Lucy in her new snappy life vest- which she spent all afternoon shaking Jenn’s boat trying to get out of and then rolling around the grass every time we let her out on land to run laps. Magnificent day as we continue to explore the series of lakes up nearby scenic Route 100. Surrounded by mountains ,and century old lake houses, they are a thing of beauty to glide along in. see the too many photos of Jenn and Lucy in all their glory. We also made our monthly trip this week up to the house of horrors- since we seem to be the only people that ever visit there- certainly no potential buyers make the trek. It is as good as ever, just waiting for some love. We did some fixin’ and cleanin’ and brought Spencer some doughnuts and watched him eat them and rev up many engines….a usual day in the Northeast Kingdom. Form there we went to Vermont’s only Lowes to make an exchange of an Ohio purchase- 2.5 hours one way to get to Lowes- which I really don’t even like…but such is life in the mountains.

We’ve had quite few rainy days this early summer in the mountains, and its’ a pretty good place to spend a rainy day and night-which we had one full day/night of this week…though the POND overfloweth. I spent an entire day reading books on the couch- Jen claims I napped most of the day but I caught her upstairs measuring the rooms for new bedding options. She also is sprucing up the spare master for our anticipated horde of Airbnb guests. I, and Lucy, on the other hand, share some level of dread at the prospect of waking up to little Belgian boys cavorting in my bathroom. I’ve actually read about seven books in the last month-plus during the rainy nights we have marathon sessions with our newest obsession- Downton Abbey, while we wait to see how much water come in the house through various orifices.

Last night we went to very cool birthday party, at Robin the trailer masseuses’ place, where my chums and I from the folk club held forth. there was music, croquet and a woman from NY doing endless Tarot readings in the trailer. She was actually quite exotic resembling the woman from Big Fat Greek Wedding (according to Steve the fish monger)…and a guitar player to boot. But best of all (bow down now)- she lives in the carriage house of Big Pink, in Saugerties, NY, the home of THE BAND, during the seminal late 60s recordings. If Jen were not there, I may have been drooling….Birthdays are fun in the mountains.

Today we spent Father’s day driving 125 miles to go to a strawberry festival in Middletown Springs and food cart festival in Middlebury (obviously both geographically in the center of the state). We drove around in pouring rain- but it was sunny and warm in both places. We ordered some kind of organic tacos at the food truck fest (five food trucks on the town green) and it took 35 minutes to get them….the taco makers were very organic kinds of folks it seems, but they were pretty good and the lobster role form the New England Culinary institute truck war to die for. Lucy found many friends to roll around with and many small children to knock on the ground and mount.

This past week was a defining time as our neighbors, the Manuals, made their exodus for North Carolina. It was pretty weird to send them on their way and now have no one on our road but us. We did do a scavenger hunt after they left through their devastated house and found some moderate treasures….and then cleaned up their junk strewn yard…it actually looks the best it has since we have been here. Their estranged uncles have showed up this week and surprisingly shown some motivation to genuinely clean the place up, which is not what we had expected from the family’s descriptions….but would be nice.

And lastly, snack bars/ice cream stands in Vermont…are often organic and filled with home cooking…think lobster roles and homemade brisket…an call it The Whippi- Dip in Fairlee…wow……

So-another few weeks go by in the Green Mountains…and now you know the story

Be well and stay in touch.

Love,

Ferlin’/Stu, Dad, Uncle, CUZ

Greetings to all and happy June:

Well, after a series of miracle days in the 80s- we returned to earth this week with several days of heavy rains and then last night it sunk down into the 20s- sending everyone scurrying to put in their tomato plants –the growing season is about three weeks as it is- so no time for re-starts. Life in the mountains is tricky…

We have been fully reintegrated into our mountain life- hitting the trails regularly, going for long explorations in the car, getting out on the kayaks, community suppers, reconnecting with our new- old friends…..and projects…lets’ just say having four houses leads to a lot of projects (we will be down to three in few weeks as Jenn has her closing mid-month…now if we could sell the house of horrors to you or your loved ones….)

So we got the new –rebuilt tractor working and then it quit…had to take carburetor apart and rebuild- but now it is like a new Frankenstein tractor- with all the parts I excavated from the one I blew up. So- Jen gets out to mow and comes in breathless to tell me she is out of gas. After a few choice words, we decide it has to get into barn as we are expecting rain- so we go out to push it about 50 yards uphill. Jen assures me the rear end lock is off- so we push for 20 minutes falling down repeatedly, when I ask her again…and it turns out that the lock was not off- which is designed to keep the tractor from moving. . ..Suffice it to say we pushed the last ten yards and into barn using two fingers after the uphill locked rear end battle was resolved…and then went searching for a hot tub and a massage. The next day she picks up gas and I go out to make sure it will start and to prime the pump….and voila…it’s half full of gas…fortunately Jen is off the premises and after several drinks and a long walk, I mange not to attack her when she returns (she just assumed it had run out of gas when it stopped running-did not feel the need to look). So, that led to carb repair and now….good as new (the tractor not my back)-after another trip back to Brandon to get parts…apparently an hour drive is the requisite in Vermont to get any car or mower parts. Upside is that it led us to lunch in Middlebury and a fine hike on the way home. Costello’s in Middlebury is a little hard to find take out Italian deli/prepared foods joint. It is a legend on Yelp- so we hit it up. Walk in and Mrs. Costello is the spitting image of Mama Corleone….. I am naturally dumbstruck and cannot help but to order the “Don Barzini” sub…are you kidding me? This is a true find- unreal Italian and fish at unreal prices… and Mama Corleone to boot!

We got out for our first kayak of the season last week on a gorgeous 75 degrees cloudless day. Lucy was much less enthusiastic than last year and cried for the first half hour, so we pulled up by a grass lawn and let her out while we ate lunch in the boats…as we drifted away she spotted us and came frantically swimming out and then managed to jump into Jen’s kayak- covering her with water and whatever fragrant substance Lucy had been rolling around in…so we now have a Lucy life vest-see the picture…

Yesterday we got out on another fine day for a drive over to Hubbardton (famous battlefield site- you can look it up) where a 90 year old gentleman from Antioch College- Kit Davidson- has built a series of magnificent hiking trails on is 500 acre mountainous home site. Open to the public with well-groomed and marked hikes- it’s a short 30 minute walk to a series of wonderful views (Moot Point is my favorite). He’s built a huge Zen rock garden and dogs don’t have to be leashed- so Lucy is in trail heaven. I’m attaching a link to the website – check out about Kit- he was very famous Avant garde filmmaker in the 60s and colleague of Warhol http://homes.ottcommunications.com/~dsonder/beebepond_files/Mount%20Zion%20Trails.pdf

From there we went over to the Fair Haven Inn for the early bird dinner (they call it the Prudential dinner specials- which sounds a lot more dignified). Great place run by a family of Greek transplants- table-side cart service and all the fixings for the early bird price- it’s now on our official list to take visitors-along with the hike to Moot Point.

On Saturday mornings- we always got to the “transfer station” (The DUMP), which is a hub of social activity in town. Kevin ,the dump-master knows everything about everyone and everything, and never fails to give me some choice advice about keeping my woman happy…..plus he seems to know everywhere we’ve been in the last week, which is a bit frightening. In addition to the garbage bin and the massive no-sort recycling tank (all that is free), Kevin collects everyone in towns’ throw away junk in a shed and a heap…so we periodically “shop” there (“the Belmont Mall”) . Last year , we picked up skis, boots and snow boards- yesterday I finally found an old junker bicycle to keep me busy trying to re-assemble for the next month. Dump shopping is good sport.

With our diminishing income, Jen has decided we need to try being a bed and breakfast and has posted us on Airbnb, so I guess we are open for business. I’m hoping for visitors from France. See the attached link for our listing. If you come, we will give you the friends and family rate. https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/6638465?checkin=06%2F24%2F2015&checkout=06%2F25%2F2015&guests=2&s=8DIF

So- back to the point, which is wet and musical. Water had dominated our lives since we returned. First we had leaks in the washer line and underneath the sink. Then, I started having rain drops fall in on me when working out in the barn. Now, we have a leaky roof over our sun porch (Jen is up there applying her handy-woman skills as we speak, doing a temporary fix until the cavalry arrives(see her workmanlike photo). As soon as we got it temporarily stanched, we found huge piles of mud slipping in to the basement, which is going to require us to dig out around the foundation and do some grading and internal repair- we knew this was an issue when we bought the house- but it had been patched over a bunch and had held up until now. So, Scott the Jewish pig farmer, has offered to come over wish his backhoe and help us overcome the water. Once that is done we have to deal with the basement mess and then deal with ripping out the wet drywall behind the washer, that is inviting black mold into our house. By the time, we get all this done, we can then go back to Ohio and wait for next set of leaks to occur.

Water is often offset by the great music we are around. I am back regularly at the folk club- trying to get them to emulate Bunty Station (where is the squeeze-box, Naven?) .Except for one woman there, who seems to think I may be sent from another planet to take her away, it’s a really nice group to play with. We’ve also started going to the Killarney Pub in Ludlow on Thursday nights for a Celtic music jam. Some really great fiddling and penny-whistle, and I get to channel my inner Van the Man. We went up last Sunday to the Silo Distillery (it’s in an old silo- you can look it up) in Windsor, with our friend ,Steve, the Jewish fish-monger, to see Gypsy Reel, our local favorites (their leader is the founder of the folk club). Great place, free food, idyllic setting, wonderful acoustics, and a good free show. We more or less hear music everywhere we go and are preparing for all the surrounding town’s “music on the green” series this summer ( we will play the finale at end of August for the Belmont series). And the farmer’s markets, all have good music while you spend a fortune of organic goods. The ghost of Jerry Garcia was back at the Ludlow market last Friday. I stepped out of the car to the sounds of Jerry singing Brokedown Palace and momentarily thought I was in the Haight in 1970….maybe something I ate? It will be a good music summer and fall. We are planning on a trip this week to the Burlington Jazz Festival, and I’m trying to figure a date to get over to the bluegrass jamboree which happens most Saturdays in nearby Shrewsbury.

Well- I should go see if Jen has fallen off the roof, so will shut it down for now.

Be well and stay in touch.

Love,

Ferlin’/Stu, Dad, Uncle, CUZ

Greetings to all and happy springtime at last:

I know you have all waited with baited breath for the “blog” to return…and your wait is now over; we have returned to the majesty of the Greens in time for the annual greening of Vermont. I hope you are all well, have been fruitful and multiplied many times over…and look forward to our correspondence this summer and deep into the fall.

We finally left Delaware on May 9th after weeks of lists and details and anticipation. Packed the car on Thursday night and got ready to leave on Friday morning, when I noticed the car top carrier did not have straps on it to hold it down. Jen had graciously gotten it packed up while I was away in Baltimore that week- but neglected to strap it down, and now the straps were buried deep under 1000 pounds of luggage and shit. Glee does not fully describe my emotions at this awareness…so unloaded it and got straps put on, an then got in to start it up and go…and found that door had been left open overnight while packing the car(who did this one, Jen?)…no big deal right, just needed a jump…and cables also buried in car under 1000 pounds of shit……..we left late.

The ride went pretty well. We had learned that Lucy did great on the long haul when we drove back last November…she was so quiet the whole time that I did not notice that she had systematically chewed up the front passenger seat belt I had attached to stop the bells from going off from her weight on front seat…so spent $150 on a new seat belt and clipped it on BEHIND the seat…she did great. I tried to switch off and take the two cats for a while, but they howl the entire trip –which was somewhat disruptive during conference calls I had scheduled for the road. We stayed the night in Oneonta at Ryan and Lauren’s’ empty place and arrived at our beloved mountain home early Saturday to meet the plumber and cable guy. Pulling in, our neighbors, the Manual family gathered outside to greet us with the news that they were packing up to leave to go back to Carolina and family, after some unfulfilling job situations here. For those of you who have been here and have seen the general chaos of their place, imagine it five times worse. Aside from that revelation, we got things going in the house with no problems and were set up and ready to do most business that night.

Sunday dawned bright, sunny and beautiful (it has been in 75-80 range most of time we have been here…quite a Vt. Heat spell)… and I got out to inspect THE POND. I have attached several pictures her….take it in and love it , it is the last time it will look this good for the year, as the algae have not yet moved back from Florida for the summer. We got a lot done that first day- inside and out. I did the all the manly stuff in the garage and barn- getting all the machines ready and running with ease…until I serviced the tractor and got distracted with several visits form the Manuals (they had lots to tell us) and Jen…and started it up beautifully, but with the oil drained and not replaced. Now, I’m from the city, but still it appears a tractor does not run well without any oil…..about three minutes it seems. This led to ten days of PTSD for Stu. So, while I fumed, Jen cleaned and the animals’ embraced their mountain home- see photos. The cats have many more places to hide from Lucy and Lucy believes she owns the mountain and is steadily patrolling the property and beyond- requiring many more baths resulting from her explorations.

So- some of our first two weeks Vermont learnings and re-awakenings:

Country living and Repairs- results in many leaky pipes, especially when they sit unheated all winter, and requires special tools, like that used trying to get off the furnace oil filter that not been changed for five years. It is good to have neighbors with tools and skills. We placed a call for help on the local “Newsflash” e-serve list and found a new find, Steve, who came over and helped us to get our new tractor running (the Manuals gifted us their junker in sympathy after the ruination, and I got it about 70% there) AND he applied his much better technique to get off the oil filter without bursting the pipes as I was about to do. Prior to finding Steve-we stopped at Gil’s off route 7B, who has fifty used tractors in his yard to see if he could fix it. He said he’d be glad to if we brought it to him, as he had not left his yard for ten years except to go to the doctor……. Then, our old friend, Scott, showed up, who had cut down a tree for us last year for beer money, to tell me he could do it, except he had trouble getting out of his truck when he stumbled over the pile of open beer cans. Eventually, to get Steve to fix it, we had to go up to Brandon to get a deck cable from the GUY WHO HAS EVERYTHING……which led us to….

“The worst road in Vermont:- Jen decided we could take a scenic short cut back from Brandon to get to route 7…which led us to a 20 mile dirt road so rutted I had to stop along the way for the Subaru to rest in between ruts. The shortcut took us about an hour and has led to many loose parts on the undercarriage of the car.
While we were gone Josh was taking his pictures for the Prom, which we were excited to see and once again delighted to find they had been taken at our house while we were away. I keep wondering why we get a lot of the Manuals’ local mail…

So- we are back to our activities with Jen going to Yoga several times a week (Kevin at the town dump tells me I should really appreciate the flexibility that produces…), regular hiking (see Lucy on the trail photos), my re-involvement at the folk club (I walked in the first night and they were playing one of my songs). We discovered the “other” side of the Appalachian Trail which is ten minutes from us. The side we usually walk is a gently sloping walk along a river bank and up into the hills; we found the other side to go straight up from the road to hand and knee trail in about a half hour- we will come back to that one. We made our first trips this week to both Montpelier and Groton. Stu was appointed by the Governor to be on the states’ Family and Children Board so went to a meeting this week for the 1st time….much better than expected and Jen and Lucy shopped in the capitol- which pretty much allows dogs in all places. I will bring her to the next meeting. Then on to Groton, to the house of horrors, which stood up to the winter as well can be expected. We did some cleaning and fixing and convinced Spencer to let the realtor in to show the apartment, rather than stand on the other side of the front door with a gun and a ball bat…which has presented some barrier to people wanting to buy the house, we think. We have actually had some increased viewing action in last three months –though nary an offer yet. We keep hoping Max will buy it….

I just took a break from this tomb (excuse the length, will get shorter in next installment) to chase Lucy out of the massive pile of limbs that someone (I can’t say who) thoughtfully placed in front of the entrance to the logging road behind our house, effectively barring any trucks from using it. She, of course, believes it is a gift from the Heavens, of big ol’ sticks to pull off and drag around the property.

It’s been a good Memorial Day weekend. Spent Friday trying to organize forty years’ worth of Walter and Karin’s tools and tchotchkes in the garage/barn- since I believe it is the cause of my PTSD. Gil, the man who does not leave his yard, sent his hired hand, Tom the sleeping giant, to take the blown engine tractor away…a little on the remedial side, it took me ten minutes to wake him up from his pickup truck slumber. On Saturday, while Jen went to yoga (limbering up for me, says Kevin) Lucy and I took the 40 year accumulated garage stuff to the dump….then we went to Fair Haven for the spring fling, which had neglected to be flung. But it’s a nice drive. We went that night to the first community supper of the year and did our fist volunteering gig- serving and clean up, mingling with the town whos- who. We brought home a ten pound tub of cole saw which we had agreed to gte rid of via dump in our compost pile…it was gone the next day- we think there must be a really sick bear in the woods. Sunday was the semiannual Open Studio tour across Vermont, and we headed southeast to Chester, Townsend, Saxon’s River and Bellows Falls to see nine artisan studios. We found a great glass blower, who had the finest tables of “seconds” we have yet seen. For me this is like a pile of fresh shit to a beagle- check out the great vase we bought for a pittance in the pix. Lucy made many friends, kissed many babies and rode several big dogs she apparently thinks are horses. Most studios in Vermont are so far in the woods- you would never find them without a detailed map, so they are really happy when people come and they talk A LOT. We discovered the original Celtic Buddhist Center on the way home on tiny route 121…I always thought Irish and Buddhist was an oxymoron?

Well, I think you have had enough. Be well, be in touch, do good work, blah, blah, blah. Have a great spring and GO CAVS!!!

Love,
Stu

 

 

 

 

Happy Stick Season from the Green Mountains:

“ Zen IS your life, Appreciate YOUR Life”- Taizan Maezumi

So- now it’s time to say goodbye to all our family (MIC-KEY………..). A magnificent autumn has turned into the grey of stick season here in the mountains as we prepare to head back to Ohio in a week…a very bittersweet time of year for us. We have decided not to come back this winter with the ongoing drama and burden of the house of horrors in Groton, which we will be maintaining (and praying for no disasters) this winter…as I’ve said , we have TOO many houses. So, away we go…should be an interesting trip home-packed to the gills with two cats and Lucy aboard.

But today, we are still here…light snow is falling along with the last of the leaves and pine trimmings. We are in the 20s at night and looking at low 40s high this week. We had our first snow on Halloween and many dustings since then, with the mountain peaks covered and the snow machines working at night at Okemo and Killington.

Jenn is in Cleveland for Ry and Lauren’s wedding shower and sent me an emergency e-mail this morning to make sure to water the Wheat Grass- a process that involves bending each plant aside to gently spray each root (no shit!). Wheat grass is one of the staples of our life in Vermont. We start every morning with a shot glass of the sickly sweet nectar to correct whatever we have eaten in the previous 24 hours and make us whole. Jen is heavily engaged in learning the art of growing and studies at the foot of our local master, Peter, who is a Communist who claims to be hiding from the state department and is the bearer of all things wheat grass. We broke into his house one night while he was gone to retrieve an unclaimed container of peek ready wheat grass that would have apparently gone to waste had we not rescued it. Such is life in the organic , no “GMO” state.

We have spent a lot of time in Groton lately; overseeing the preparations for winter- including the erection of a new room; a 6×10 shanty to cover and insulate the basement water pump that provides water for the apartment- so that after we drain the house system and shut it down there will still be water for the apartment in winter…please make it stop! So now we  can list the house on MLS as 24 rooms instead of 23- which should really jack up our showings.

One benefit of stick season is that all the algae in THE POND is now dead , and it looks great…reborn in fact. I’m thinking we just need a refrigeration unit out there all summer and it will be crystal clear…really, see the pictures.

We got up to the Northeast Kingdom the week before last for our final leaves trek of the year. It was grey and wet but we saw 3 or 4 trees with nice leaves on them. Lucy got to stay in her first Country Inn and made lots of new friends everywhere she went. We went to some of our favorite Vermont remote classics- like Brownington and Craftsbury Common to play in the fallen leaves and we found a diner in Coventry that a Boston paper said has the best southern fried chicken north of the Mason-Dixon line (well, not really, but good anyway). We kept seeing sunshine in the distance- so our trip was based on trying to catch up with it-we caught it several times- for about 5 minutes. All in all, we had a great leaf chasing Fall-the locals say it was the best foliage in 20 years, and I think we caught almost every tree in the state(and some in NY and NH)- before they shed. But now….gone….and…STICKS!!!

Out trips also led us to a bunch of wildlife sightings including mountain rams, lots of wild turkeys and chickens, exotic birds heading south (like us, but further) and maybe even a Beefalo, though it may have been a developmentally disabled cow.

We have continued to walk up our two road hills to catch the diminishing view- which Lucy really likes and she and I did a bit on the Appalachian Trail yesterday; I suppose stick season has its own kind of beauty…but not all that much.

So, I’m sad to say, this will be my last missive until the Spring. Some of you have asked me to continue when back in the flatland, but who wants to know about life in the Midwest, anyway? But, I’m glad to have shared with you every few weeks and hope you continue to find this amusing.

If you did not hear the Car Talk tribute to brother Tom (by brother Ray), who died this week- it is one for the ages. I laughed and cried for an hour. I’m including a link you can access it with.

http://www.cartalk.com/content/1445-tommy-riposa-pace

Be well, do good work and stay in touch.

Love, STU

Happy Autumn from the Green Mountains:

“ This Autumn, why do I get old? In clouds a bird.” BASHO

I have been SO delinquent in my composing- it has gotten behind me and is now overwhelming. Lots of visitors, lots of leaves, lots of Lucy…all keeping me from my assigned duties. So- this version will be a Zen of happenings- with lots of pictures because they tell a story, no? Visits from all our kids plus my niece and family from Florida left me with ridiculous amount of once in a lifetime photo ops- so I have included a substantial tasting here. If you want to see more of the photos from the two family visit- you can go to Shutterfly links below:

Kids visit- http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/welcome.sfly?fid=a6343aa70ae3a880&sid=2CauG7RyxZMok
Florida Juban visit- http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/welcome.sfly?fid=f0dba6dd3f463006&sid=2CauG7RyxZMpC

THE ZEN……………………………………………..

The Kids come to Vermont- how many 20-30 somethings does it take to screw in a light bulb? They came, they conquered, they went. Theme of the week established when we picked them up at Manchester airport and as they came out of terminal and I greeted them with a booming “Welcome to New England” a fellow passenger walking out with them commented “they don’t look too enthusiastic?” There was a lot of smart phone bonding, we learned Ryan wants to kill wild turkeys with his bare hands, we dragged them all over Vermont to see the foliage, Jake found out he is bigger than he thought in our low ceilinged kitchen and is the master of “selfies”, the boys are not afraid of diving into an icy Fall quarry of water, and we found that the family that Yogas together….”

The Pond- has defeated me; I am turning in my strainer and filling it with dirt…

Lucy- is growing in leaps and bounds, is a mighty traveler who goes everywhere with us, hikes for miles with her short little legs, hates water but likes Kayaks, had her first ham bone and then shit for four days straight all over the house, and cannot go anywhere without the paparazzi chasing her (and me!) . We were on a fall outing and waiting outside Singletons’ wonderful store in Proctorville for Jenn to bring us breakfast sandwiches- when a truck full of deer hunters pulled up with carcasses on the roof and deer blood all over them….Lucy thought this might be a sign from Heaven and behaved accordingly- trying to get the deer off the roof and the clothes off the hunters….

The Jubans visit from Florida…if you don’t know what a Juban is-you’ll have to look it up. Likes: shopping, the Vermont Country Store (we had to drag them out), fried food and sugar (Lena), unlimited pictures of my great niece- 17 year old Lena, who dresses for the part multiple times daily, being out of Florida, autumn leaves, any place that looks like Asheville.

Dislikes: interrupted shopping, wheat grass and outdoors (except Omelio), cold houses, my driving. They were here on Columbus Day weekend- so activities were boundless and they got to go to our local Cider Days Festival , in Belmont, see the 200 year old Cider press in action, shop and watch me play a set of music on the green in frigid morning temps. We made our first ever trip to a Mickey D drive through to get Lena the requisite chicken tenders and fries (I believe this is a misdemeanor in Vermont)…a whirlwind of three days.

Autumn is HERE- we have been chasing THE PEAK for over three weeks- as it shifts around the state- a tradition amongst the mountain folk. We are way past foliage peak here- but still looking. Spent a couple of nights in the Islands two weeks ago (yes- there are Islands in Vermont- see the sunsets) and last week in the Adirondacks (we found Frank Zappa to be alive). Lucy likes staying in strange places with strange eating to be had. This week will be our last ditch effort as we head up to the Northeast Kingdom. We’re trying to figure out where there may be foliage still (what hemisphere?) to keep the dream alive.

Plans afoot to head back to the Heartland mid-November

More Blog to come….maybe…. STU

Hello to all from the Green Mountains:

“ Renunciation is not giving up the things of the world, but accepting that they go away” Shunryu Suzuki

Music in Vermont- our local folk club did the last Music on the Green performance in Belmont of the season last week- 15 of us on and around a little gazebo stage as the late day sunshine turned into autumn chill. Got to lead on a few songs –while Lucy ran around like a bat out of hell chasing dogs and kids. There is little crazy video of the proceedings on You Tube you can take a gander at – http://youtu.be/AFqN8XXtueA. We’ve been getting out some to the local outdoor music scene and made a visit to Weston last Sunday to see Gypsy Reel- the local legends (one of whom plays with the folk club). Fair to say- we were the poorest people in attendance at this ritzy little town- but lots of big dogs for the pup to engage with. We also went to annual Pittsfield picnic (about 45 mites away up route 100) and were welcomed to a very small town event with local potluck extravaganza; old timey music, horseshoes, politicos stumping before the primary election and an African family (a jackpot to our count on people of color in Vermont). The little girls had braided hair- which Lucy latched on to  and would not let go of- luckily they were good humored about it. I also had to find a music store to put a pick-up in my new mandolin (Max birthday gift)- which turned out to require an hour’s drive to New Hampshire (surreptitiously crossing the border at night)- when I went back to retrieve it they had mysteriously closed for the day with no notice- so had to go aback a second time- all told six hours of trips to amplify the sound…….. not everything is so close in Vermont.

Saw the last play of the season at Weston Playhouse- a rendering of Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya- set in modern day Vermont- not really sure the Russian satire fits that well in the Green mountains- but it was entertaining. Sad to see the end of the season

Energy in Vermont- costs a damn lot…our electric bills are twice that of Ohio (further from the sun??)- so we are considering becoming part of a solar family (don’t ask) and owning a bunch of panels to undermine the super conglomerate utility collective (like the Russians in Uncle Vanya) and also doing a bunch of energy updates around the house to make the wind go around rather than through our 150 year old structure. So- Vermont (as you might imagine) really supports and subsidizes these improvement (GREEN Mountains!) and we get a number of incentives for doing this ( a bag of pot, I think) and on top of that they had a “find the flock” contest- where you had to spot a moving group of wooden geese on the road somewhere…and Jenn won the contest for a $1000 in improvement ; who knew wooden geese were worth that much…

The Pond…what a mess. I clean it for hours (up to 6000 now) and the scum comes back in a week. I really need a bigger strainer, and Lucy is not much help when she is out staring at me (see photo). We need to rob a bank or something (maybe find another flock?)so we can pay the pond guy to come and start over. We did decide that when we start doing our bed and breakfast the obvious name for it would be The Inn at Scum Pond. On the matter of  waters- we have continued our weekly kayaking-exploring the long and winding sections of Echo Lake for our water lunches.

Hiking and Indian food – we found a really nice trail that was recently finished that goes from downtown Rutland over the Library Pass to nearby Proctor (the marble capitol of the world-all buildings are made of marble)- so last Sunday we packed up Lucy and did the Reynolds Reservoir trail from Proctor- a really nice walk around 3 miles round trip up to the waters. Beautiful day on way up- got soaked from thunderstorm on way back- but found what might be the worlds’ first Indian restaurant in a gas station….better than you might think- so had our lunch while soaked in the car….Lucy didn’t even notice we were eating as she had passed out after her arduous walk on those tiny legs. (bonus- two more people of color- up to 49 now since May)..to top it off- they had cheap gas to go along with the Indian food.

Church- to conserve funds- Larry and Rachel have closed down the weekly services at the Quality Inn in Rutland and moved them to their house (next door)-so every Sunday we now have the Vermont Southern Baptists singing and praying down the driveway….and they have put up their signage on the way to our house(see pix). The evangelical pull is beginning to ferment our minds while we sleep.

That’s it for now- off to pack for the flatlands.

Be well and happy coming of autumn.

Stu