Category: Green Mountain Blog

Ola los Padres:

“Father, Father- there’s too many of us crying” ……………………………………………………………………………………………..Marvin Gaye

“Being a dad is when you realize you can actually like people who puke in your car multiple times” ………………Zen

“Fatherhood is great because you can ruin someone from scratch” ………………………………………………………………. Jon Stewart

I got the travelin’ man blues, got the travelin’ man blues…..oh dear sweet mama….I got the travelin’ man blues…….Agreed to take  on a project on the shores of Gitchee-Goomey (Lake Michigan) this winter, which seemed innocuous enough when in the heartland…..but now am cavorting to get to New Buffalo, Michigan and Michigan City, Indiana….collectively and affectionately called Michiana (Really)…….which is accessed from here  by planes, trains and automobile……takes about a fortnight each way, and includes getting in and out of Chicago during rush hour to get to Midway…..and it always is pouring rain…….and there are 50, 000 sixteen wheelers pushing you off the road……and every flight is delayed…and full…and then it is another 2.5 hour drive back to the mountains…and when the morning sun comes shining in, I get up and do it again, amen, get it up again………

Not that I’m complaining…at least not totally….…. but this does fly in the face of mountain –life, though I have gained a special relationship with a Michiana trans person……and I have, apparently, totally infatuated them…because I live in Vermont with Bernie…. bonus……

Plus, every time I go away…. I come back to find TQ had modified more yard with some configuration of trees, mulch, cardboard and plant-like things…….

Where are the men that I used to sport with………Trying, under pressure from the Monarchy, to make new friends, but every guy I have asked to go for a walk with me…. has said no…apparently, they don’t walk, they don’t eat, they don’t drink…….so I surround myself either with books or with mountain gals mostly…. which this week led me to sit in a room with The Queen and her Court stuffing envelopes for two hours…….…whilst suffering from over-adoration for being the only partner-type who came and stuffed for his semi- betrothed………the food was good, though….

Friday, we took off in search of an evening meal- choice for which have become slim without majordomo drive…….wound up at the Victorian inn at Wallingford, which has a wonderful bistro menu, that is better in print than on the table delivery….were about to  leave , when we were summoned by the arrival of our potential new Besties…..the Mad Scientist and his Self-Proclaimed Trophy Wife…so wound up sitting through their 57 course dinner of one of everything on the menu, while we sipped our waters, and had an hour of stimulating discussion about  varicose veins and the Kato diet…but, hey…a night out is a night out.

The weather has been mostly gloomy since the F’in Canuck woody cloud came and went, but did not stop us from a day out in the rain yesterday to pursue the live free or die lifestyle and load up on tax free goods…….TQ requires a steady supply of high-end bourbon, which is thirty cents on the dollar  across the border…so we drove around the big river in circles to find a walk for Lucy-Lu between rain drops…and contemplated the wild difference the river makes

Happy day to all Papis…be well, stay in touch, do some work.

Ferlin’

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Bonasera, Bonasera:

“Courage is the mastery over fear-not the absence of fear”…………………………………………..Fortune Cookie

“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second-best time is now.”……………The Queen (and Chinese Proverb)

“And you don’t believe- we’re on the eve of destruction….”…………………………………………Barry McGuire

Ba-da-da-da………Ba-da-da-da………..Ba-da-da-da-da (sound it out, please). After that intro, the traditional Chicken Wire Messenger Service bit (I shit you not…did this job for a year…there are living witnesses who can attest- Feel?

Sound out the beginning …and then:

Your son is dead, Got shot in the head, By a red, Boy how he bled…..Da-Da-da-Da-Da

Ok- so it’s been a long day-left early this morning, drove from The Mount to Manchester, NH to live free or catch a flight……rode the magic Southwest bus to Chi-town, shuttled to rental car, spent an insane 1.5 hours getting out of Ms. Windy (though in a new Jeep with 200 miles on it- me be first) and then another hour drive to Lake Michigan….so I ain’t got much, but did not want to shirk.

Basic highlight of Week 3 in the Greens:

Smokin’…we hit AQI of around 90, which is a bit much for the Progs, but quaint compared to 400 plus in the Apple and Philly- was even worse in the Heartland…nevertheless a lot of snifflin’ and hackin’………N-95 anyone?

Made out first visit to the beloved east- for Sunday Chinese last week- oy, the crispy Peking Duck with pine nuts…how does one spend $60 on Chinese for two? Only in Vermont….

Folk club Monday night featured the return of all the missing and wounded Grievous Angels-and was occasion joyueuse- My friend Cheryl showed up for the hoedown and had wrote a song for me called “The Finisher” ……interpret as you like….

Got off kilter this week, slaving at my computer in my renewed effort at being working stiff, whilst TQ planted and planted and planted…and bought more to pant…made a late day trip down to the Okemo gym one afternoon-…only to find a moderately full house- need to semi-retire again to have my own private am gym building….

Am I retied ? semi- retired….poll question…..

After a year of hassling for the autobody grump to replace my damaged fender molding…..he did….but had to listen to 30 straight uninterrupted minutes of grump-speak whilst he did it…not sure who won….

Apple tree very pretty and the apple flower is sweet….TQ had gone over the Appleseed edge…and is now on to rutabaga or some such shit…..

Had out first visitors of the season for drinks and gab ( I did not make that up) from the Southie deniers- that is they are generic Southies to us, but apparently not in the Boston taxonomy of caste or class….sorry ‘bout that J&L- still it was quite the gab, as always, on a lovely indoor porch nite…in da wicker, wicker…..

Yesterday we schlepped up to Lebanon for a free music festival, which was quite nice except for bouts of rain spitting- lovely parkland over the eldest section of the majestic Connecticut river- see the 1700’s stones-music good, people nice, setting tranquil…but the highlight was Wicked Awesome BBQ stop on way home…

And the beat goes on…more next week…gotta see a man about a horse….

Hello, I love you, c/an you tell me your name…..Ferlin’

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Obladee-Oblada Friends:

“Having no destination, I am never lost” ……………………………………………………………………………IKKYU

“You have to come to the shore. There are no instructions” ………………………………………………. Denise Levertov

“It is good to know the truth, but it is better to speak of palm trees” ……………………………………Arab Proverb

Well- it’s been a long week and a short distance…35 and blustery to 93 in the shade overnight- and back down to a high of 50…. mountain winds prevail…daily…. but things are settling down on The Mount….

After our first day of indentured servitude on Saturday last, we set out Sunday for our first wander…which took us around the central part of state for the open studio tour. Started in nearby Bridgewater Commons at several studios in an old mill building overlooking one of the state’s magnificent speed traps…and became quickly drawn in by one artist who is a 911 survivor and needed to tell her story, which was intense and lengthy….and led to her work in which she depicts every person killed on 911 in miniature head form…..which sits right next to bizarre paintings of civil war reenactors (see photo #1)….. that, we more or less blew off the studio tour and headed for the woods…splendid day led us eventually to the hamlet of South Royalton, where after years of trying, we finally scored lunchables from the legendary Worthy Burger…giant burgers, a massive pile of hand cut fries…and then a ride to the nearby Creamees joint to top it off…..about tripled my carb intake of the previous month….basically been on an all salad diet ever since.

Monday was machine readying day around the domicile, with every gas powered battleax coming to life without trouble- this has got to be be too good to be true…. nevertheless, the property is swept and groomed … Tuesday resulted in our finally getting Jens car back after 8 days…worth the wait…. a projected 2K plus repair bill in the heartland, reduced to a $500 bargain here…. got to love the mechanic in the meadow and his outdoors repairdom….

Cars good…phone bad…still living with only the erratic WIFI calling due to the latest screw up from the greed infested anthills that call themselves communications companies…. don’t you love communicating with them…. on the hunt for a solution, but living with minimal phone access until we leave the house…make a lot of calls in the car in few places that have cell signals between mountain ranges…ok, maybe a bit more complicated life here in some ways…like phones. mail and finding a place to get takeout without driving 45 minutes…. our three closest options have closed since we left last Fall……Sal’s, Harrys and the Belmont Store…and Door Dash is not driving up the mountain anytime soon…ergo, the salad diet…

The Queen has rediscovered her Court, and disappears for hours at a stretch to cavort with the local Yenta royalty..…in between playing Jenn-EE- Appleseed with latest property improvements..…so TQ connects while p and Lucy walk…finding new dirt road opps every other day or so…..Thursday sucked it in , made a  huge list and spent five hours doing town things…..kind of like going in on the wagon in 1840s Montana…..experienced many goods and services, all a success with the exception of the cell phone morons…..Friday  looked like a good enough day to take on the much worn deck and its need for good lovin’…so TQ scraped in the am while Papi provide the virtual cure…then we scraped together…then we stained…in a blitz to bat the threatening skies as the therm hit 90 plus….this led to an immediate strip down and first Pond plunge…me and da turtle…

With dubious weather predicted now for next we, we took off yesterday for a southeast Greens tour down the route 30 corridor  to Dorset, Shaftsbury, Arlington, Bennington—snuck across the line to Hoosick NY, where we got local store lunch and ate in a drizzle, then discovering actually still in Vermont, so able to ditch the Yankee caps…nice walk at Shaftsbury Lake State Park  and on to famous Bennington battlefield, which is neither in Bennington, nor in Vermont, but it is pretty cool…dem’ Ethan Allen boys was fierce…hard to imagine we hated the British that much…but this is indeed hallowed ground….finished the southern part of the loop in historic Salem NY, where we encountered an extraordinary portrait of American Prom decadence going on outside the ancient courthouse…..then circled home with one more dirt road walk in late afternoon sunshine at Middletown Springs….

And now it’s time to get it up and start all over again…Amen…. start it all again…. Amen

Poll question…. if you get held up on the road by official police cars doing traffic control in a private rent-a-cop capacity-can they tell you what to do legally and police you if you don’t? You would not believe ow long that debate went on……

Though I’m guessing there might be some more important questions to answer…. but …until then

Ferlin’

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Long Due Greetings mes amis:

“We sit together the mountain and me, Until only the mountain remains” …………………………………………………………Li Po

“Step by step, the early morning breeze” ……………………………………………………………………………………………………Hakuin Ekaku

“Honeysuckle vines cling to a fence along the land, fragrance makes the summer wind so sweet

On a distant hillside, eagle sings a song. Songbird on a fencepost, sings a melody” ………………………………Dolly Parton

Little Darlin’…it’s been along a long and lonely winter…. Little darlin’, it seems like years since its’ been here…………………good Sunday my fine friends, family and semi-acquaintances……………. we have returned to The Mount intact to full pond, few mice, overgrown garden and shrubberies…and sweet mountain May…just in time for the start of the short, but mighty Vermont summer…………good to be back in the dirt and Schmutz…. maybe I’ll be there to take your hand, maybe I’ll be there to share the land….

So…. still in the semi-chaos mode……so maybe short one this week? …. we shall see, nu?……..,

Leaving the Heartland pretty smooth though very bittersweet after regular weekend sleepovers with g-daughter #2 all winter log………Nana, Papi, Sloanie……Sloanie, Nana, Papi…. big adjustment to leave our girl behind…along with our other three GRAND- daughters………But need to see a man about a horse………………….Limped back across the southern tier of NY State with Jenn’s car creaking and croaking……. directly to the classic mountain repair shop. Where it has been resting for almost a week now……it will get fixed once our erstwhile mechanic-shaman finds it out on the back 40 with two dozen other cars since there is no room for a vehicle inside his garage…ever….so hit The Mount running with one car to share…….

After weeks of no carbs…immediately sought out a fix at Ramuntos for the cheese special (Two and a coke)..and back home to a throwback 35 degree first night…a bit of a shocker having left the 80 Ohio early summer behind….of course, we have no phone service ….again…..having had out lil’ cell tower deactivated and dealing with exigencies of WIFI calling in the mountains…..in the same realm of ground hog day style events…..our usual bright eyed plumber man-child did not show to open the house-but sent the Plumber Grinch…. a mighty supporter of The Donald and disliker of Flatlanders, to get us open, and leave us with the usual residual non-working pipe………

Our first morning cold and wet to find The Queen making an ill planned trip to Bennington for a dermatology checkup…. first morning back…. CHAOS…. four hour RT journey leaving at 7 am……. Only to arrive thee….and find she had already switched the appointment to July …precisely to avoid this…………………………… would anyone like to go for a ride in the country???…. Welcome back…. TQ……

After three days of nonstop working -like –dogs…..got out on a nice late Friday afternoon for 1^st hike at Elfin Lake and a check in on the Jewish Pig Farmer (JPF), before hitting the major disappointment of finding our beloved Sal’s of Wallingford the permanently closed…..BUT….have now found Mama Tamara et Famiglia…a small Eye-talian takeout joint on Main St….that offers the unlikely combination of off- the- boat Sicilian fare with the cuisine of Philadelphia…..not great, but nice people , big menu, good price and ambitious concept….not Sal’s….but a dent on the despair scale…….

Saturday was our first massive property cleanup day, which went well, all things considered……POND is going to need the kayak and strainer touch……. but got the water pump going, cleaned it up and treated it….and it be FULL…. first machines up and running and outbuildings spiffed up…headed us over to a deluxe MEAT extravaganza at the JPF……meal consisting of seventeen meat offerings and…. Cole slaw……served up in a maelstrom as they sizzled off the Ninja smoker grill…. JPF and The Empress of Death still divorcing, but now engaging in regular confusing companionship…so it was a reunion of sorts………

And THE Belmont Store is newly owned and set to be remodeled/reopen in coming months after being shuttered last fall….taken over by local paparazzi who have A Vision…..The Dumpmaster Yenta stopped by on his four wheeler (no license for car driving for many years courtesy of state police) to fill us in on the store skinny…..”they are not as rich as they seem”…and to explain the demise of the previous petulant and unfriendly owner being based on having insult one member of the local Jewish Cabal……and thus being shunned out of biz by the entire Yid community….which I had always though amounted to a sum of three humans….but who knew?…….

Excited to say….and ecstatic to say, we have planned a time for Sloanie to come out for week in July…so we can all avoid jonesing paralysis…….

Off today for some wandering with the statewide Open Studio tour………. she how many ceramic mushrooms we can find…. Good for you? Good for me…….

Bonsai boys and Girls.,  till then….

Papi

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Ola Mes Amigos:

“Many a tear has to fall, but it’s all…in the game” ……………………………………………………………………………………The Four Tops

“Pipedreams and fantasy schemes; never turns out quite the way it seems” ……………………………………………Ferlin’ Norris

“What is the sound of one hand clapping?” ………………………………………………………………………………………………Are You Kidding Me?

I had big ambitions for the last waltz here…and time got away from me and Sunday became Thursday…and then Vermont became NY state…and here we are in our usual Binghamton haunts along the Ohio jaunts……. Coop Flyin’’ time, a bit of a blur…how ‘bout you, blurred?

Midterms are over……. could have been worse……. except…… in Ohio. What in the world is a JD Vance? Livin’ in purple tonight, but gonna get real red, real quick…. I can live with RED………just not (T)Rump-RED…..lets stick he and Desantis in The Cage and see what happens…a draw to the death?………… what a gift that would be? And maybe take Clarence Thomas in there with them?

But-I certainly digress. Kind of tired; kind of weary, bleary, teary……transitions kind of suck, and we make a royal habit of them.

Speaking of Royal, TQ made her rounds ere The Kingdom this week and sure kept us hoppin’ with lunch/ dinner gatherings for most of the last week-some with the old and loved, some with the new and who knows?

I’ll keep it brief and to the long elusive point:

• Sundays are made for trips to the sausage maven at Honeypie and splendid walks along shores of recent drained Hapgood Pond
• Once TQ gets to fixin, and into more fixin….…. the woman spent six hours cursing and trying to put up a state of the art motion light……and then tore into the electric fireplace…. gonna ship her off to Yellowstone to live with the kindred pioneer woman
• THE POND peaked as were driving away today
• It is mid-November and 75 degrees- lucky, lucky for us……. devastating for our grandchildren………but hey…it’s about now and about me, right?
• We had dinner for the first time with The Mad Scientist and his Earthmover Trophy Wife…. with formal dinner service laid out (as in which fork do you use when?) ……and they had a massive GONG from a Tibetan monastery they bought while there, and had shipped home for some ungodly amount of drachma…and then…. had to go to the Newark Docks to see Tony Soprano and pay a daily Vig to get it……we’re going back to these people as soon as we return…. did I mention that Trophy Wife made a lamb cassoulet type thing………Bang a Gong, Big Tony……?
• If you ever got drugs form Merck (not your street dealer who drives an ancient Mercury sedan…. the giant Pharma pesticide), you may want to look into their contributions to the Aryan war effort ant to DA Fuhrer-fuckhead…. Merck Jerks……
• Got to gather with the Erstwhile Russian Spy, the World’s Most Beloved School Marm, the Masseuse in the Trailer, the Prince of the Spectrum People and the Empress of General Electric (Ret.) ……. this last week before we left…which is lot of dishes to wash…
• Had final Monday night pickin and grinnin this week…with more tears shed…as well as chocolate cupcakes……which go only moderately well with fine bourbon……. but we were out the door with the tunes
• And……… the Dumpmaster would not let go of TQ at the last dump trip….…had to beat him back with a bamboo stick……got a nice dump-dropped bike out of the deal

Go to go find dinner…thinkin’ Lebanese in Vestal…. there is song there, no….…back in the saddle again….

May you winter be divine and may the wind take your troubles away……I’ll catch you on the other side.

Stu

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Bonjourno:

“Where have all the flowers gone, long time passing” ……………………………………………………………………Pete Seeger

“There is no poetry where there are no mistakes” ………………………………………………………………………….Joy Harjo

“The aim is to balance the terror of being alive with the wonder of being alive” …………………………Carlos Castaneda

Say it ain’t’ so…Joe…. where was the Papi-San blog last week? Did you mourn? Did you kvetch? Was your day or week thrown off” ……. ah….my fantasies are a life of their own. Truth is we went from a swag up the coast of Maine to the kids visiting…. to our last dance up in the non- tropical Islands…. stayin’ alive…. ooh, ooh, ooh…. stayin’ alive….

I just edited 300 pictures down to around 70- so please accept this as a small gift…. but then again, it is both Autumn in the Majestic Greens as well as having my babies here with us for five days…does it get better?

Spent the early part of week before last gazing at the last of the leaves on the Mount, and taking advantage of a string of 70 plus days to winterize the property…tho tempting to jump in for a brisk dip in the now miraculously almost full POND……where did it come from? Where has it been?

Daughter Tessa, Grand-kin Sloanie-Baloney and my Great (not an adjective, necessarily) Niece, Lena- all arrived at Albany international (yes-it truly is) last Friday. We had four fun filled days with the wonder-children in between four-year-old toddler meltdowns…culminating in our stumbling on to a giant parking lot pig, which Sloanie alternated screaming: “I want to see the pig” with “I hate the pig” …whilst Papi drove around the pig in circles trying to figure out what to do. The weather was magnificent, and we had picnics, and sparkles, and trunk or treating, and bonfire with s’mores and jumping in leaf piles and a trip to the pool, and a walk on the Appalachian Trail with swinging bridge and river rock skimming…and daily visits from the birthday fairy…suffice to say we were all exhausted each evening, and then retired to have Sloanie sleep in the big bed with Nana, Papi and Lucy….and lovingly/sleepingly kicking and pulling Papi- hair much of the night….light sleeper…but had a wonderful visit…

Has anyone watched Ted Lasso? I’m still laughing at 3 am after watching…………………

After last gasp birthday dinner- party for the BIG 4 YO, we headed back down to Albany on Tuesday on another drop dead gorgeous day to put kids on flights, and got back in time to take TQ’s car in for fixin’ after three months of trying to find someone to do it…. you know the drill…supply chain….no employees…blah…blah…blah…. Wednesday we took off for our annual Island jaunt and found to our amazement, that even the northernmost part of Vermont, right up by Canady was almost peak color…. still!…….. maybe the lake effect?….and…it was  76 degrees….and….there were no other souls in sight as we traipsed through multiple state parks, dunes, picnic lunches and hung at our beloved Cozy Cottage right on the the Big C. lake….which is at Grand Isle, Vermont, which we learned is the exact half way point between the Equator and the North Pole….who knew…and where else you gonna get this kind of knowledge?….A Nor’easter blew in overnight Wednesday- so Thursday dawned 30 degrees cooler, but sunny and bright and we toured the isles to see if we could find a road we had not yet been on after 20 years of traipsin’ (not really) and found our favorite chicken farm and apple orchard…scored the legendary smoked chicken pot pie from the Happy Bird Farm….OY………..

After a stop at Hackett’s Orchard for the requisite cider donuts, we headed home Friday, moseying down scenic mountain Route 116 and doing chores along the way…picking up an astoundingly completed car (at a third of the Ohio quoted prices…in a mountain garage that can fit but one car inside and 65 outside on some form of blocks)-  and got home to start our inescapable march towards Heartland time, in ten days or so….

Da Lucy and I discovered a pining (for TQ) Dumpmaster Saturday morning, and a new dirt road, and though the leaves are beyond help, it was a gorgeous fall day walk over a small mountaintop…. today I think we go see the sausage mavens down Stratton and take advantage of the extended crazy nice weather for a ramble…………by the shores of gitchee- goomey……

Is Clarence Thomas a real human being?

Are the Cavs for real?

Can The Queen leave The Mount and the cardboard yard massacre?

Keep tuned in for the answers to these and almost ALL questions of merit…or ask your own…or find a bone…. or seedy sown…but not alone…the way is shown….and now I’m goin’……

Till next week,

Estuardo

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Bonjour les Americains:

“Endless is my vow under the azure sky boundless autumn” ……………………………………………….Soen Roshi

“Master your instrument, Master the music, and then forget all that bullshit –and just play!” ……………Charlie Parker

“I started a joke……………. that had the whole world laughing” ……………………………………………………………Herman

Though tempted to let this week’s dazzling photo array stand on its own and speak for itself…. a few, just a few… words might be prudent………

The Queen capped her Cider Daze extravaganza last Sunday as a massive success; over a 1000 people per day, many sheckles for the Association coffers, and busloads of happy leaf peepers from the burbs….and don’t forget……The Cow Plopped this year….so a success by all standards……went over on Sunday just to hang for a bit with the Jewish Pig Farmer…. but not nearly as nice a day and came home to nap out the afternoon………….

When my niece and nephew were here, we found a new dirt road to meander- Packard Road – with a wonderful 1700’s family cemetery. While in the midst of nowhere, Papi had to go…. really had to go……so off to the fields he went to plop with the cows……Fast forward a week……and TQ takes da Lucy up for a walk…..now, being a relentlessly devoted roller, what does she find?………….TQ had to go to the to nearby farm for a hose down….. needless to say, to allow stinky admittance to the car……A man and his dog…….

Car drama in the Greens continued this week, when I dropped my car off for body work last Friday and been without ever since….my kingdom for an available rental car, sire……one car in The Mount, less than ideal………

But for Wednesday through Friday- was irrelevant, as we packed up for annual Mainer jaunt. …holy cow……72 degrees, bright sunshine, cloudless sky…. For the magnificent drive across Live Free or Die, and on to the Coast……hit several old forts in Kittery, then on to Wells for luncheonette fish sandwiches….and the tedious late afternoon drive up Route 1 to our motel cabin, which Papi booked thinking it was a different one…about 30 tedious miles south…are we there yet?…………..settled in quaint knotty pine cabin with the three of us immediately eying the limited bed space and assessing the likelihood of taking over the bed………………………………

Has anyone watched Derry Girls on Netflix yet……the nonstop muttering uncle, guaranteed to put any reasonable person to sleep, is worth the admission price.

Oops, got distracted………found Old Orchard Beach with its empty tourist streets and ghost of an amusement park…and its legendary AAA minor league baseball team since the 1950s…who can resist major resort areas in no man’s off season. Back to cabin and across Route 1 to little Thai joint………………………………with absolute best duck dish of all time, in drunken noodles…. CRISPY……yes, yes, yes, yes……

And, is anyone keeping up with the baseball playoffs?………….Go politically incorrect TRIBE….and the Paradise Padres……. whoda thunk?…….

Day two of Papi’s Big Adventure involved 7 hours of striving in circles up and down the southern Maine coast-mostly in futile search for the perfect Lobsta Roll……which we did not find…… but hit the animal sanctuaries, wooded sunlight walks, the ancestral Winslow Homer digs…. and the coming first wind wave of the approaching nor’easter (foreshadowing here) ……in amazing breakout, we had three restaurant meals in one day……eclipsing more than we have had in a given month since The Plaque arrived…..breakfast Diner hash…..unlikely Mexican Tacqueria for shrimpy lunch…..and classic fish house for din-din…all allowing us to freely cavort with the many maskless of our tribe….no Plaque here, my friends…..

Friday arrived with the promised rain and bluster….and oh, those Maine winds…all we could do to move the car away from the coast, and into the safety of the mountains…with a Live Free or Die- Claremont stop for shop and the world’s best subs….here I found the holy grail Lobsta Roll, masquerading as lobster salad…..back in our woods, we hit glorious sunshine and got in a walk in the perfect light of fall afternoon fade at the Ludlow cemetery, with the flaming colored ski slopes of Okemo in the vista…and then home to rest period. Saturday chore day- last mow of the season…and more cardboard yard murder by TQ……with late day walk up lovely dirt road and first trip in ages to beloved East…but skipped DA Duck……did not want to compare with Maine-Thai perfection……

May be a late edition next week as Tess, Sloane and Lena-BoBeema are all arriving Friday for last of fall weekend…makin’ al list –checkin; it twice…and the Big Girl hits the big 4 Y/O today…. WOW…….

Dats all folks, Papi

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My, My…. Hey, Hey………Chilly nights are here to stay

Hey, Hey…. My, My………Fallen leaves can make you cry

Well- short week since last missive…. lots of fall- doins-activities culminating in the annual explosion of Cider Daze….The Queen not to be found for days on end….so am going to let the pictures speak, have rest before resuming the vigil-  and here are the very few things I learned this week:

• Tho I finally found someone to repair my injured vehicle, after five weeks of insurance haggling, there are no cars to be rented in these parts over Indigenous Peoples weekend…. I can’t believe I used that…much prefer Columbus the Killer weekend or just The Tribe weekend….. but then my PC is on the low end as you know
• Speaking of The tribe (not The ridiculously named Cleveland Guardians…. THE TRIBE) …they now got the Damn Yankees…. Prediction: upset in five
• Vermont is so progressive they are going to try and pass a constitutional amendment allowing three year olds to have abortions (there he goes again)!…….promoted by a Republican governor, yet….
• Drought, smought…no one ever really knows about Fall foliage-this may be best year in decades
• ONE Degree of Separation- turns out one of the guys I play with (music, not sandbox) has played with Jerry Garcia and is related by marriage to Diana Ross…No Shit
• Weatherman don’t really know shit- I dressed in five layers for the predicted barely-cracking- 40 set on the Green for Cider Daze…. turned out to be perfect fall day- 55, hot sun, no wind…was down to civvies by the end…
• Covid is apparently done- as a thousand mad hatters from Jersey and Connecticut showed up north on the village green yesterday without a care…. eating, singing, yodeling, communing intimately in all ways
• And, then after paying 3 hours of music, went to work the community supper in the uber-Oddfellows Hall- packed to the brim with maskless fools and berserkedly eating family style and screaming for more-……. immediately went back to car to get my n-95…can anyone say Super-Spreader?
• And the Family Johnson, who provide Old Nellie for the annual Cow Plop contest (developed and orchestrated by Her Queeness) have a son named Jeremiah….shit you not….and it is perfect
• And…old Bessie indeed Plopped on cue this year, making first day of the festival a resounding success
• A group of unpaid, and unpracticed 70 year olds can still rock out
• A God- Day arose yesterday y form the ashes of The Plaque
• Long Live The Queen

That is really it….an American dream in full fruition…….Ferlin’

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Como Esta:

“I knew nothing but shadows and thought them to be real” …………………………………………………………Oscar Wilde

“When you can bear your own silence, you are free” ……………………………………………………………………. Mooji

“I do not seek; I find” ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………Picasso

Autumn burst on the proverbial scene this week- after deluding the mountain folk into thinking too dry, too wet, too cold, too hot…this is the year it will just skip us by….NOT…one day it looked  washed out and seemed to be going from Green to Brown…the next day , the hills were alive with the sound of music……Had my eldest niece and nephew in this week from NC and a lot was done…so got way behind….and you wondered where the Hell I was on Sunday….well….Truckin’….got my chips cashed in Keep Truckin’, like the do-dah man… Together, more or less in line……

So, not got much in the tank at the moment…. like nada, no-mas, zilch, nuthin’, negatory, Namaste, nevah……gonna let the pictures tell most of the story, story…with few notes on NanaPapiland adventures to perhaps clarify…. or more likely confuse…

Spent days this week trying to find lunch……where have all the cafes gone…with the Covid wind……supplies, employees, excuses……holy mackerel…. can’t get a bugger…

The mountains are a rugged place for car repair, insurance settlements, computer fixin, phone doins…and nasty Cell service…but the Gods aligned his week, and we now have signal…an actual signal…. A real signal……holy cows…. (but sacrificed the printer connection to get it) ….no free lunch…

The Southies up the hill are still crazy after all these years…and hate to be called Southies…sorry ‘bout that…………………….

We may yet have ice skating this winter in da pond….

Storms wreak havoc, no???……

New Hampshire 300-year-old churches are the majordomo of rummage sales….

The Dumpmaster rides again….

What beats happy hour duck- deluxe at the Homestyle Hostel?……..

Well…maybe a post-happy visit to the Fah-Mas Mah-ket and some fried chicken from Schwan’s (previously Shaw’s) and dinner on TV tray tables –and baseball- by the fire….

Real Mets fans are fuckin’ nuts…………

Toolin’ #1- open studio weekend in central Vermont…. throw me sum pots……glaze me sum glass……. freewheelin’ thru’ Wallingford, Rutland, Fair Haven, Poultney, Castleton…. majestic mountain names…….and splendid late season Creamees at Lac Bomoseen……and then…. the glow of autumn lite on the ride home…. oh, mama…………….

Toolin’ #2- hidden Packard road dirt walks with the 1700s family cemetery on a fall morning, pickin apples from the stolen tree for crisp, Tap to Table festival in bright sunshine Sunday glow…listen to the music…

Oh, how we danced……the kid’s anniversary dinner with special Vermont vinery, red gravy extravaganza from Sal’s……dinner by candlelight in front of the roaring fire…. Bing Crosby, anyone?

Toolin’ #3- morning in classic (tho tourist-crazzy) Woodstock, the splendor of Queeche Gorge, Route 100 majesty, on up to the gilded gold-domed palace of the people’s house in Montpelier, spectacular burgers at Buddy’s’ Famous (Lucy welcome) …and then…the coup de grace……… of the Italianate onliest Hope Cemetery…

And lest we not forget the sparkle Barn sparklin’’

Now it time to say goodbye to all out fam-a lee….M I C…see ya real soon……K E Y…why, because we love you……

Zine Gisent.

Stu

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Bonjourno:

“With no bird singing, the mountain is yet more real” ……………………………………………………………Zen Master

“Got a good reason- for taking the easy way out, now” …………………………………………………………Lennon/McCartney

“My poop in the woods was most satisfying” …………………………………………………………………………The Queen

Floatin’ like a butterfly…. stingin’ like a Bee….as autumn continues its very slow momentum at emerging in the mountains. Still a hit or miss whether the Foliage will explode late this year, or just mutedly fade away in pastel-like solemnity…. damn drought……though there have been a few real rain soakers over the last two weeks, which has The Pond smiling again, as it has risen to only being about 2.5 feet down from its all-time record low…and…… we are having to resume cutting grass again….no climate change here…

Started the week with Sunday dinner with The Erstwhile Russian Spy and The World’s Most Beloved School Marm, which was delightful…. TQ made some form of yogic enchiladas and TWMBSM, who is always on a meditative, healing diet, still found it in her heart to create a magical dessert of some kind that somehow was still in the generally healthy realm (no ask- no tell) …………………………………………

Tuesday, we took off for our first Fall- Outing of the year…up to The Northeast Kingdom, in search of the Woodchuck Mafia. Though it was predicted to be rainy, it turned out to be quite a good day, until late when we arrived at our cottage around beautiful Lake Willoughby in Westmore, Middle-of –Nowhere…. in time for soaker – to Marysue’s little hobbit house, which is so cozily comfortable that we don’t even use the sleeping oft, opting for all three of us on a trundle bed in the central living area. We meandered our way north up the ancient Connecticut River Valley discovering a surprisingly nice hike at Tucker Mountain, where we actually made the summit for the views, a rarity for us foundlings.

Consistent with living in the (maybe) post-Covid world, not a single nearby restaurant was open early in the week, so we had to graze our way through the general store to find something to eat for dinner, which actually turned out quite good, though I could not bring myself to buy their homemade chop suey, which resembled hamburger helper, rest its soul. Wednesday was a really pleasant fall day (shorts weather for Papi) for our annual tour of The Kingdom, which took us over multiple mountain ranges to Island Pond (major woodchuck rustic), Derby (fought the powers that be to have the state’s fifth Walmart despite the furor over losing its pastoral charm), Newport (post hip renaissance north) and down to Coventry (site of the famous gigantic Phish show at an airfare base)- where we made the annual pilgrimage to the real thing -Martha’s Diner -for the US’s best fried chicken (USA today 2012)-no disappointments there as we labored with love on the nearby picnic table on the town green. Wound up the day at majestic Brownington (the historical village home of Alexander Twilight, the country’s first black physician……who knew?) for our yearly walk around the massive property. Returned back to the cottage to find no eateries yet open (supply chain, no employees, blah, blah, blah), so creatively made some form of dinner via the cooler remnants, which was pretty ok. We made a detour to Willoughby Falls (a locally well-kept secret) to check out the spawning steelhead trout, but we missed them by about five months.

Check out the massive photo gallery for the real story.

Meandered our way back and forth across the state on way home Thursday crossing two major gaps for the peakish views and on down to Rutland, with emergency dispensary stop in Middlebury, just in time for the new super-duper booster shot to ward off The Plague……………… then a mad dash back to the house to intercept the auto crash appraiser, who comes to Vermont once a month from the flatlands, before he headed back into the woodwork……mission accomplished –so may yet get my car repaired by the end of 2023.

On Friday night, The Queen went to the monthly gathering of the Lady Mount Mystics for dinner and conviviality…and to see DA Bears….….30 minutes of Mama and Da Cubs apple eating right outside the door…we don’t need no damn zoo here….

Check out those pix…and see Sloanie bike like a mermaid…. Papi bad with metaphors….

Yesterday was one of those awful, unsettling, humbling, erratic (get the picture?) days that had an unexpectedly good turn. Spent around six hours trying to deal with failed technology, failed car repairs, failed overdue work assignment….much of it on the phone with a series of beleaguered Pakistanis….finally got one thing partially working, cashed in, and got motivated to head out…..skedaddled down to Londonderry and well-kept secret Lowell Lake……where we hiked the entire lake trail (3.5) in late day majestic autumn sunlight, ending at the early 1700s graveyard……..Forest Healing….impulsively stopped on the way home at the early 1800’s Fullerton inn, in quaint Chester, for a dinner in their formal dining room….all of which significantly changed the tone and tenor of the day….

So…. enuff already……. yer killing me…. Good Shabas to all……miles to go….keep your motors running, running down the highway, lookin for adventure, take whatever comes my way……BTBW………..Love Ya’ll Neville……

Papi

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