Notable People: Nicola Walker, Jamie Sives, Katie Lunge, Ukweli Roach Created by: Sarah Solemani
Title: Annika
Review: Based on the popular Scottish, Annika Strandhed novels, this PBS Masterpiece entry stars the wonderful Walker (Unforgotten, Last Tango in Halifax) as the very in-over-her head newly minted leader of the Glasgow Marine Homicide Unit. Walker is alternately imbecilic, brilliant and hilarious with her mismatched team of investigators. Another in a long line of BBC DI- somethings, it’s worth the watch and promises a second season.
Good morning and “Wakey, Wakey…. hands off Snakey” (Rake):
“When fear is finished, there are no more problems to be resolved, only life to be lived” ………………………………………………………………………………………Michael Kewley
“Sudden the cold airs swing. Alone, aloud. A verse of bells take wing. And flies with the cloud.” ……………………………………………………………………………. Alice Meynell
“I’ll get the Last Train to Tulsa, right before the snow….…. if you ever need a ride there, be sure and let me know” …………………………………………………. Neil Young
Slow down, you move too fast…. gotta make the morning last……. blah, blah, blah……Feelin’ Groovy………the hoar frost arrives each morning……. the last browns and oranges hang on for dear life on almost bare trees……warmish rain turns to brittle sunshine chill……………dark, dark, darkness…… begins its ascent in middish afternoon………must be time to go……lift your wings and fly away……to the land of the corn and wheat…..time to go….
One more rainy Sunday led us out after multiple days sequestered at home……to a last drive down through the quaint villages……East Wallingford, Weston, Londonderry, Stratton…. last of the fall colors with moments of retro brilliance….on to the Kings of Sausage at Honeypie……then the ghost town walk at Hapgood Pond…where Lucy goes so bat shit crazy to be on her beloved trail, that she somehow loses her harness…..how can that happen?
Mr. O’Bleary’s Cow………lives up the road at Dennis the Drunk’s house……a pathetic, skin on bone creature that brays at the moon in midday, which really confuses Lucy………this the most recent in a yearly effort to fatten a bulimic bovine for winter food stock….by the time he has the poor Elsie slaughtered……….2-3 meals at most, my guess.
Found a new mountain car repair place………Chris is down in Clarendon and changed my oil for a third of the price of the chains…….in his little garage behind a freewheelin’’ church on a dirt road………no receipt, no tax, just a hand shake (very dirty hands) with the mountain man mechanista……
Got The Bullfrog- Pond Blues- usually more than ready to leave the oozing-out, declining, evaporating Pond behind by this time of year…. when all efforts to keep it near the brim have failed……But Not……look at that puppy……as if it had just filled up from the winter snowmelt runoff……where are the men that I used to sport with?
Friday was cold but very sunny, so off for our last drive- walk adventure…..across the great Connecticut to the “Live Free or Die” and “We Love the Trumpster” province……mostly because the live free nutcakes are also tax free and have no six taxes……so a big ass bottle of fine bourbon for the road, at half the price….and then stop at the quirky Hungry Diner in Walpole……for last dine outside in the sunshine experience……great place, creative comfort cuisine….but when you get the bill it is always more than you thought…..finally figured out they are levying an additional tax for “livable wage for their employees’…..which I support in theory, but wonder who should pay for…..though clearly all who work there have drunk the cool aid….so guess it works..
And speaking of “lasts” …. made the trip down the hill last night to Rut-town for one more glorious Chinese extravaganza at our beloved “East” ……. went gloriously out of the box with our fist Pu-Pu Platter in a decade…. will miss our corner/window Sunday night table……. anyone care for rituals?
And speaking of lasts, number two……Having our first, last and only supper gathering of the year tonight……to bid farewell to a bunch of our closest peeps on The Mount…..The Erstwhile Russian Spy, The Worlds Most Beloved School- Marm, the empress of General Electric, The Masseuse in the Trailer, and her partner, The King of Snow Machines…….will all be here…..which means one last ridiculous housecleaning (TQ has rules about this)….and hiding all the detritus of getting packed to leave (more TQ rules)….there’ll be a whole lot of shakin’ goin’ on……
I imagine I’ll see TQ sometime before the dinner guests arrive though at the moment she is out in the countryside flirting with the Dumpmaster, dropping off at plant daycare, looking for more pine trees to randomly dig up, mulching her heart out, all over the land….and generally presiding as the town angel and Her Majesty of the Lake…………. people may not notice that I have left…. but TQ will be missed…….
So…. off Thursday for The Heartland…. Now it’s time to say goodbye to all our family…M-I-C…see ya real soon….K-E-Y…why, because we love you…………stay very well and keep in touch….might drop a Blog-Bomb or two during the winter….but who knows….
“Let me say it again: the present moment is all you ever have” ………………………………………………………………………………………………Eckhart Tolle
“It’s a marvelous night for a Moondance” ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. Van Morrison
“I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers” ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………L. M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables
It’s been a chilly, wet week here on The Mount. The leaves are almost all down; stick season is reaching full swing here in The Greens. People start to disappear in that grey time between Autumn and Ski Season. Is this a time of ending? beginning? A little bit of the loss of innocence along with the sunlight. Does anyone really embrace Daylight Savings Time?
We have begun the process of shutting down the homestead in anticipation of flying the coop on the 11th. The tchotchkes of our lives begin to disappear from the barn, the yard, the house……. driftin’ away with the leaves. But…….one last gasp this week took us up to the shores of Lake Champlain for our annual trek to the Islands of Vermont and Grand Isle……where lo and behold, the Lake Effect provides a late lasting, stunning array of Fall bounty on the shore outside our little cottage on what should by all measures, be a Great Lake.
Rituals……gotta love them….and we have developed quite the routines over many years of traipsing around the Northeast. Does anyone really believe there are Islands in Vermont? A quick two- hour plus trip takes us from the pastoral rolling hills and dales to the hidden wonders of large bodies of waters. Had the requisite stop in Brandon at the Café Provence bakery for breakfast and sweets loading, then up and around the fair metropolis of Burlington and across the bridge to the quaint Island environment and culture that is always a bit of a mystery …. lake cultures……a fascinating way of life, no?
Goin’ home, goin’ home….by the waterside I will rest my bones……Listen to the river sing sweet songs….and, rock my soul.
The Island trips are a quiet blur with hardly anyone around and many stores and restaurants closed up…. the magical wonder of a beautiful place left behind by the tourista hordes of summer. Not really a lot to do if you are pursuing activities: the usual jaunt to The Dunes , a few long hikes in the woods, gazing at the lake sunset through the glass cottage doors, the laps of the waves in bed at night….then there is the middle-of-nowhere, dirt road little Happy Bird Smokehouse, for their smoked chicken pot pie and spicy ribs to cook up ala cottage…..the little, but mighty, Alburg store for their bread and soup and munchies, the hipster bakery for bagels and bialys…..and the hidden orchards for the bull-goose looney of all Cider doughnuts…a world unto itself……remote charm with TV and WI-FI ….what’s not to love?
Not a lot else went on this sticky-week:
The Queen has now moved half of the mulch and most of the hay storage to the project de-la- obliterating of any yard grass.
Three year old Sloane did her first trick or treatin’ and TQ got skeletoned up to do our local Trunk or Treat………that is TRUNK with an “N” …. not an “M”.
We did a portal with Quin-Lily that expanded to five bedtime stories- at this rate we will be doing all-nighters by the time she is eight
The Dumpmaster and his crew wept openly at TQ not making the run for the third consecutive week….”is the little missus just laying’ round the house all naked?”
We both got our Moderna booster jabs on the way home from Island hopping, so ready to tackle the heartland and it minions.
The Prodigal has fully abandoned cash, and is now carrying around bags of crypto tokens.
The politically incorrect Atlanta Braves are whipping the Texas-cheaters in the Series.
The do-gooders are putting measures on town ballots around the state to tamp down the development of retail cannabis in our legal state.
When the winds come down on your one light town, can you look further on than you see? I’m an all-night singer in a rock and roll band, I’m just sittin’ on the edge of being free.
And, that, has got be all she wrote, Dear john…. just send my saddle home.
Well, it’s been another slow week at Mount LeavesBeGone………………………………………the leaves slowly tumble through the hazy filtered sunlight…………………………the sticks re-emerge in the woods…………………………………I hear the train a comin’, It’s comin’ round the bend, and I ain’t seen the sunlight…. since…. I don’t know when………………nights approaching the 20s……seventy degrees a thing of the late lost summer……Gone with the Wind………how does it feel?……to be on your own……See the sap lines dot the woods like one giant spider web……people are strange….where have they gone?………….bracing for the next phase of mountain life……Kerouac, Ginsberg, Snyder, Ferlinghetti, blasting in my mind, from a million nights past…………………………think I’ll pack it in, and buy a pickup……………………………mountain time nears an end……….one last hoped- for- gasp pf Autumns’ splendor as we drift up to the Islands of Lake Champlain this week
Leaves, Leaves, Leaves……Pond, Pond, Pond……haul that bale…..Truckin’, down in New Orleans……help me, I think I’m fallin’……Ticks, ticks, ticks……spread the Doxycycline anti-Lyme miracle to bitten friends….the beasts are everywhere….look out, look out…………….the Candyman, here he comes….and he’s gone again….….Dumpmaster cries “don’t go”….or at least leave the missus…..what about all the mulch and cardboard….can the land yet become one large garden of rocks and blueberries?….sixty nine years of American Dreams……..ugghhhh…..Where are the men that I used to sport with?…..
Baseball has been berry, berry good to me……Sox have fallen to break the pioneer hearts of the great Northeastern Tribe…..autumn winds and baseball…..Amerika!………trippin’ solo to Middlebury- town to see the second coming of the shaman…crunch, crack…………aahhh……..how long have I been waitin’ for you, how long have you been on yer way………..Work, Work, Work……we gotta get outta this place, if its the last thing we ever do………..retirement memo apparently missed……Zoooooooomm…….where are the old dogs to teach new trix…………..New woods to ramble….out in the Mendon Orchards way……..Buenos’ Burritos……yes, yes, yes……….Johnson, Pfizer, Moderna….gotta jab me up…yeah jab me up….yeah, jab me up…..how much is too much?..
The sun is out; the Barn awaits……. Dear Prudence, won’t you come out and play-ay……the woods are lovely dark and deep, but miles to go before I sleep, miles to go before I sleep……
Friend of mine goes to hospital to get checked out……passes room with a guy masturbating……asks the nurse what is up with that…. she replies that the patient has rare condition and has to do it every hour to avoid symptoms…. shakes his head, continues down the corridor…. passes another room where nurse is going down on the patient…. catches the nurse and asks what about that…. nurse says same condition, better insurance……
Maybe it is the winding down of Autumn in the mountains, or the incessant dropping of nature’s majesty signaling the foreboding of winter……. or the re-appearance of our Route 103, clearly visible over the ridge after its total invisibility during the leaf months of April thru October……. but I am finding myself, inexplicably, at a relative loss for words this week. Not total mind you…. just relatively.
So- back to the basics…. THIS I what I learned this week:
It takes about eight hours to mix two studio recordings…and is harder than it seems.
The Queen lives…. she has reappeared after her month long Cider Daze absence……and is back digging up the yard.
There is almost nothing better than a Sunday night family dinner at our beloved East…with the Nave.
Marty, the Retired Vet, cross between Mitch Miller and Burl Ives (much dated folkie reference) ……Bull Goose Curmudgeon -lives on a magnificent quarry outside Chester…. a long overdue visit.
Going to Quebec, which we had considered doing again this week, is still hard to figure out…clearly, with great lodging prices available, the Canucks are eager to let you in……but not so clear the US Border-Plaque Busters, are all that willing to let you back…
Number two granddaughter, Sloane Michael, turned a hard-to- believe three years old this week.
When all else fails, we head to the Northeast Kingdom (yes, that a real thing) for an anti- tourisme- leaf peeing adventure.…which we did for the past three days. Had the usual Kingdom suspect highlights: one breathtaking cornucopia of color after another, bumping over a hundred sacred dirt road highways only found in remote Vermont, deep northern lakes surrounded by the bounty of Autumn’s plate of hues, possibly the worlds best fried chicken dinner at Martha’s Diner in Coventry, the splendid Boulder Beach in the Green Mountain National Forest, the requisite drive- by at our old digs and stomping ground in Groton, the majesty of mist driven, early morning at Island Pond, hip downtown Newport on the American shore of Lake Mempheregog, the secret Amish lost community (and its baked goods) in historic Brownington, the lovely deep autumn beauty of Lake Willoughby…..piddling all over the great kingdom from our little airbnb shack in someone’s backyard in tiny Nurk (Newark) Vermont…..
All too good to be true….too real to be fake……too much too early…………too, too, too……
And the rest…. well…. every picture tells a story…so take a look…
“I’m not perfect, but I’m enough” …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….Carl Rogers
“There is no solution, because there is no problem” ……………………………………………………………………………Marcel Duchamp
“Woke up this morning, got myself a gun” ……………………………………………………………………………………………Tony Soprano
It’s been a busy week at Lake Queenbegone.
Como estas:
“I’m not perfect, but I’m enough” …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….Carl Rogers
“There is no solution, because there is no problem” …………………………………………………………………………………………Marcel Duchamp
“Woke up this morning, got myself a gun” ………………………………………………………………………………………………………. Tony Soprano
It’s been a busy week at Lake Queenbegone. This weekend is the culmination of months of crazed activity by The Queen and her cronies for the return of Cider Daze after two years. The annual Top Ten Fall New England event brings the hordes of masked avengers to our little town green to goggle at the splendor of Vermont mountain autumn, while noshing on local treats, buying an unlimited array of tchotchkes and, of course, slurping up cider from the ancient town Cider press…all of which takes countless meetings amongst The Association Yentas.
So…. not many Queen sightings this week- though she did show up to finish her upstairs six-month hall painting project…and one of her many current yard overhauls…in advance of our visit from The Nave.
Had a blitz of early week workin’ to complete to be able to be free for the Nave’s (aka Earl, Flaco and Steve) arrival on Wednesday……though the call of Fall splendor got me out driftin’ in the laves a bit as chilly wet tuned into brilliant autumnal sunshine and the magnificent glow of the emergence of the cacophony of rainbow of colors……Did I just actually say that?
So, picking up with Wednesday night and Naves arrival, we began our obsession with the baseball playoffs with the captivating and rewarding Sox victory over The Huns from the Bronx, and have stayed glued to the streaming colored box every night since…. though took a break last night to watch the amazing Saints of Newark prequel to the revolutionary Sopranos…. that little thing of ours….
Thursday, Nave and I did the Ludlow thing with a little low rent shopping, lunch at Okemo from Java Baba and a trip to walk and gawk at the beautiful Ludlow cemetery……where Lucy and her BFF, Rosie, were free to go nuts amongst the descendants….In the morning, we had a surprise visit from Tanta Ingrid, the eerily look alike sister of our benefactress, Karen…though for a frightening moment at the door, I was paralyzed to think it WAS Karen, and the house was a mess…and we would be damned to bad buyer hell………………….
Thursday night, we gathered our makeshift Cider Daze Band in the barn for a one-time rehearsal for our Saturday CD gig……we wore shorts and such…and crawled in frozen after two and a half hours…as the mild fall afternoon tuned into a very brisk mountain night……but TQ had reemerged after a day in the mines, to prepare a pot of soup for the cold and starving minstrels
Friday dawned one of those drop dead perfect Fall days…and we planned an easy day of mostly hanging…which went out the proverbial window when our ostensible couple of hours at Mt. Hollywood studios, to remix our August recordings, turned into a five hour marathon of lost files and missing tracks…which resulted in finishing the mix for ONE (count ‘em) song…so came home for a quick very late lunch and romp with the pups, then headed back out to hit the Ludlow Farmers Market foe TQ’s required list, and then on to find Amazing Mike and Cheryl’s cabin up a series of dirt roads in the middle of nowhere to drop off their set list for Saturday…. famous last words: “just find the blueberry hushes”…which we eventually did….On the way back from da mahket we encountered THE PERFECT FALL MOMENT, as we crested the ridge down into Belmont….and had to hump out of the car into the brilliant twilight like a pair of Japanese tourists to snap an endless array of can’t miss photos (see attached) ….one of those rare moments of nature’s bounty….….at the market we were instructed to buy ripe organic radishes, but when we approached the produce monger and asked “do you have any radishes”, he replied in his droll manner…“Go Fish”…which took us an hour to figure out …should have then tried asking for mushrooms…..
Saturday and the grand entrance of Cider Daze was bit off putting….chilly and overcast…..which did not stop the tourist hordes from shopping and noshing….actually saw a stuffed fisher cat, which is the north woods cat killer, but I left reassured that mighty Lucy could take it down if need be….there was a petting zoo, and exhibit of 75 years of country fire trucks and equipment, music throughout (we played a chilly hour and half set featuring fiddle tunes and western swing…a first )…… and the newest Queen and her Cronies creation….a Cow Plop contest (really!) in which a square was laid out/roped off on someone’s lawn with 80 boxes to be bought for ten bucks each…and then Jim and Millicent’s cow (who provides us out weekly milk) was set loose…to plop in a square and make someone rich….the farmers had guaranteed there was no way Miss Liberty (born on the fourth) would not shat in the three hour contest window so as to declare a winner….but she apparently decided to fill the trailer with shat on the way over and then refuse to move bowels….when they finally gave up and put her back in the trailer, she shat all over again…so the industrious festival planners blindfolded some kid and let him drop the treasure in the middle of the erstwhile laid out game board…..FAKE PLOP…winner declared…
And that was enough to send everyone home for the day……WE returned to our crock pot of Farmer Jeff’s’ beef from which the Nave created Eyetalian Beef sandwiches ala Chicago….more baseball….get up and do it again….Amen…..
Out of ink…time to go…take it slow….get out and mow….eat some crow…behold and lo….reap what you sown…mo…mo…mo…
“A cool breeze, the grasshopper singing with all his might” ………………………………………………………………………………………………. Issa
“When I argue with reality, I lose- but only 100 per cent of the time” …………………………………………Byron Katie
“C’est la vie say the old folks, you better know you never can tell” ……………………………………………………………………………………. Chuck Berry
“That bedspread looks like it’s from the Bates Motel” ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………. Lauren Butch
It’s been a very slow unwinding of Autumn here in the Greens. Started with an early bang, at the start of August, mind you, but has slowed to a crawl, and now looking for a mid-late October peaking. But, it is Fall, after all, and if you live in northern New England, it is time to get yer arse out there. For 20 plus years, we spent three weeks’ vacation every Fall roaming around the hills and dales of Vermont, and tried not to give that experience up, when we moved up-so we now plan three “fall outings” every Fall to go peeping. This week, was outing number one, up to the coast of Maine, which we do annually, but usually much later in the tourist season, to avoid the masses. Constantly amazed at the miles and miles and miles of wonderful empty beaches along the coast this time of year, and that the tourists all flock to the crowded streets of Olgongiut and Kennebunkport to stay together like moths around a light. Why do we do that?
But, I digress……again……and again……mostly a beautiful week here in the Greens, with classic fall weather, which took us for a hike- hunt last Sunday and resulted in lunch at the weird middle-of-nowhere sausage place down in Stratton and a visit to the Hapgood Pond national recreation area, which is closed for the season, but apparently not for us.
Early week was a blitz of work and home/ hearth chores (The Queen never sleeps) …and then off to Maine on Wednesday. Stayed in Kennebunk at a cute cottage in an old fashioned motor court (which still thrive in New England) and trolled every beach between Portsmouth, NH and Portland, Maine……with the requisite hunt for the world’s best lobster roll. At one point, driving along the coast we looked up and seemed to spot Big Lucy, the dog we cared for last week, at a beach parking area, which turned out to be a run in with the people we dog sat for…on a remote Maine beach…how does that happen?
If you go to that area of Main, it is a must to check out the Rachel Carson (“Silent Spring”) National Wildlife Refuge….an enduring walk in the woods by the ocean…
Got back Friday night after a stop at Claremont New Hampshire for some tax free shopping (Live Free or Die) ……and settled in a for a wet weekend. Enthralled with the end of the major league baseball season with multiple teams going down to the last day for playoff entry…. despite much harassment from my NY family and childhood friends, we have become Sox fans since moving to Vermont……so now root against the hated Yankees……who may well wind up playing each other in a one game play-in wild card for the payoffs. Fall leaves and baseball……what’s not to like?
Had the Erstwhile Russian Spy and the Worlds Most Beloved School Marm over for dinner last night, and got a roaring fire going in the living room….and they stayed for five hours!!!!…. which far eclipsed my usual social boundary…. a three hour max (and five nights for family visiting) ……but it was fine dinner and a good visit…though I was exhausted after five hours of socializing…. I think I am suited for COVID isolation more than most.
The Nave is coming from Ohio on Wednesday for a week’s visit with Lucy’s BFF- Rosie. We will be playing a set next Saturday at the Cider Daze extravaganza…after which there may be a Queen sighting for the first time in a month, as she winds down from her Community Association Czar activities in preparation for the big festival weekend……the prepping of The Cow Plop contest has been particularly time intensive……. then off for another Fall Outing the week after this.
The bathroom remodelings are in full swing back in our Ohio house (how cool is it to have house remodeling done and not be around for the chaos?) ……though the Vermont projects seem to be in half-repair limbo due to The Q’s active pursuit of Yenta-ing…..
And that is about…every picture tells a story, story…and there are a lot of them this week.
Stay safe, have fun, enjoy the change of season…be in touch.
“The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough” ……………………………………………………………………………………………Rabindranath Tagore
“Walk on air against your better judgment” ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. Seamus Heaney
“I have the same religion as that tree over there” …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………Serj Tankian
Out and about is the order of the week in the Greens. Autumn is approaching in earnest, with chilly morns and bright sunny afternoons, turning into harvest-moon brisk nights…. first time this season seeing the mist burning off the barn in early morning, as the dew disappears from the fresh cut grass and the sun heats up the emerging colors.
Last Sunday was such a day, so we set out for a late afternoon trek, up to Mendon-on the other side of the mountain- to find a couple of walks….at that time of day when the fading light provides a softness to quiet the over active brain……walked one dirt road and came upon The True Queen of the Mountains…a ninety- something rugged Vermont gal out on her big-ass tractor……who stopped to give us insider tips on secret hiking majesty……then off to the beloved East for Sunday Chinese. ……. we generally do not go into restaurants and eat- in during The Plaque, but East is huge and elegant, and no one else there at early Sunday dinner time, so we sit by the window in the last of the light….and feast…. you can maybe take the Bronx out of the boy……but not the Sunday Chinese habit……
We dog sat for four days this week…..inheriting big Lucy…..a full blown poodle whilst her mama had to be away….had never met dog or master before….but a friend of a friend…….Big Lucy, and her master, Karen, had that amazing person-dog look alike thing going….both physically and in manner……both very uncomfortable….so she longingly sat by the front door for most of two days, and then made herself at home just in time to leave….Karen left her whist visiting her sister in Maine, taking her other “service” dog along…..not sure what exact service the dog was needed to provide, but then the whole emotional support dog thing is a bit of a mystery to me….do they give therapy? Are they Freudian in approach?
Have not seen much of The Queen last few weeks, as she fulfills her role as The Czar/ Bull Goose Looney of the community association…and spends most of her days deep in the doo of overseeing the preparations for the upcoming Cider Days Festival on our town green……a Top Ten New England Fall Event, mind you……I only know she has been around hither and yon…as there appear more walls stripped upstairs and more yard torn up and replaced by cardboard and hay….is there an end?
Papi and Lucy left to their own devices, took off for a couple of long Fall walks this week , on the local dirt roads, where we encountered some mountain women who educated us both on: 1) the Socialist plot to control America through vaccination, 2) the reasons why little lives should never be aborted….for ANY reason, and 3) the absurdity of the idea that the Communist-Atheists want to pull the plug on a brain-dead living person while their heart is still beating…luckily it was a beautiful spot we conversed at, which provided me a fine view over their talking heads of the mountains beyond….while Lucy wandered around finding dead animals to roll in and get away from the verbal stench…had to come home and take a very long nap…
This week marked the return of two wonderful streaming series we have waited for with baited breath…. the final season of Goliath on Amazon, and the masterful Sex Education on Netflix…. major keepers……
Contest alert……………Papi has not donned a pair of long pants since June….and now considering how long he can go without such adornment……so, pick a date for me to cover my legs before the snow flies….and win a lifetime subscription to The Blog……really!
Friday night was the monthly lady’s night gathering on The Mount….so TQ took off to join two dozen mountain-mamas with their tool belts, patchouli and squash casseroles for a night of clucking……which gave Papi the opportunity to sneak down to Sal’s in Wallingford for prohibited take out dining of baby cow (an absolute no-no) …along with a cup of pasta fazzoul…and the Sox and Yankees on the tube…when is the next Ladies night?
Yesterday dawned as The Perfect Fall Day….so tripped north to the Brandon Pass for some magnificent views and a pair of walks in the woods…. stopping along the way at a new find boasting the best fried chicken in New England……not sure if it’s the Rollin’ Rooster, Clickin’ Chicken’ or Fuckin’ Cluckin’……but locally raised chicken on homemade bread with apple fennel slaw, aioli, cheddar and bacon…. OMG…. had to eat salads for dinner last night……
As we arrived home late afternoon, we could smell the ripe aromas of goat braising on the spit…turned on to out dirt drive to find at least two dozen Jamaicans with a dozen cars and a dozen or more tents set up in the yard…it was like running the gauntlet…. but The Rastas are back for the first time in months with the biggest crew yet…. essentially doubling the people- of- color population of Rutland county……
And, that is it…or should be……got to go see if I can find TQ and mount a Sunday drive to put up dozens more posters for the Cider Daze extravaganza in every quaint village within an hour’s drive…. But…… the sun’s coming up…I’m riding with lady luck…freeways, cars and trucks……
“Be Silly, Be Honest, Be Kind” …………………………………………………………………Ralph Waldo Emerson
“I’m alone here in my own mind. There is no map
and there is no road” …………………………………………. Anne Sexton
“Eternity is a terrible thought. I mean, where’s
it going to end?” …………………………………………………………Tom Stoppard
Well…. feelin’ a little off kilter with getting back
on the Vermont Blog trip, when we have been gone for most of the last three
weeks…. back to the Heartland, for all things granddaughters…. Can’t remember
much about what was going on before we left….and it’s been a whirlwind since we
got back late Wednesday.
New baby Parker Maxwell is a joy…. both she and Mama
Tess are doing fine. We got in good cuddle time, but spent most of 12 days with
almost –three- year old Sloane…who has decided Nana and Papi are The Bomb…at least
most of the time (she is still in the throes of “two-ness”). We chased frogs,
fairies and butterflies and ate mounds of DQ soft serve…while exploring a good many
of the parks in Central Ohio. Dropped in an overnight to Cleveland to get in
some Harper and Quin-Lily time before they left for vacation in Florida………12
days of 0-4-year-old granddaughters……Nana and Papi came back to Vermont to
get some sleep.
Travels did not stop The Queen from her continuing rigorous pursuit of home improvements….in both places!……. Managed to resume her interrupted- assault on the wallpaper in Delaware as well as setting the stage for her zoom-managed double bathroom remodeling in October……… Back in Vermont, immediately continued her assault on all things garden and the redo of upper hallway. The girl loves her projects…and no Marriott escapes in sight for Papi….
Left here end of August in throes of summer heatwave….
got back to the briskness of Autumn…leaves changing in earnest…. after a few days
of unsettled mess, got back into the swing with couple of nice walks over the weekend
and visits to Rutland to Ernie’s hand carved and the Indian joint in the gas station.
Sister Jane was due this week for resuming annual visitation, but some back problems
put her on the shelf, so TQ will have to celebrate her pending birthday without
big sister (who shares same b’day).
We did both drives- hither and yon- with all three
animals loose in the car for 12 hours each way……. wondering what the truckers thought
looking down at lil’ Saffron taking a dump in the car litter box? 10-4, baby……
Since most of our life recently has been about
our four spirited granddaughters…. that’s all I got on the photo front…and not much
more to say.
I have, however, been pondering some serious life questions lately…so here we go:
What exactly is a “Bin Night”? (Australian TV)
Is it heresy for someone of my ilk and persuasion
to have become really fond of “W”?
Has anyone ever had an uplifting customer
service experience with a cell phone company?
When was the last time you laughed until your cried?
Does anyone wear pants on Zoom calls?
Did we really have Olympics on the middle of a
Pandemic?
Is it fathomable that over 80 million American
adults remain unvaccinated?
Is 70 really the new 40?
Have you noticed that fast food restaurants cannot
stay open because they have no one to work? And, how does McDonalds feel about Trump-era
immigration policy?
Is there anywhere better to be in The Autumn than
the Green Mountains?
Hoping these questions don’t keep you up at
night…..back oi nth bandwagon in full throttle next week. Joy to the world.
“ The bright autumn moon: sea-lice running over the
stones”………………………………………………………………………………………..Torin
“ You must be present to win”……………………………………………………………………………………………….Casino Sign
“ When people talk about THEIR ISSUES, I start getting sleepy”……………………………………………………………………………Diane Russell, NYPD Blue
Hidden Sunday Treasures- Perfect day last Sunday led us out with no destination….ambled down Rutland way to one of he worlds GREAT Snack Bars in West Rutland for fresh haddock and clams on a bench in the sun…….then went hunting fro a walk, discovering the magnificent Pine Hill Park, tucked away outside of downtown R-town…….hundreds of acres of bike and walk trails with this amazing kids treasure hunt by guided signs….who knew?
Blasts from the Past- Has bayonet seen McCartney 3,2,1 on Hulu? For those of you on Medicare, we grew up with favorite Beatle; mine was originally George for his taciturn coolness. Later it became forced choice ….Lennon or McCartney. I always leaned Lennon, preferring the dark churlish mystery to the bright effervescence of Sir Paul….who i never really cared all that much for…..but his three part doc with uber-producer Rick Rubin…is a total mind changer….at 80ish, still boyish and with this incredible love for the music and the muse….Sir Paul ROCKS…..and incidentally, check out some cuts from Neil Young’s’ soon to be released first in his bootleg series set…a 1971 Carnegie Hall show….solo, acoustic, brilliant…and …those CRAZY eyes….
Babies– Little Parker is now one week old……and proving to be one of the world’s foremast sleepers…. though we have caught her awake and smiling via Portal a few times…. Toddler Sloane is demonstrating some cool big-Sis chops……gearing up for our visit next week …..thinking /I need to recruit little Maddie (Texas- Marcus and Sara) and/or little Ava (Wisconsin- Jesse and Jess) from one of my “foster” sons to complete a transfer and fill out the OSU woman’s team-class of ’39…
The Queen is roaming the manse in search of challenges….in between her extraordinary social calendar……she is roaming in and
out to find trees to chop down, more lawn to cover with gardens…and de-wallpapering
the entire house…. next idea is for some state of the art tree-removing shovel
to carry on our hikes to capture wayward and lonely forest specimens for the
yard periphery…please, make it stop…
The Call of the Wild #52– alter a tow year hiatus, our neighbor up the road, Drunken Dennis,
has acquired another mangy, emaciated cow for his winter butcher block…. the wastrel
is out in the field bleating or mooing or something most of the day and night….
apparently begging for respite…the sounds of country living…
Are we now that old?– Used to be we celebrated
50th anniversaries with much older siblings or parent types…….but ….we
are apparently now them….were invited to some friends’ 50th celebration
this week…an extraordinary collection of blue and white hairs teetering around their
beautiful barn and property…..lots of long, convoluted conversations punctuated
by senior moments (“what was I saying”?)…the senior groom had three pages of note
to his beloved , which he wept through presenting to her….the more stoic ancient
bride had one index card with a few bullets…perhaps this is the balance of 50 years
of bliss?…..we made two new friends that we hung with there…..The Retired
Bolshevik Postmaster and The I-Only-Shop- At -Coops Activist…should you make new
friends in your seventh decade?
Road Trip # 743– Yesterday was hot and muggy and
provided a perfect back drop for day trip- so up early and headed up the magnificence
of Route 100. Stopped in quaint and lovely Rochester for fresh bagels, eaten on
the sweeping town green…. while Lucy frolicked with her newest bestie…another
very short, strangely long hybrid named Mater…. whose parents were expats from Columbus….and
had lived on the same rood as Tess and Jake and the brood……
After a couple of short hikes, we made our way up and over he panoramic
Lincoln Gap to scope out a Peaching operation
we had read about in the Vermont alt. newspaper…which turned out to be quite
the thing…..heading from Warren over to Bristol, we found the farm stand on the
packed-dirt Lincoln Gap road…administered by our newest friend, Todd G….who readily
declared us his gift to his day….Todd is 7th generation Vermonter
and hails from a long stock of farmers and doubles as Young Life (excludes us) minister…we
got to and hear about his house which they moved from an elderly relative two years
ago up the road about a mile….apparently the key to which is lanolin soap (use
your imagination)…Todd regaled us with local flavored stories of young men he has
taken to the darkness of NY state (think Cuomo)to retrieve the bushels…who had never
left the Gap before (think Deliverance) and of his mob- informed nephew from Napoli
(Todd’s brother joined the navy, procreated and never came back )…who could not believe
all the money left trustingly out on porches to pay for the peaches(who gonna leavea
out dissa money and not-a getta stolen)..until our young Italianate had the epiphany
of a “community offa da trust”….we exchanged excitements for a half hour an left
Todd the Minister/Peach-man/House Mover/Exposer of naivetés- to the graces of
reading THE blog on his phone while he waited for his next Gift for the day…..
(are you reading this, Todd?)
Leaving the farmer and heading down the road to Bristol we apparently missed a stop sign, conveniently placed ten yards
in front of a second stop sign…and got to
meet Officer Bruce….who may well have been the most polite an genial copper I’ve
made the acquaintance of….despite his commiseration of eh confusion (and duplicity)of
the back to back to stop signs, he felt compelled to ticket me, though made up
a “no proof of insurance citation” which lowered the fine from a whopping $225 to$ 76 and no points……What
Luck!!!..notwithstanding Bristol’s long known financial hardships –which has likely
led to placing additional ridiculously placed stop signs for Officer Bruce to
collect revenue…we, thus, skipped our plan
for lunch at Bristol, and are now on a two year boycott…
Having spurned the fine cuisine of Bristol, we found ourselves drooling by the Time we passed Wanks Franks roadside stand in Pittsford on the way home …clearly another roadside attraction…where Wank (really) served us up some local sausages with homemade sauerkraut…. which left is only semi-satiated, and required a stop at Ramuntos for a dessert pizza….
And, that just about brings up to this….Rainy
day forecasts approaching as Hurricane Henri makes its way to the eastern
seaboard….and a visit from the Exalted British Hairdresser and The Duchess of General
Electric for dinner and haircuts tonight…before TQ delivers her to Dartmouth tomorrow
for the coach to Boston a the flight back to the homeland…..and we…leave Friday
for 12 days back in the heartland to see
our lovelies…….thus may be down on blogging for next week or two……but….we will …survive……
