Category: Green Mountain Blog

Que Penso soni Babbo Notoli?

“ 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 50^th anniversaries with much older siblings or parent types…….but ….we are apparently now them….were invited to some friends’ 50^th 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 7^th 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……

Pep in his step Papi

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Greetings fellow travelers:

“Men are proof that women can take a joke” ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………Louise Erdrich “The Night Watchman”

“Eventually, all that one has learned will have to be forgotten” …………………………………………………………………… Ramana Maharshi

“A baby is God’s opinion that the world should go on.” ………………………………………………………………Carl Sandburg

It’s been one of those weeks where life takes a major turn, yet the days go on, the sun rises and sets as if your world did not change on its axis…………. Tessa and Jake welcomed baby Parker Maxwell to our crazy as shit world on Thursday night……and a sense of incomparable beauty emerged from the wasteland of the Plague years. Nanna and Papi now have FOUR Apples of our Eyes (where does that come from?) ……our fourth granddaughter in four years- and getting close to our own hoops team-class of 2038…. how cool is this? All are home and well…and we look forward to our first visit end of next week…. little Parker is said to resemble Papi….so I guess she is an old Jewish man?

What else is there really to say……well, if you really want to know…. I guess maybe I can conjure up a few thoughts.

Spent last Sunday beginning our recovery from weeklong The Band Visit……cleanup was a can of corn with the last ones standing, Nave and Zoo pitching in…Sunday night we took them out for their shared birthday dinner….to Ludlow and the Hometown Hostel……for a Creekside Tented extravaganza…. then down to the lawn by the school and the huge cannon, to listen to Vermont mainstays, Gypsy Reel…. a comfortable end to a non-stop week. Steve and Sue left Monday morning and we began our recovery in earnest

After the absolute mountain beauty of last week, it turned nasty hot all week…. hot enough to have our five nights a year in which we decry no AC…. which provided an excuse for some floating in the majesty of the uber- clean POND……that somehow became a thing of beauty over the mysterious winter……added heat bonus…. the grass slowed down from growing for the first time in months

Made a trip up to Middlebury midweek to see the new version of The Shaman, and get structure restored, then a quick visit to the dispensary and to see Mama Corleone at wonderful Costello’s’ Italian deli…we had The Don Barzini….

Had to make a trip over to Rod and Claudine’s Mt. Hollywood studios to overdub my lead vocals from our recording session the week before…since they mysteriously disappeared……blessing in disguise…just me in the studio with whisky and headphones…. singing along with the previously laid down band tracks….

Since The Queen was tied up with gad flying most of the week, Lucy and I had a few lunch and walk adventures…making a day of grave exploring  on Friday…..though- lunch is pretty complicated these days in these parts…..two places in Ludlow closed for no apparent reason, two others with lines out the door….so settled for takeout sandwich from the Café at Delight (get it?)…which is no simple task…they have hired a post-remedial young woman to answer the phone …it took me three calls to get my sandwich order in…when I got there , I saw the ticket she wrote for the order, which said  “Edge Salut on Weet”……seems like the labor shortage must be real…..

Saturday turned out to be our outing day this week….after a quick visit to see the Dumpmaster and the local Goat, who did the Vermont two-step with Lucy for 20 minutes and tried to butt my nose and other parts….we put our Ronald Reagan masks on to surreptitiously cross the border to the land of Live Free or Die (Vermont is more  of a Live and Let Live place)….and made our way to the charm of the 300^th anniversary celebration of the Acworth (NH) Meeting House…complete with dinner on the ground….got in a few walks and spent the day alternating between driving rain and bountiful sunshine…winding up in the river town of Bellow Falls for a stroll and a trip to the Dari-Joy (400 flavors of ice cream on the same corner for 80 years)

And, that, my friends, is about all she wrote…. it’s a drop dead gorgeous day here on The Mount……the weather has broken to late summer splendor, leaves are begging to change, Lucy is lounging in the un, Saffron is staring longingly out the window, ruminating on how to repeat her overnight escape….and a drive/walk/ country lunch awaits…..FOUR Granddaughters!…who would had thunk it?…….

Be well, stay safe, be in touch……

Big Papi

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Sunday Greetings:

“Where are the men that I used to sport with” ……………………………………………………………………………David Bromberg

“Oh, what a lucky man…. he was” ……………………………………………………………………Emerson, Lake and Palmer

“Long may you run, long may…you run. Although these changes have come” …………………………………………………………. Neil Young

The week that was……music in the mountains………………. THE POND was FULL…. the tractor got fixed……and after two weeks of rain, the sun came out on Monday and stayed out all week, with mostly perfect blue skies, low humidity and cool mountain nights……with stars abounding…….and….an astounding amount of music was made with much love….

The Nave and Zoo drove through all day rain on Sunday and arrived safe and sound though a bit washed out. Then, like a miracle, the sun came out Monday morning (after two weeks of rain) and stayed out the entire week. Monday was acclamation day culminating in late dinner on TV trays, ala Ozzie and Harriet, in front of the Olympics- especially the woman’s beach volleyball. My assumption is that those outfits are still worn for aero-dynamic purposes? Nave and I hit Folk club on Monday night -the first of six straight days of music.

Unlike past years, there was not much outdoors activity for the boys, since we had a bunch of old man injuries going on…. but The Queen and Zoo spent the week kayaking and Zoo got in 36 holes at Okemo, with a bunch of New York types.

The rest of the boys arrived on Tuesday and the games began. Joined by four local friends, and the majesty of Fiddler Bob, we got in a couple of practices the next few nights along with the requisite chaotic family dinners. Full house reimagined!

The show on Thursday at the town Green was one for the ages ……. nine of us huddled around the tiny bandstand….and set records for attendance and an extraordinary tip jar of almost $400. Late pizza dinner was followed by the most intense laughing jag (more later) that lasted almost a half hour….…. with Feel spouting liquids out of every orifice and yours truly bowled over with rib cramps.

Friday, we got to the studio at the ungodly hour of 10:30…and spent about three hours laying down three original cuts with a real live recording engineer. Stay tuned for seeing that in your inbox after it gets mixed. Friday night was fried chicken and the Beatles cover band at Jackson Gore, where the sun set and the temps went down 20 degrees (us in t-shirts and shorts) and the Fab Four wannabes lost power during Roll Over Beethoven…which to their credit, they picked up exactly where they left off when the power came back on.

Friday night featured the loss of Saffron, who discovered there is a world outside the house, when the front door latch (an 1850s era type) was left open for the umpteenth time (needed a tutorial apparently). The Queen rose at 4:30 and together with Gracie May, lured her back in…cold, covered in dew…and totally traumatized…did not see her for the next two days.

Saturday was perfect for the Tie-Dye fest, with a smallish, but very enthusiastic crowd. Amazing Mike and bride Cheryl, played a set with Fiddler Bob…then the expanded Bunty played a set with the full entourage (Nine of us, sometimes ten) …….and finished the day with the requisite campfire. In between, the magic emerged as many slowly gathered, one by one, in a circle, and sang spirituals, with our choirmaster, Johnny 99…. a simply perfect moment. Most of the boys were up and out this morning before 7….…. but Nave and Zoo are staying over and we got the mess mostly cleaned up in the bright and hot morning sun.

I could go on for hours, but there are a lot of pictures to tell the story, story. I would be remiss to not note that it is hard to believe how seven of us co-existed in the house for almost a week………guess that’s what happens when the long standing family re-unites (the miscpachah). And……The Queen…. did it all-all week long…orchestrating every dinner and the whole Festival things……she gets the MVP……again. Oh, what a lucky an …. he was.

I would be even more remiss to not provide some of the more astute comments that eked out over the course of the week:

“Up next…. the Burl Ives songbook”

“Is that someone talking at my head”

“I gotta go spread my bed”

“Stu…. I suffer for your art”

“How yellow does it have to be (to finally flush)?”

“My lungs are containing flammables”

“When your partner asks you to do something (a “bid”) …. you gotta accept at least 7 of 10 times”

“My pronoun is Thou”

And, finally, the story of the week: Man walks into a club with an octopus. Says to bartender, “I bet my octopus can play any of the instruments lined up on your stage”. Bet is taken. Barkeep wheels out the piano, and Octopus plays a sonnet from Brahms. The man asks for his bet money……. barkeep says…not quite yet…. brings out a trombone. Octopus plays Dixieland jazz. Man says where is my money…. barkeep says just one more, and comes out of storeroom with a set of bagpipes. Octopus starts checking it out all over the various parts. Barkeep says “what is the problem with him”. Man says “no problem….he’s just trying to get her pajamas off so he can F__k her”……REALLY……It may be that you had to have been here….

And that’s ‘all she wrote…..Dear John…just send my saddle home…

Ferlin’

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Mama said……… don’t go near that river:

“The mimosa and the weeping willows. Beautiful strong nature. It takes me a long time to fall asleep”……………………………………………………Albert Camus

“Be like a mirror, or mountain lake, that reflects whatever passes before it” ……………………………………………………………………………………Eckhart Tolle

“Lesson One: I give up”……………………..Zen Proverb

Is anyone watching these Olympics??????????

Twenty –three K new cases in Florida yesterday….is the sunshine state a third world country……………this is like holocaust denying, no?……….Vermont had a surge of 12 cases last week…. where would you rather be?…….

And, the waters shall come………The Greens are having the most rainfall summer in over 50 years……. get daily texts from the weather mongers about flash flooding…. the rivers and streams are swollen to over flow……even when the rain stops, you can hear the sound of rushing water (and, drip, drip, drip) all around……hoping it is not a harbinger of the return of the last tropical storm to destroy Vermont….

Mount Holly Daze came and went last Sunday, with the sun coming out to shine over the Star Lake Algae……had a good schvitz plying the massive grill for three plus hours, whilst the folk tugged of war, and the band played on….

The Queen, aka Jenn Appleseed, is in the daily process of obliterating the property tree line…. she has discovered the chainsaw……removing all kinds of old growth trees and stumps to plant her pilfered pines and arborvitaes………she spent one whole day out in thunderstorms cuttin’, diggin’ up and plantin’…. arrived back in looking like a drowned kitty……mountain makeover?……..

Vermont music….is like nowhere else…..headed over a few ranges on Thursday to check out a little live in the meadow…….over to Middletown Springs (where people once went to take the waters)…..for a little postmodern Celtic swing from a young troupe of hipsters…..the band set up in front of an abandoned train car…sun setting behind them….pizza wafting out of the portable bake overs…..and dozens of Birkenstock shorn lads and lasses…..just about perfect…..snuck in  a stop  on the drive home at the West Rutland snack bar for fresh whole bellies and hand cut fries….Papi’s night out…..A friend of mine from folk club had offered to drive over together, (a car?…with another non-related human?) when I discovered he is not vaxxed (hard to find one of those here in the Greens)…..so declined petri dish of car ride there and back….is this the new conundrum of our times?

Thursday was our weekly day out….and followed up on a tip…. down through Londonderry and over to the hamlet of Wyndham……to The Fourth Corner Foundation…. another post-apocalypse, roadside attraction of master gardens and hobbit-like architectural wonders……THIS is a hidden gem….50 years of creating gardens and putting up very strange edifices……and…it was…. all ours, since no one knows this place exists…. Forgive the obsessive picture taking of flowers…though in fairness I only included about a third of the ones I took……Monet could have lived here……

On the way home, we hit the Verizon store for our bi-weekly visit to see if they can get Papi’s phone to work (not) and then on to Wallingford, where every place we tried to get dinner would not let us in….the worker shortage in Vermont restaurants is astounding….it is almost impossible to find a place to eat without a reservation…even in the smallest dives….is this our ultimate penance….shunned to an endless loop of snack bar dining ?……though “snack bars” in the Greens are a whole other species….

Luckily, none of the above applies to Chinese, who appear to have their own unending labor force……so down the hill we went last night to stock up on groceries (is it possible to spend less than $100 at the grocery anymore?)  and a trip to the magic of East for fine Asian dining…week complete……

The Flatlanders are coming……The Flatlanders are coming…. today marks the first arrival of the Bunty Station boys for our annual week of Vermont music……Ohio arrivals starting tonight….and, even Prodigal Brother, Feel, arriving in a few days from Jersey……Music on the Green show on Thursday and the 20^th (or so) Annual Tie-Dye Fest later this weekend with a recording session thrown in at legendary Mt. Hollywood Studios……our 43^rd year of hacking away for a number of us……tune em’ up, Danno….

The tractor is still in the shop…….so it may be line- up- the- push- mowers again this week to get Festival ready……

The POND is PEAKING……and…. the phones are occasionally ringing for three to five minutes of uninterrupted service before the calls drop………another week on The Mount….

Saw our first changing leaves last night on way home……summer phasing out in the Greens??!!??

Teach your children well…………Stay Safe…. Be in touch……

Papi-San

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Bean me up Scottie:

“It’s not doubt, but certainty that drives one mad” …………………………………………………………………………………………………………Friedrich Nietzsche

“Kind woman…. don’t leave me lonely tonight” ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. Richie Furay

“Soon I will find the right words…. they will be very simple” …………………………………………………………………………………………………Jack Kerouac

It’s another Tequila Sunrise…. dark, damp Sunday morn on the Mount……been a lot of those in last three weeks……with intermittent glorious days of 70 degree no-humidity sunshine…. feels a bit like Oregon living…when the sun comes out, it is time to go…go…. go…

The deluge has been GOOD for The Pond- whose cup runneth over……and maybe the most pristine it has ever been….no algae, no scummy….no nuthin’……where did it all go? …. Took a dip for first time after grueling mowing (more on that later) yesterday….and it was P_E_R_F_E_C_T………

We are up to one and half working phones……which apparently is par for the course in the mountains…. but not all that much fun….

The rain has had us mowing 2-3 times a week since we got back….which ……predictably, led to our lil’ ol’ tractor blowing up (again) this week….no mas……drained out the oil to see status –and it was almost all gas….which is generally a pretty bad sign….Joe the Mower guy came to get it yesterday….and…of course…..I put in fresh oil, cleaned it up…and the fucker started right up and ran like charm…..I hate the “mechanic thing” when it happens…..he took it away just for good measure or to make me feel less woodchucky….

So…this week resulted in …. twice push mowing the whole property……which I can tell is no country for old men……can I get a witness?

On the bright side…. The Queen’s newest obsession is……. making little gardens around all the volcanic rocks in the yard…. which has led to our newest ritual…. collecting cardboard……allegedly used to kill the grass for the next lil’ garden…and cover the cardboard with clippings from the bagged push mower……see the symmetry of it all?…..And bonus…a few more weeks of little garden making…and there will be no need to mow at all…

Had our first dinner gatherings in two years this week……first at the hobbit-home of The Erstwhile Russian Spy and The World’s Greatest School Marm…. just the four of us, plus Bilbo and Frodo……then last night were graced at the Manse by the Jewish Pig Farmer and the Empress of Death…although we made the dinner, TJPF brought his ribs……he goes nowhere without his ribs…almost always stopping on the way here to munch a few…. THIS feels a wee bit normal…

I have re-entered the world of making live music –returning to the Monday night folk club…to sit in a circle and drone for a few hours…. though it lacks spontaneity (of any kind) …. still good to sit in a room and expectorate with others……and after all, it is Vermont…. not crazed Florida…. Also went to our first music on the Green in Mt. Holly on Thursday…. with local statue, Jeb…and his friends (that is their name) …. how cool is it to see a community return to their green on a warm summer night?

Speaking of which, The Bunty Band will start arriving for a week of music next Sunday……playin the Green, having the Tie- Dye fest and hitting the studio for a short recording session……all, of course….TGLWATCDR…..c’mon social media wonks, you can  figure that one out…..

Friday dawned a G_D day….so we hit the road….crossing the border in good fog, to cover our tracks ….over to the place where everyone is living free or dying (masks optional) hit the super duper State Liquor agency (wildly cheap, no tax-of course-rather die than pay tax)…picked up a bag o’ booze for the coming festivities…..found a dirt road with Sasquatch tracks….and on to the Grand Walmart in lovely (not) Claremont…..where they welcome  Lucy to shop the lower shelves with open arms (theirs, not hers)….muddled around Puerto Nuevo (Newport in mountain slang)  and found the reputedly worlds best grinder shop ….not quite, but passable….hit the Ludlow Farmers Mah-ket on the way home….gorgeous mid-summer late day sun wafting….a little music, a little meat, a few veggies…day complete….

Made my first run to The Dump yesterday…. too busy with phones and mowing until now….and The Dumpmaster could not conceal his glee (I think that’s what it was) …. got the Walrus-hug and a mottle of questions about The Queen…that involved her svelte figure, a 12 pack and a power outage…go figure….

Today is the annual Mt. Holly Daze….so gotta get a move on….to go man the sizzlin’…. which TQ had volunteered me for…. per chance for the sun to emerge and cover the algae filled brilliance of Star Lake…. but that is probably for next week’s edition….

So…another day gone deeper in debt….do you owe your soul to the company store?      Be good, be careful, make it better world….

Stu

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Bonjour:

“Give me those Green country mountains; give me that Green country air” ………………………………………………………………MacGuffy Lane

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

“You have come to the shore- there are no instructions” ………………………………………………………Denise Levertov

Strange week, filled with various obsessions……. No pictures this week……. too obsessed……No real Mojo……just some randoms……

1. Who’ll stop the rain?………………………seven of last nine days……may be the end of the world as we know it……………no climate change here……

• I’d love to see the Green, Green grass of home……………………. mowed and whacked five times in two weeks….is this semi-retirement?……with a fifty year old riding mower that will soon be likely seeking respite…..

• Into The Mystic…………………after a months long search, located a mystical Shaman- Osteopath up in Middlebury, and made the hour trek to see him…. pipe, classical music, dog in the treatment room…have had one of these mystics in the Heartland, never thought I’d find another…. keepin’ the torso nubile…

• Cheeseburger in Paradise…………it has become hard to find restaurants open much these days in the mountains, with the COVID induced worker shortage…. but had couple of jewels this week at local Paisanos Deli (hidden in the bowels of a raunchy carryout in downtown Rutland)- and the Café Provence bakery (in Brandon, on the way to The Mystic and the dispensary) …. (4A) you can get it if you really want it…

• I believe in you…………………the next to closest local library, in Ludlow, allows you to order books on line….and they put it out in a grocery bag for you to pick up whenever……. trust is a beautiful thing…. kind of the polar opposite of dealing with the postal service, the IRS, the phone and cable behemoths……

• Security, Yeah, Yeah……I want some security………………………how many times have you gotten a response online that required sending you a security code to your phone?……try dealing with that with no cell signal…  and the requisite fifteen-minute expiration time on the code……trust is a beautiful thing…

• It is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius……. Farmers’ markets in Vermont are like a trip to Woodstock or The Haight……naked, children, dogs abounding, patchouli in the air, hippie musicians….and a ton of Granola……it’s another sign of the return to some normalcy here in the 90% Vax state….

• I woulda followed all the way to the graveyard……………………………………wandering the verdant mountain landscape, we come upon another of the magical places that dot the Vermont mountain skyline…. rich with terraced levels of beauty, mountains above-valley below…..stones gently asleep in wonderfully precise formation….telling the stories of lives and times…..there is such a beauty off a back road in Ludlow….who knew?

• You’ve got a friend…….The queen went prowlin’ this week (takin’ a break from on line shopping, whacking  and volunteering)to find the Woolley man, who is the emperor of roads in our hamlet……and flirted enough to get him on our side on the issue of the replacement of our little bridge which lead to the Manoir…..state wants to update our backyard dirt path into a passable road, whilst they replace the bridge….which would turn our driveway into a super highway…..but, no…..The Bowbie says (9A) don’t worry, be happy…..he’ll nudge them to put in a temp replacement bridge instead…..once again The Queen Greases the Bowbie…..

1. Get yourself a little piece of watermelon, put it in your mouth, it tastes like heaven………bought a luscious watermelon this week at Hannaford….which was left on the counter when after a day at home,  it seemed to be a deflated melon…all squishy and stuff…..TQ felt like she needed to keep it in order to show the grocery bastards what they had done……woke this morning to three gallons of watermelon juice all over the counter, the pantry floor and down into the basement….must have been a juicy one in its prime….

1. Ring the bells-that still can ring……in four days we have switched from Sprint to AT&T and on to Verizon……worse than used car shopping……and still searching for a mountain dial tone…is it evil to want to have a flip phone?

If you’ve made it this far, there is now a bonus….A QUIZ……Match the creator below with the numbered phrase or lyric above……winner gets  four old cell phones with cords…

Carol King___

Etta James___

John Fogerty___

Leonard Cohen___

Halsey___

Bob Marley___

Eric Weisberg and Deliverance___

Merle Haggard____

Neil Young___

Hair____

Jimmy Buffett___

Van The Man___

Bobby McFerrin___

And that has got to be it………. Feliz Navidad………………………Ferlin’

Greetings Fellow Travelers:

“Tilling the field in the shadow of a hill. Not a bird sings” ………………Buson

“Little by little- one travels far” ……………………………Some Astute Spaniard

“Silence is so accurate” ……………………………………………Mark Rothko

“Don’t confront me with my failures- I have not forgotten them” ..Jackson Browne

“Well, the first days are the hardest days- don’t you worry anymore” ……Garcia/Hunter

GREEN is the color of the moun-tain lair……in the morning when I rise (Donovan-ish) ……I’m just wild about Saffron…………. First full week on The Mount produced many observations…….

Fourth of July………..first gathering around The Town Green in two years……..lots of hugging, hand slapping…..that’s what happens in a state with a near 90% Vax rate….in a state with a Republican governor, mind you…..though thankfully not named DeSantis, Abbott or Noel (the Unholy trio)…..still apparently a Plaque hoax in those places……..but, I digress…….the eight minute parade was magnificent….and The Queen….well you got to see the pix…nuff’ said……resumed Sunday rituals (what, if not rituals?)…and made the short mountain drive down trough Weston,  Londonderry, to Stratton mountain, for the call- in exotic sausages at Honeypie and a short dirt road walk….

Days spent whacking and whacking and whacking (machine induced whacking, that is) ……uncovered The Pond from its four-foot surround of weeds and got the poor man’s pump/fountain going…. got the 55-year-old mower running and slayed the yard…. posted on line for yard boy/girl……no takers…. just ol’ Nanna and Papi with the ancient power tools …. gonna need a better caretaker……

The gym at Okemo has fully reopened now…. but ONLY for hotel guests and condo owners …. locals left out…. ugghh….so got The Gym in the barn set up and back to cosmic, barnyard exercising (or exorcising?) …. but who’s complaining?

The Queen is reclaiming her throne with many planning events with the local Association yentas and starting up her multiple volunteering efforts……busy enough that after ten days we still have not vacuumed the house……but then again, who’s gonna know?

The Dumpmaster expressed great dissatisfaction, on our return, that we had said we would be back in June, and it was the first week in July……. which apparently left him more cantankerous than usual……

Made it down to Sal’s’ Red- Gravy dive for its many iterations of the same pasta dish on Thursday night…and on the way stopped in our tracks in Cuttingsville to check out the familiar looking Subaru for sale on the side of the road……which drew our eyes, because it was our Subaru that we just sold in January….we could tell by Lucy’s footprints embedded on the console…..guess our buyers (once were friends of friends- wanting to be our friends- but probably not anymore) did not care for the ol’ clunker- although did notice they were selling it for 2K more than they bought it….a bit surreal…

Friday, we geared up for a full day in the city (well, Rutland, which is as close as we get, but not to be confused with The Apple, or Boston or even Burlington)….Aside from shopping and lunch at Ernie’s Hand Carved (shockingly good corned beef and pastrami on rye for the hinterlands)….we bit the bullet and visited both the Verizon and AT&T phone emporiums……to me that is like used car shopping….but, what are you gonna do, when you’re going on ten days of no phones through Sprint….time for a change, no….The monopolizers were by far more professional and service oriented…..so hopefully we can make the jump this week and have some form of contact with the flatland..

During the shopping, I came close to having my first physical altercation in probably 45 years….when an Old Vermont codger took exception with my sliding by him to get milk, after he ignored my three “excuse- mes”…started yelling at me and got in my face…luckily a store manager intervened before I went for the KO…then he followed me around the store, giving me the stink-eye, while guzzling beer from one hand and maple syrup from the other…..I’m going to assume he was unvaccinated….

After a week of mostly cold and rain, Saturday dawned a perfect mountain day – 75, sunny, blue skies, zero humidity, so we headed into town early to hit the post office to see if our mail, which has been floating around since some time in April, had found us (it can wind up in any of the 3 post offices within two miles of us)….don’t get me started on the postal service unless you plan to give me a rifle and show me a bell tower (how many times can I use that?)…..suffice to say that no amount of funding will fix that venerable institution. After only having to visit two of the three offices, we got a few floaters, and made for Ludlow to pick up breakfast sandwiches at The Café-at –Delight ( it’s at the only light in Ludlow, get it?)…..calling in the order turned out to be a long term commitment, the young woman can only be described as resembling the woman from the Dr. Rick “how to not be your parents’” commercials…the one who has the no cussin’, no fussin’ sign)-had to tell her the simple two- sandwich order four times and literally spell out wheat toast for her…….

….After a protracted wait, we got our grub and stumbled on to the magnificent Ludlow Cemetery with many levels of ancient stones and beautiful view of the slopes and valley…..and….a phone signal….my phone rang for the first time in ten days…and I was so excited I talked to a robo-caller…..Satiated by the breakfast, views and a good walk….we continued on to Shrewsbury to impromptu visit the Trout King and pick up the annual bucket of Pond Elixir…he said he had no time for us, but let us go down to the tanks  anyway, and then yakked at us for a half hour, with the mantra “what Pond Sins shave you committed so far this year”?…… eventually we left with our $300 bucket…and on to see Farmer Jeff to buy three months worth of organic Yogi meats…thus stocked, we headed home, where The Queen engaged in hours of garden restoration, while Papi hit the couch….

And, so, here we are…another day, another dollar…what’s in your wallet?

Happy trails to you-until we met again.

Papi- Monster

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Greetings Fellow Travelers –and Happy Independence Day to all:

“Summer Lightning! Yesterday in the East, today in the West” …………………………………………………………………………………………………. Takari Kikaku

“After all, if I can’t be myself, who can?” ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………Patrick Dennis

“We WILL Survive” …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………Garcia/Hunter

Got back on Thursday after a uniquely uneventful two-day drive, with the animals all roaming about the packed cars. Overnight in Binghamton with classic Chinese from a dive near the hotel. Not a lot has YET happened, but thought to get in a little BLOG practice with quick hello to all……Welcome Back, Kotter………. thus, a simple few observations:

We left weeks of 90 degrees plus tropics in the Heartland to arrive to three straight days of all day rain and fifty degree temps………welcome to the mountains…

Already missing the three granddaughters (and the one due shortly) who we spent four plus months seeing a lot of…as Ohio began to return to some sense of normal….the birds came out….the Cicadas went nuts….had people in our house and even staying over for the first time in 15 months, actually got on plane and went to see The Prodigal for a glorious week in Paradise, went to TWO real baseball games, and The Band started to play again….so will be more jonesing than usual for the kids, grandkids and old friends

We may need a property management company if we are going to stay in the Heartland this late in the season. We had Ancient George mow for us, but clearly that is more like bush hogging, so the yard is a mess with four foot stalks surrounding THE POND, trees and rocks. May need triple chiropractic appointments after we get it all wacked……hard to tell what shape The POND is in, as can’t see it yet…but, MURKY, seems apparent……

Cable companies……. I’m looking for a rifle and bell tower…. Comcast promised a simple “plug it in, it will work” internet experience…which went fine until they then wanted a security check by sending me the ubiquitous security code via text……problem being no internet, no phones, no text, no nothin’…… Well, internet got up and running –after two trips to the closest mountaintop to get a one- bar -cell – signal if I stood on one leg and faced north by northeast with the wind at my back…just so I could call Comcast and tell them we could not get a security text code because we had no phones without the internet. Had to change all our security settings…spent hours and hours……. but now working……BUT phone booster not working –so still no phone service and no help from sprint…….so may be on non-speaking terms with the rest of the world…. Zoom, anyone?……………….Country livin’………

Aging does not boost moving- in experiences…seems like what used to take us a day, may be taking a week…even with our level of obsessiveness….175-year-old houses need lots of opening up love…. gettin’ there, but really need a yard/house boy badly…takers?

Have not left the manse except for the most expensive grocery trip in history, two trips to Rutland to find dam printer ink, and quick hitters to replenish at Ramuntos, Java Babas and Taco-Taco……the grand culinary trifecta for homeless people……………………

Today is first community event in Mt. Holly in two years…and The Queen is off to help get the Association float ready for the eight-minute parade at noon…. will be our first venture into a (mostly) maskless Vermont world (almost 90% Vax rate here)….so will see how much our friends and peeps have aged in two years….hoping for an exotic sausage run down to Londonderry later today…and a much needed dirt road walk….

And finally, now that Vermont is legalized and edibles are the rage…. date night has been re-dubbed “Cookie and Nookie”….only in Vermont….the Brave Little state…..

May the year ahead be a lot better than the year behind…. for all of us, I’ll be in touch…and we’ll keep the light n for you……..

Stu/Papi

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Last Dance version, my friends:

“Each day’s a new day, Confusin’ at best.

 We drive on unclear, though it all seems to test,

  Our feelings of strength, while we all stay oppressed.

  The truth remains….quite overdue.”……………

”Confusin’ at Best”………………Ferlin’ Norris

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Last Dance version, my friends:

“Each day’s a new day, Confusin’ at best.

  We drive on unclear, though it all seems to test,

  Our feelings of strength, while we all stay oppressed.

  The truth remains…. quite overdue.” …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….” Confusin’ at Best” ………………Ferlin’ Norris

The cars are getting packed……the house is getting stored up……the backs are achin’……the animals are going nuts with the activity ……. Time has come today……. Time………off tomorrow morning for the Heartland return…. little darlin’……it’s been a long and lonely winter……………………. after another 2-3 feet of snow this week in the mountain Snowbelt, hoping for a slightly greener pastures……so this short one is it for a while………………………

Got in one last drive/ride/hike last Sunday ……trudging and slip sliding through a snow covered dirt road….and then on to Honeypie for the exotic sausages……we had another 18 inches the night before, which simply adds to the biggest ongoing pile of snow I’ve ever seen……it’s no wonder people wear chains on their boots here………………

The Snow Queen finally got out on the slopes on Thursday……in sun and balmy 25 degrees (generally shorts and flip glop weather in the Greens)……she rounded up all borrowed equipment, and headed over to the next ridge  at Okemo……got in three runs…and came home exhausted, sore and with a sprained thumb…..ah, the sporting life……did not cost a fortune as she was gifted a daily VIP pass from our friend who works at local giant, GE…….but the price list for skiing??????……is this one of the ultimate forms of white privilege?????……Holy cow….

When we sold our Subaru, we took off the crossbars on the roof rack…imagining they were standard and would simply fit the roof rack on the new car…..NOT…..shamefully procrastinated checking until a few days ago, to learn they did not fit…..which would mean traveling back without the usual car top carrier……would not be that hard without three animals roaming loose through the car and schlepping all their gear……so had to spend three last minute hours in piles of snow and 15 degree temps (still can’t get into the snow blocked barn/garage) jury rigging the cross bars to fit the roof rack on the new Jeep……which, despite frostbitten toes and fingers, we managed to do together, without calling the police for a domestic……………………..

So…this is my requiem for a mountain Covid winter……..had one last dinner on the ground at the Jewish Pig Farmer and the Empress of Death Farm……lucked out for eating outside around the fire pit, with 35 and light snow….fine dining weather , even for standing around in three feet of snow…..and the JPF went whole hog (no pun) on an Indian (dots) feast…..the entertainment for the day consisted of watching them burn a three by three plastic tub’s worth of herbal delight from their bumper crop……I could not stop trying to estimate street value as they fed the fire…and wondered why the neighboring farmers kept drifting by to take a whiff……apparently surplus bud burnin’ is a thing in Vermont….

So……its’ off to packin, haulin’ and loadin’……have to fit in a run to see The Dumpmaster, who said he will forever curse our trash, if I don’t bring “the little lady” by before we leave…. apparently he remains our principle mountain obligation……so will be back somewhere on the other side….

Until then, remain vigilant, stay safe, wear you mask, love the ones you’re with….and stay in touch….

Your Humble Servant…or maybe it is Savant………, Stu

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It is the evening of the day:

“My life is my practice” …………………………………………………Ram Dass

“When it snows, you have two choices: shovel or make snow angels.”………………………………………………………………………………Unknown

“The Real Winter is coming.”………………………………………………………………………Ned Stark

“Don’t eat the yellow snow” ………………………………………Frank Zappa 

It is the evening of the day:

Well…. there has been good news and bad news this week on The Mount……we have now had two straight days without any significant snow (first time in two months) ……but it has not cracked 10 degrees in last three days, with wind chills of minus 30……. today is going to be like Carnival as it is snowless, sunny and going up to 20……. nibblin’ on sponge cake, watchin’ the sun bake…

Of course, reprieve is temp……as this morning received my frequent text message from the state (glad I don’t have data rates apply shit) ……” A winter storm watch has been issued for your area” ……I imagine some sadist in a mountain hideout on the Canuck border gets some form of perverted joy from issuing these almost daily……. but…. I, for one…. have had just about enough………

The Snow Queen (formerly The Queen)……is deep in preparation for the Mt. Holly Olympic Quaathalon Trials……skiing, snowshoeing, sledding, driveway shoveling……..while yours truly is working on world class cursing while he slips and slides to the car occasionally (on days he ventures to leave the solitude of closet and couch)……then spends an hour out cracking ice off the windshield, with occasional forays to try and get into the snow encased barn…………even tried getting out to jog this week on route 103…and had to go back to the house to put chains on my sneakers (I really do have shoe chains….but that is a later story)……

So…..All of this is to say….it is TIME…….Vermont winter- check……Snowbound for weeks- check……….not seeing another human being for days on end- check……no sign of grass or dirt for months- check……So next week, we head back to the Plaque infested heartland….to shelter at home, whatever exactly that means…..in some ways,  it will be leaving the sanctity of the mountains with heavy heart…..the simplicity of the quietude, the countless opportunities for reflection, the natural beauty……on the other hand……..there will be Chinese delivery…….

But…. alas, the next to last snowbound week, was not without highlights……. want ‘em or not……

IT’S a Girl– Tessa and Jake have arranged for granddaughter number four…. due in August……we will now need two sets of bunk beds ….and more Pond floaties……

COVID silver lining Redux– The prodigal has been guiding me through making on- line music……which has been an unexpected treasure…..even got me to use my gifted and long buried IPhone to record, which is far superior to the laptop method….and he has produced multiple efforts…..attached to the photos section is an MP3 of our version of Roseanne Cash’s take on the ubiquitous folk standard, “500 Miles” …from Max, The Nave and I (if you are reading this on the website, you may not be able to listen…..have to use the e-mail version to open it up)…..how cool is it to make music with your 40ish boy?

Finding the Banana Belt– last Sunday we decided to break out of the ice and go for our weekly drive, lunch, hike……headed east to Bellows Falls, and then over to the Live Free or Die State (the total lack of mask wearing seems to support the mantra) ……left the manse at 10 degrees to find an almost 40 across the border…. luckily had my shorts and flip flops in the car…it’s only 30 miles’ away for Chrissakes….

Channeling Judd Hirsch– if you’ve never seen “Ordinary People”- watch it……. I did my first counseling sessions in over 35 years this week, with my first two assigned clients for my on line, virtual “Just Ask Papi” therapy institute…. trying to remember what the words “diagnosis” and “treatment plan” mean…. how weird is it to Zoom about sexual dysfunction with someone you’ve never met before?

Socializing in COVID/Mountain winter- went over to have one more farewell event with The Erstwhile Russian Spy and The World’s Most Beloved School Marm…. which amounted to huddling around a fire pit, ten feet apart, for two and a half hours, in 12-degree weather (hey, there was bit of sun, though) …. hot tea and baked goodies, a short walk to the greenhouse….and came away with the gifts of shoe chains (this a thing) and two pairs of Arctic socks…how could it be any better than this?

Food Gifting in the Mountains– the Jewish Pig Farmer called this week to try and get us over for one more frozen outdoor lunch gathering……. declined for the cold…. but he insisted I come by to get the Indian (dots) delicacies he had been obsessively preparing all week….so stopped over Saturday morning and came home with Kosher infused lentil- something soup and samosas……he was not quite done preparing when I got there, so muddled around the barnyard with the dogs for 20 minutes on the windswept frozen plain…..with the sounds of the pigs blaring out “eat me”, “eat me”  in the nearby barn…who says there is no free lunch?

Lunching in the time of COVID– I’ve always been an inveterate luncher-finding places to sit for an hour or more (usually after the late beloved gym sessions) at some local joint with my sports page as company. For years, when I worked at the Court, that meant The Mill Café at Beuhlers (a now defunct Ohio grocery chain) …when I walked in my usual waitress would prepare my deluxe veggie baguette, side fruit, pitcher of ice water……..so, in my confinement, I have discovered the re-creation of this tradition, with frozen ciabatta rolls, horseradish cheddar, assorted green things and pesto…..eating and trolling the NBA boxcars on the internet…alas this is a poor substitute….but it is, what it is….and someday……

Marjorie Taylor Greene– are you kidding me?

And that is all she wrote……. gotta go do some packing…. put on six layers to go for Sunday walk….and contemplate that Chinese delivery….stay safe, be love, get vaccinated…….

Papi-san

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