Category: Green Mountain Blog

Allo, Allo:

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……

Ta-Da…. oh my……that’s the end……

Papi-San

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Feliz otoño:

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…

Love and joy to the world……. Tired Papi

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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.

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…

Lovin’ it, Papi

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Hello Fellow Travelers:

“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.

Joy to the world,

Papi

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Fin Septembre:

“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……

Till then,

Stu

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Good Golly, Miss Molly:

“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.

Papi

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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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