Ho Ho Hum

Feliz Navidad mis Amigos:

“A great silence space holds all of nature in its embrace. It also holds you” ………………………………………………………………………………………Eckhart Tolle

“The main reason Santa is so jolly is because he knows where all the bad girls live.” …………………………………………………………………………George Carlin

“Louie, I think this is the beginning of beautiful friendship” …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………Rick Blaine

You know you are living through a COVID winter in Vermont when:

The fuel delivery man comes and is reluctant to fill the pipe on the little back deck, because of five-foot icicle spears hanging from above waiting to pierce his skull…………………………………….

THE POND looks like an ice rink…. but then again…who knows…. should we walk out?

After a week of sub-arctic temps, it hits 55 and It rains all day Christmas day…four feet of snow comes down from the roofs….and the grass shows up after two weeks…. all is back to as before …. except the streams look like the rushing Colorado River……and you still have to dig out two more feet of rock hard snow from in front of the barn doors-to finally get out the new car that has been stuck inside there for ten days……………………

Your snowbound partner takes a shower and puts on eye shadow for the first time in four days- for a Zoom……and your pheromones start screaming….

You spend Christmas Eve and Christmas day with just the two of you (for the 310^th straight day) ….and watch the clock for the next holiday Zoom to start…

You jump up from the couch when the FedEx truck comes up the lane…only to have him (still in shorts, mind you) at the wrong house…

You spend a week with only snow tunnels to get out of your house………

You make day trip to find Texas Bar-B-Que in Vermont…and find it………… in the back of a gas station……

You get dressed to go out and deliver Christmas cookies…and get stuck in four semi-plowed driveways……apparently everyone else has snow tires and does not really care….

You wear the same smelly socks, sweatpants, hoodie and stocking cap around the house for four days……and that feels normal…………….

You start wearing the Queens headbands around your hair disarray…and see Keith Richards in the mirror…….

You drive an hour and a half to get lunch, just for something to do….and Mama Corleone says “no lunch today” ……feh…. pui….

On a frigid night…. you lean over and murmur to your sweetie….” I thought it was you, but it was just the rug” ……….

You order curbside groceries and they send you an e-mail with a massive list of items that are either out of stock or to be substituted…which you know is bullshit…so you have to go in anyway, and shop for all those items (readily available to any set of simian eyes on the shelf) …and then have three follow-up conversations with the store manager about their training program for the teeny-bopper shoppers………………

You run out of books to read….which must be like what it is to kick cold turkey….and when you go to the library to pick up some finally arrived reinforcement orders….you can’t get to the front door over the four feet of snow, and apparently it is unclear whose responsibility it is to move the piles….….so you have to resort to reading your benefactress’ library collection…which is mostly smut…but pretty good anyway….

Your music playing partners are an ancient IPhone and a laptop…but you make music anyway…with your posse and The Prodigal……………………Priceless….

The cable company calls you three days in advance to tell you that your service will go out with the next storm……proactively deflating….

And….on Christmas Eve day the ancient fridge stops working….and you wonder….how are we going to get a masked appliance guru to come to our snowbound house now……or for the foreseeable future…and The Queen goes ballistic thinking about 40 pounds of spoiled, local, organic meats… …and trudges through the four feet of snow to the barn to gather all our known coolers to avert the catastrophe…..and then …it mystically comes back on…..Ho, Ho, Ho…..

You drive around…unsuccessfully……looking for a half-dry place to jog…and put on six layers to go out to The Barn to work out…

And then….you take a drive up Route 100…walk through the silent snow beauty of the Green Mountain National Forrest…and cross the Brandon Pass at 3000 feet …and can see 100 miles of snowbound landscape……all the way to The Adirondacks…..and it’s almost all worth it….

Merry Christmas to all…and to all a good night………Papi

Welcome to Winter in the Mountains

Snowed in on Sunday:

“You are the sky. Everything else is just the weather” ……………………………………………………………………………………………………Pema Chodron

“I’m dreaming of a White Christmas” ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………Bing Crosby

“That’s gonna be awful clean down there” ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………Andy Sipowitz, NYPD Blue

Four feet of SNOW in 12 hours……that could be the week in review…. but we get ahead of ourselves…. Brrrrrrr…

After a stretch of not reaching 20 degrees for four days, with lows overnight below zero, last Sunday was a tropical 40, so trekked south for ride and a walk for the Beast (guess which one?)…..Weston, Londonderry, Stratton Mountain…quirky Vermont sausages for lunch- au- car from Honeypie……………long dirt road walk as the farmers along the mountain lane out hanging lites….gift of extended daylight until a robust quartet to five……but harbinger of big things to come in the air…..gonna need a bigger boat…..

Then…. our newest bestie, Christine of the Vegas (eldest daughter of our benefactress, Karen) sends along a response to last week’s Blog with best wishes/dire warnings for handling the Vermont Winter on the mountain……along with pix of THE blizzards of 78 and what they did to The Inn (pix attached) …. impressive, fear worthy……and………………. another harbinger……

Harbinger becomes reality……four feet of snow in 12 hours overnight on Wednesday….what happened to Global Warming?….never seen anything like it…..shades of The Shining…..could not get out front door….could not see the barn….thought Jenn’s car was stolen, till we found it under a fifteen foot drift of snow…..had smugly put my new car in the barn in anticipation (of maybe 12 inches)…..which we may see again in a week or two once the eight feet of snow in front of the barn doors recedes….WOW……The Curse of Christine -Storm of the Century….

Fortunately, we were on good terms with food, water and edibles…and the power stayed on…and the internet worked…and we streamed…. A LOT-…and made on line music……so…could be worse??????….and then Master Bowbie, and the town plow came through on Friday morning, clearing the lane (not the barn) ….and then……… we hit minus 18 on Friday night…are you shitting me…do people do every year?……what are we, Eskimos?

Saturday we were able to dig out the lost car, get down the lane and go to town…..such as it is….after The Dump, the post office, the unreachable library, and our package delivery drop-off/pickup at the abode of The Masseuse in the Trailer (she has a mailbox)…..we took Lucy for short dirt road snow walk….frozen feet after 20 minutes (us, not her)…..and then…… having felt isolated enough for one week….I braved a night drive down the mountain to Ludlow to DJ’s to pick up dinner…..ARE WE NUTS????????….with daily records for cases, hospitalizations and deaths, Ludlow was crawling with people, every open restaurant filled, traffic jam in the center of town…..99% out of state lunatics….had to wait 15 minutes for my called in order to be ready…so, refusing to be amongst the lunatics, stood outside in the freeze, face mushed up against the window waiting for the signal….like a waif from a Dickens Christmas……we live in a world of crazy people …..but I must say the Roast Duck with Cherry Bing Sauce….may have made it worth it……

Speaking of crazy, how about the GOP Congressman from Colorado who has announced he will not take the vaccine…because HE IS AN AMERICAN……straitjacket anyone?

And what else is there to say (you’d be surprised) ……. SNOW, SNOW, MORE SNOW……………The Pond will be up to the Manse after it rains this week…. where will it all go?………….Saw the new cat twice this week…. TQ is alternately calling her Malo, Mahalo, Saffron and Jai-Lai….no wonder she has no idea where the hell she is………Workouts in The Barn…. have become a challenge even after digging out the side door to get in…. but who’s complaining….

And, does Santa still use the USPS (we need another stamp raise to stay afloat) to deliver?………….Vermont Santa made that mistake (only place we could get to for shipping) …and our gifts are floating around the Bermuda Triangle at this point (February?) ……along with my title application to get the new car registered in Ohio…. but who’s complaining?……..

Tess, bless her heart, organized a Christmas cookie bakeoff with Nanna for the grand-girls …so at least one tradition survived in the time of COVID…and The Queen helped organize a massive food relief effort for those who have not, which resulted in the collection of four hundred or so pounds of mac-n’-cheese, etc…Vermont is community focused….

And the local new hip radio station in Rutland (that has a signal you can get within about three miles) continues to astound and amaze…. last night on way to crazed Ludlow played a set which included, Bruce’s Spirit in the Night (all right), Four Tops I’ll be There, Van the Man and the Chieftains and Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys……have now arrived at another retro planet………

And…that…must…… be it….

Have a wonderful Christmas…hope Chanukah went well……if you’re something else……. well, good luck with that. Be safe……next year: Jerusalem…….

Joy to your worlds, Papi

Can you hear The Mountains moan?

My Brothers and Sisters:

“I pack no provisions for my long journey- entering emptiness under the midnight moon” ………………………………………………………………………. Chinese Sage

“Winter solitude—in world of one color, the sound of wind” ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. Basho

“Heaven help the poor man as he struggles every day
Heaven help the red man if he turns his back away
Heaven help the man who kicks the man who has to crawl
Heaven help us all.” …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………Charlie Pride (RIP)

My Brothers and Sisters:

“I pack no provisions for my long journey- entering emptiness under the midnight moon” ………………………………………………………………………. Chinese Sage

Makin’ a list…. checkin’ it twice…. Mama!…….. THE BLOG is here!………….THE BLOG is here! …

The snow is whirlin’……the winds are howlin’……. The POND is fillin’……The day are gettin’ longer, the nights are gettin’ colder…and I wanna go back home…lay my head down on your shoulder……winter on The Mount…. pretty solitary…but keepin’ busy…The Elves are beginning to abound as we brace for the most unusual holiday season……crank up the Zoomin’, please….

The Queen’s lil’ dug-up Christmas tree now has lights and tchotchkes, in the set- free –of the hot tub living room…. thanks to the barn supply left by our dear benefactress, Karen, who is basking in the Vegas sunshine while we dig out the sidewalk…. Had a half foot of snow on the ground unit it rained it away yesterday …. but drove done to Rutland on Tuesday, where it seemed like springtime and nary a flake…. Mt. Holly IS apparently the snow capitol of Vermont…

Got CAR????…yes , we do…having sold the malignant Subaru, we picked up the new Cherokee from Santa Bob on Tuesday…which required a weekly-mandatory stop for lunch…having discovered the secret Italian Super Deli….Paisanos (how original)…which is in the far back of a beer carryout- on a far back street- in the middle of nothing….Actually had a grinder named after the local concrete baron, which is better than it sounds…..the place has salamis and prosciutto hanging from the ceiling…almost like being on Bleecker Street…car has now been fitted into the Barn, where it has yet to emerge…who goes anywhere these days?

The Hot Tub is now percolating on the frozen back porch, where it seems to be surviving though it takes about a day to fully heat for use…no leaks yet…lots more space in the living room……

The new cat, who I call Malo, but TQ is calling Mahalo (apparently Malo is Espanola for “bad”, which TQ is not happy with)….has now been spotted three times in in about ten days….she is apparently not all that happy cohabiting with Grace, Lucy or Jenn…though she seems to like Papi….she has come out only long enough to scratch the shit out of TQ’s hand, spread used litter all over the now spacious living room,…and shit behind the TV….but hey…I do all those things too…..assuming it’s The Plaque…..

And how about the Miracle of Zoom?……had a zoom this week with my very old friend, Steve Berman, in Portland (OR), who I have not seen in 20 years….tracked him down and sent him some music we had been working on…since he was my first adult band mate (not counting the seminal Stu the Shrew and the Wild Men from howling adolescence days) and writing partner back in the Golden 70s….we played in band called “Pipedream”…still is, No

The Nave has assumed the Chanukah cultural mantle…and is sending the family a classic video for each night of the holiday…which is a little like sending rosaries to Muslims…. can you say “Chanukah Harry”?

And…how about…Bebe’s first Santa video-https://www.facebook.com/591919899/posts/10158284658394900/

Took a snow day on Friday…which provided the opportunity for not one….but two Covid -safe carry-out meals in one day….it may be my only contact with other human beings….so hit Ramuntos for the two- slice special for lunch…and then the lil’ Indian palace in the back of the exotic (for Vermont) grocery for some Saag and Vindaloo take home for dinner….In between , we headed up to scenic Chittenden Dam for a snow walk….and wonderful views of the setting winter sun…love walking up snow covered mountains with shoes with worn out soles…can you say …….on your ass….

Law Enforcement in Vermont……had to get a VIN inspection to send to Ohio for getting the new Jeep titled…and it requires it be confirmed by police types…which are nowhere to be found in our parts…so tracked down Paul the Rotund Town Constable (This…is a REAL Thing) …who came over this morning to VIN me…a bit Sipowitz-like… he may have been packing, but I tried hard not to ask….

And…. the wood is split…after cutting down trees for eight years…. our drunken -forester up the road, Dennis…… showed up this week with his splitter in tow…just back from deer hunting in Coshocton Ohio (no deer, no masks there) and allowed us to split up a cord or two…which we dutifully neatly stacked and tarped…and then made a beeline for the hot tub…. enough fireplace wood now for the next eight years…..

And…. I’m out of gas…. too much darn activity for one week……mid-40s today so getting out for a drive and dirt road walk…sugar plums dancing….

Be well….be safe….do what you can…oh…oh…. oh…. oh…. stayin’ alive, stayin alive……

Papi

Winter Ramblings

Good day to all:

“Snow falling on snow, and this evening, the full moon of December” ……………………………………………………………………………………. Basho

“We live in our own description of reality” ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. Gregory Bateson

“Does the wind grow cold, when you’re laying your soul out on the line” ……………………………………………………………………………………Graham Nash

Covid, Covid, Fo-Fovid…. Fee-Fi-Fo Fovid……C-O-V-I-D……………In the deep dark woods of the Green Mountains, the world of the Plaque abounds endlessly……snowed in, hunkered down, hoping each day, the FedEx man might come around, to provide a glimpse of life…….is it done yet?……. Vermont continues to be quite the socially responsible place, and, in relative safety…. even with a concerning rise in cases in the last month (Deep Elem Thanksgiving Gathering Blues) …. still statewide infection rate hovering just above 1%, making it, along with Hawaii, best place in North America to suffer this out…. Ohio… at an astounding 15% infection rate (the ancient curse of Trump?) ….and Idaho and North Dakota at a mind- bending plus 50% rate (but freedom prevails there!)

And, then there is the Numchuck……orange jumpsuit on the horizon?……please lock me away, and don’t allow the days, here inside, where I hide, with my loneliness….do we feel sorry for him yet?……wondering how many sociopaths he can pardon and how may nimrods he can appoint to federal positions before he is hauled off to the yard?

Quote of the week: “I will be the hero! These morons — when this is over, I will be the hero.”- The Rudy

The Ten most interesting happenings of a V-E-R-Y slow week in the mountains:

The Hot tub moved……. after a tub-in-the living-room landslide of both kudos (this is great Covid- crazy-shit)…and loving concerns (are you out of your mind…leaks? Mold? Mildew? insurance companies?) ……we bit the proverbial bullet, and had a warm enough day….to drain the monstrosity……and move it to the porch…to see if it can survive in an unheated area……insulated underside, motor, pipes …and so far seems to work……nice out there with the windows all around and the hoarfrost of deep winter surrounding us…. takes forever to heat up in the cold- but so far so good…and if it springs a leak…who need a porch anyway?

Are we going to have A Coup……have The Base Minions finally cracked and going to take to the streets of Ann Arbor, Albany and DC loaded to bear….and maskless?

The Queen has been restless and determined….and finally snuck out while Papi was snoozin’ and picked up a new cat…. a one-year-old Tabby, who has been under the couch in the now liberated-from-hot-tub living room, for the last three days……TQ is nothin, if nor relentless when she gets a Royal notion……new addition likely dubbed Malo, after the lost band of Carlos Santana’s younger brother, Jorge…. I actually still have the one album…perhaps a much- needed Hispanic voter in Vermont….

THE POND….is now about to over flow…who knew this happened after we typically left Dodge?

The Rastafarian neighbors have returned after a month’s absence…. waiting to see if they will pick up the strewn garbage all over their property and our drive access, that they left in 50 gallon open drums last visit…and that either a hungry bear or a pissed of human knocked over…

The mountains are lovely for driving this time of year…. bare trees, decaying Autumn leaves, snow colored fields of hay bales…. made it down to quaint Dorset this week…a town that ONLY has white hoses……hit the H.N. Williams General Store for lunch…oldest in Vermont… on the old stage coach line along Route 30 as it meanders in a deep valley surrounded by mountain ranges on each side…nary a vehicle or human in sight…

Vermont State Parks …are The Bomb…once the tourists go away and Stick Season chases everyone indoors……did a long hike around Emerald Lake State Park right before the most recent snow hit…passed it right along our drive here on Route 7, for years, without ever venturing in…. but it is absolutely beautiful, with trails around the lake and up through the hills…. our own private winter wonderland…and hog heaven for a cooped up Lucy…

Sold the old Subaru days before the pick-up/trade-in deadline…. pickin’ up new vehicle on Tuesday from Santa the Salesman…hoping for no snowstorm as we ain’t goin’ inside……

And, how may interesting happenings is that…. only eight, I see (and that was stretching it. No?) …. well, that’s about the sum of it….it may be quite some time before ten actual interesting things happen in one week…can you say VACCINE?

Be Calm, stay safe, think good thoughts, Use your quarantine elbow……. Hare Krishna……

Ferlin’

Sunlight Dwindles in the Greens

Gut Shabbos:

“If you think you’re enlightened, go spend a week with your family” …………………………………………………………………………………………………Baba Ram Dass

“Whatever inspiration there is, it’s born from a continuous “I don’t know” ………………………………………………………………………………………Wislawa Symborska

“We only run for the money, got no strings attached…. we shut ‘em up and then we shut ‘em down”………………………………………………Bruce Springsteen

Only in Vermont Winter

Bonjourno:

There is poetry as soon as realize that we possess nothing” ……………………………………………………………………John Cage

“Having prepared their buds against a sure winter the wise trees stand sleeping in the cold” ……………………………………William Carlos Williams

“Men will always follow the little captain into battle” …………………………………………………………………Andy Sipowitz, NYPD Blue

Bonjourno:

“There is poetry as soon as realize that we possess nothing” ………………………………………………………………………………………………John Cage

“Having prepared their buds against a sure winter the wise trees stand sleeping in the cold” ………………………………………………William Carlos Williams

“Men will always follow the little captain into battle” ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………Andy Sipowitz, NYPD Blue

I never knew a man could tell so many lies
He had a different story for every set of eyes
How can he remember who he’s talking to?
Because I know it ain’t me and I hope it isn’t you…………………………………………..Neil Young, Ambulance Blues, On the Beach, 1974

“There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.” …………………………. Leonard Cohen

Been lookin’ for the light this week, as the mountain stick season proceeds in cold, dark fury. The dining the yard table is stored away, the machines are shut down, the sun has slipped away and the cold wind blows through the hills bringing a daily dose of COVID- cum -Trump Coup Attempt daily and through the night. Trying to ban the news channels from the manse…but it is challenging, my friends…………………

Settling in for protracted Vermont winter away from friends and family….and sideteppin’ the blues…. adapting to the world of Only in Vermont, which is the themata for the week…

Sunday walks over hill and dale are a nomadic experience, with nary a soul in sight during stick-but no tick- season….last week involved a trek down barren but beautiful Route 100 through Londonderry to the hamlet of Peru (really) and Hapgood Pond National Forrest…to hike the stark loveliness of bare trees and fallen leaves….which then required a trip to the local Burger joint by the mountain (Stratton) for homemade sausages…in Vermont that equated to some kind of Moroccan Lamb diddie with some kind of Kimchee shit on it…Lucy was thrilled with both the walk and the new age sausage…

Showering is random these days (see the portrait photo of moi in pix) …and the same winter socks go for days…this week’s version started off with a small toe hole that had grown to eclipse most of my lower foot after three days……which led to a lengthy economic discussion with The Queen, that basically ended with the mantra “You can afford socks” ….

Who knew…that after we usually evacuate in early November………… The Pond……… mysteriously rises to it mid-summer majesty……but…it does…

I-S-O-L-A-T-E-D…………………………………I saw four people this entire week……The hearty FedEx man twice (in shorts in 25-degree weather) …………………. The car salesman at the Jeep dealership who is known as Santa Claus (we’ll see about that) …. the catatonic woman who mans the front desk at the empty-but- wear –a – mask to work out- Okemo gym facility….and of course The Queen for 24/7……24/7……24/7………. though, in fairness, I also saw around 1500 people on Zoom this week…

Car shit in the mountains #1- Selling- put my brazenly defiant Subaru on various social media sale sites…and have had the probably typical experience of dealing with a number of nut jobs…one guy celled and texted me ten times in two hours to beg me not to sell the car to anyone else as they were 100% sure that this was the car of their drams, and that they would be here shortly cash in hand….after no show for 24 hours he asked if I could just wait another two weeks for them to settle a now contested insurance claim….yesterday a woman was on her way from northern Vermont to buy the puppy, so TQ persuaded me to finally clean out the car from the detritus of my car-as traveling- house configuration- so went out and did the total detail while TQ wandered around collecting hay bales…….when she eventually returned there was a message that the buyeress has bought another car…but the car is pretty clean now….

Car shit in the mountains #2- Buying- we have been to see the aforementioned Santa Claus regularly now, and driven a variety of Jeep types up the same mountain road…he has now held one car for us with a faux deposit for two weeks, which we thought we might buy…. but wanted to sell the clunker first….so now he is holding two cars for us… for two weeks…… until we decide whether we can sell the car or take the measly trade-in offer…but in the meantime, the deal has gotten better and now includes a fifty-year bumper to bumper warranty…. we will either pick up a car in next few weeks …or add a few more cars to our “holds” …………. which actually say “sold” on the windshield to deter other salesmen…maybe he is Santa….

Package Remote Delivery…if I get one more email from the various deliverer that says “delivery exception”…I may go postal (pun intended)….we have tried labeling our address Mt. Holly, Belmont and East Wallingford ..and from one time to the next the same delivery drivers cant’ find us….Po box, house address, neighbor’s mailbox….nada…..often wandering around for two weeks or so before arriving (with the exception of Brother Feel’s bagel care package which arrived in one day from Jersey)….how much can we pay to get a package delivered on time…just tell me….

And, finally, The Hot Tub….which was three days late in delivery after two “delivery exceptions” from the beach clad Fed Ex man…..when we sold our Bunty house, we lost the use of our ancient, beloved hot tub…a massive 1999 beauty that we had been slave to maintaining….so decided if we are going to partially winter in isolation in Vermont….a soak would be beneficial…..had a carpenter/electrician come over and he suggested a tub on the barely supported/no foundation deck seemed unwise, so we decided to get the inflatable variety…and for now, just stick it outside the porch door and plug it in…simple nes’t pas?…till it arrived with glaring and heretofore unmentioned warning not to house or use below 39 degrees (in Vermont winter, mind you)….which really set us afloat…but being the stubborn sorts…. Have now set it up in the middle of our living room…quite the fung schway…..but after heating up for 30 hours to 104…we sat in hot bubbles last night surrounded by beautiful wood flooring, which is going to be The Queen’s obsessive challenge to keep from ruining via spillage……but hey…its’ hot, wet and quiet…mission faux accomplished…..

After not knowing anyone with the virus for nine months, we now have a dozen friends, family, acquaintances sick…. we seem to be going in the wrong direction……Duh….even the purile state of Vermont is under a rigorous form of lock down…but, hell…let’s just have a motorcycle rally with 400, 000 unmasked hells angels come on over……

And that, my friends, is all I got….be well, be safe, have a good thanksgiving with what you got……find the crack to let the light in….go Georgia…..

The Country Papi

Slowing Down Time in the Greens

Good morning all you wayfaring strangers:

“In the presence of eternity, the mountains are as transient as the clouds” ………………………………………………………………………………………Robert Ingersoll

“I would like to live like a river flows, carried by the surprise of its own unfolding” ……………………………………………………………………………. John O’Donohue

“I’m just a lonesome LA cowboy…hangin’ out…hangin’ on” …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. Peter Rowan

Time has settled into a standstill here in the Greens……the inevitable Stick Season provides the stark transition from the glory of Fall Foliage to the descent into winter ski season……where have all the flowers gone?…….Not many people about, not much doing, not all that much to say (you’d’ think) ……………………………………….

The magnificent Indian Summer of last week, with 65-degree sunny splendor for six days…has turned into the gray, chilly skies of the Pandemic world…. reducing most all human contact to The Zoom Universe………………

The Plague raged across the continent leaving countless bodies and spirits in its wake…..even pristine Vermont has now limited all reasonable contacts….cannot even see anyone not in your household outside…..72 cases statewide last week prompting a massive set of restrictions….though happy to say that our county, Rutland, has the lowest per capita incidence of cases in the country- at 83 cases per million- compared with, say, our hometown of Delaware with around 3- 4000 cases per million….Christmas in Vermont, anyone?

Thanksgiving is an afterthought at this point……relegated to Zooming dinners…while the national shit storm rages ……and The Moron n’ Chief continues to brag about winning, poo-poohing the Virus, running again in 24, creating his own TV station (hates Fox News now) ……and generally providing a level of angst for our collective souls…. not seen since the glory days of Trick Dicky……got no mo’ nothin’…….

Three of the Bunty boys gathered for music in the driveway back in Cowtown this week, since Prodigal Brother Al returned for the birth of first grandkid from the wilds of Florida……which was so depressing to miss I did not even go to my weekly Monday music session…which now seems like it may have been the last one for a while, masks or no masks….

We bought a freezer for The Queen to fill with myriad jars of frozen soup…we bought an inflatable hot tub to soak in under the frozen stars…and likely buying a new car this week…after an impulse Covid-shopping trip that had us meeting the dealer salesman in the street with Hazmat suits, driving cars back and forth across Rutland town, putting the old Subaru on Craig’s list just to see, and immediately getting an offer….this is about what there is to do in the mountains these days…

Though…. we did take advantage of the sterling six day weather to have three straight days of last-ditch Dinners on the Ground…hauled the old dining table out of winter storage and set up in the side yard….starting each dinner mid-afternoon in short shorts and winding up in furs and blankets as the sun lowered…..what a parade….The Jewish Pig Farmer and his Death Cafe Queen bride (ribs), The slightly Brain-damaged Surgeon and his Honey-Irish betrothed (Veggie Lasagna), and finally the Erstwhile Russian Spy and The World’s greatest School Marm (sizzlin’ grill food)….now, all of it back stored in the rear barn – cum fitness center for the gray ahead…..

And what more is there to say……waiting for the car buyers to come down from Burlington with their wad of cash…and see what happens…. take a Sunday-in –the rain drive……and dream about…… sunny days, holiday gatherings, holding granddaughters (see Bebe in prep for Christmas #3), disconnecting Zoom, and the coming of January 20^th……this too shall pass…. Chains, my baby’s got me locked up in chains……

Stay safe, take a walk, bake some sourdough, love the ones you’re with……and let’s all keep our fingers crossed…. A Change is Gonna Come…………………………

Mountain Papi

Democracy Returns to the Greens

Greetings Friends and Fellow Americans:

“Let the sky outside awake a sky in your mind” …………………………………………………………………………………………………………. Sogyal Rinpoche

“The simplest questions are the hardest to answer” ……………………………………………………………………………………………………. Northrop Frye

“Snowflakes falling, flake by flake. Each flake falls in it proper place” ……………………………………………………………………………Zen saying

“I know I picked a bad time to be in love” ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………Grand Funk Railroad

It’s been a good week in the far northeast…… After five days of snow and highs in the 20s, the winds of Quebec have showered on us a reprieve with sunny mid 60 days for a predicted week…. we got out, we took off our coats, Papi put his shorts back on…and headed for the hills……and while we were there……driving and hiking through the barren- stick- season beauty of the Greens……we were off the grid….until we hit a cell signal on a mountaintop….and all the text messages hit both our phones……with The News that democracy had stepped up…..

We remain in a shit storm of trouble for the moment……… but many of us believe we now at least have possibilities….to be just, to be fair, to come together………

I am PROUD of our people…………………………

I am certainly PROUD to be a Vermonter, where almost everyone voted by mail and where a clear victory was announced in an hour on Tuesday…. despite a large number of Bernie write-ins………………

I am Not So Proud to be an Ohioan……. I will be rooting for Michigan this year in the annual rivalry game…. Go Blue!!……………………………..

I am REALLY PROUD of our kids, who all got out to vote and be heard, by mail, by early vote and on election day…. special kudos go to Ryan, who stood in line in Cleve-town 2 ½ hours on election day…. we will not be suppressed……

I am PROUD of the media who have refused to spend time focusing on the ridiculous contestations and protests coming from he and his minions…. expectable…. Can you say Hanging Chads?………

I think we can sum up the response to El Presidente in two words……You’re FIRED……

Soooo…. what else happened this week…. not much here…. five days of snow and cold demonstrated a touch of what Covid isolation can be in the mountains………but we remain way ahead of the curve in Vermont……though not immune…. are there really people still refusing to wear masks?………….

Did a bunch of yard cleanup, and winterizing on the house (The Queen has bought out Amazons supply of insulation materials) ……decided that we will be staying in hibernation here at least through November and Thanksgiving………first Turkey-day without the kids and Nave and Suba for 30 plus years……. this will be strange……but this is the boat we are in for now………playing’ any return to the red-going-purple heartland by ear at this point………

Lots of Zoomin’ this week with various projects/colleagues around the country…has anybody not bought Zoom stock yet?……….

Halloweenie passed like a ghost…. though we did have trunk or treat at the local fire station foe the kiddies….and we got to see the granddaughters do their thing from afar by Portal…. see pix of Bebe and surrogate granddaughter, Maddie…….

Donned my Hazmat suit and went back to the newly reopened gym at Okemo this week…after trying to work out in the barn in 22 degree weather (not too bad actually)….and jog up and down the snow/ice covered hills on our major Route 103 (absurd)…..so l found they were only allowing 6 gymsters in at a time for one hour blocks , with a host of safety protocols….picked a time to reserve a slot with no one else signed up….and indeed had the entire building to myself……got to consider risk and need…..and working off election blues was high on the need scale……but felt safe there and it went well -despite 35 minutes of treadmill wearing a required mask ……can you say oxygen ,please?………….

Signed up for Social Security……and thought, give me a break, can this really be true, how did it happen overnight…I mean Social Security, for Christ’s sake…….

And Saturday…..well Saturday was an almost perfect day (can’t tell you all of it for fear of landing on the FBI subversive list)………but when the sun comes out and it hits 70 degrees in November, in the Mount……you gotta be ready to go, go, go in the Greens…..so did our in- town chores and made for splendid Route 100 for a drive between the ranges….over both the Mad River and Lincoln Gaps….lunch on the Green in lovely ville of Bristol, strollin’ through the graveyards, up and down the dirt roads amidst the slanted bare trees light of shortened days……trek to The View at the Lincoln Gap…………….picked up Chinese at long lost, beloved East in Rutland, on the way home…..a buy of yard art for Christmas shopping….and home in time to watch Uncle Joe give what may be the most inspiriting speech of his career…and how about Kamala the Socialist….what a moment for liberty…….

And…since we are having a run of his ridiculous weather……we have lunch on the ground here planned for the next three days with friends we have not seen since the dark cold descended on us and all moved indoors………gotta go retrieve that big ass table from the barn storage…….

So, my friends and family……continue to be safe, take good care of one another…… and let’s come together now and find our true selves…. we can reach the mountaintop yet……

Papi

Winter Comes Early to the Mount

Welcome Freedom Fighters and Semi- Happy Plague Warriors:

“Everything in life is speaking in spite of its apparent silence” ………………………………………………………………………………………………Hazrat Inayit Khan

“It’s the Goya thing” ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………The Queen on describing having a bagel with butter and jam

“Please lock me away, and don’t allow the days, here inside where I hide with my loneliness……

I don’t care what they say, I won’t stay in a world… without Zoom” ………………………………………………………………………………………Peter, Gordon and Papi

Does anybody really know what time it is? Does anybody really care? ……………What will you do with your bonus hour today? Hour-schmour……. Ain’t much to do these days, except watch the talking heads, dread the next few days and bake more sourdough bread……and it’s gonna get dark before I eventually get dressed. Da-Da-Da…Da-Da-Da…. Da-Da-Da…. Da-Da-Da…. My Corona……

And…then there were two days remaining……let’s just all go out and find a Biden-bus to hold hostage by gunpoint or try to roll over……we are almost living in a third world dictatorship…. Coup, anyone?

(ED. note- sorry about the below-could not get rid of the bold)

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And then…she discovered Paula Bunyan—-got out the new chainsaw my beloved got me while the sun was peeking out last Sunday and took to the trees….after using the same saw for 35 years, which started occasionally, and ran periodically, this baby….cuts like Buttah’…had two trees downed and cut for firewood in an hour…..and in the mix of it…..The Queen requested saw lessons for the first time in her life ….from there it was stand back, Papi… no getting the machine back from her…..timbers away……got to get the lunkers out of the way in order to plant all those pilfered pine trees

Wild and Crazy outing for the week….in the time of Corona, any adventure, no matter how small, is Golden…so made the hour long trek up to Claremont (only blue county in New Hampshire) to the Mart, for oil and tiers rotation (Papi) and vision exam (Nanna) and inspecting all the bottom shelves for accuracy (Lucy)…..had drive – thru Pizza Hut for lurch and grabbed the infamous Mart fried chicken for dinner (working on our diet)….Lucy was the swoon of the season for Mart shoppers and employees….Who do you love? Who do you love…. It’s not the Caribbean…but oh well…makin’ do (or doo) ……big stuff…had to come home and nap….

And The Goat…is now our regular Saturday visit…. Smells Lucy a mile away and comes out to the Dump (From where?) ready to nuzzle…while Lucy runs in circles barking at the moon…. Goat, undeterred, climbed into the Subaru this week and refused to get out (and-has horns) …. totally unflappable and a bit of a stinky-mystic……this is my new Corona bestie….

And…. then it Snowed……three inches overnight on Thursday, creating a Winter Wonderland on Friday morning…and an overnight on Friday of fifteen degrees…. gonna need a BIG heater to keep workin’ out in The Barn……snow covered hills against the few remaining red maples…. WHEW…brings tears to my eyes…. joy to my heart…and frost to my toes…could be a long winter…………………………

Goodbye……James Bond……Another childhood icon gone….

Thanksgiving Blues……family, friends, convenience, Chinese delivery and Red heading for Purple…. OR……a bit isolated, holiday alone, NO delivery, but Solid Blue? Got the Mullin’ -Over Blues big time…

Be well, stay warm and SAFE…try an d love one another right now….

Papi

From the Mountains…………. to the Sea

Bienvenidos mi Amigos:

“The leaves fall, the wind blows, and the farm country slowly changes from the summer cottons into its winter wools.” ………………………………………………………Henry Beston

“My baby and me we went down to the sea……gonna wash these sins from our hands” ……………………………………………………………………………………. Bruce Springsteen

“It’s been a long time comin’……gonna be a long time gone” …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………David Crosby

Sundays are the new Wednesdays- seems all the same these days for us……today dawned bright(nice) and high 20s (not so nice)……but got a new chainsaw and there is tree cutting to be done this afternoon, which would usually be followed by late day walk, backs permitting….last Sunday we took the late afternoon silent walk up (straight up, that is) Bowlesville Road to the viewpoint on top….dappled late day autumn sunlight falling down though the rippled ridges, small snow peaked mountain in the distance…amazingly- encountered two sets of human on the trail’s quietude….seemed like a walk through the suburbs?

The Last Supper? – We did outdoor lunch (vegan chili, cornbread, cobbler, cognac) with The Russian Spy and Beloved School Marm last Sunday, too……high 40s for a three-hour visit in the cold and muted sunshine……this may be the end of our social life for the foreseeable future…. shuttin’ down on the Mount????

Speaking of Trees……the planting of trees, shrubs and bushes have become The Queens latest obsession…. which means we go everywhere with a hoe and small shovel in the trunk…to dig up potential soulmates for our ever growing arbor…side of the road, mountain trails, graveyards, parks……all in play for the shovel…apparently the goal is to surround The inn with a moat like perimeter of trees…. pine, pine, everywhere a pine…

“Cases and Races” ………. both of which our fearless leader calls “Fake News” ……ten days and counting……saw online that my ballot had been received and counted, which had me drooling with ecstasy……Have you VOTED yet? Every soul must have its rest…. but the end is not in sight……

Back to pickin’ and grinnin’…. resumed going to the local hoedown on Monday night for the past month…. inside at the cavernous Odd Fellows (this is a real thing) Hall in town……six or seven of us in a room half the size of a football field…cavernous, but good acoustics….and everyone masked……have you ever tried to sing wearing a mask?

And, remember the Dentist thing?- made my horrified return trip to the Dentist in the Shopping Center on Tuesday, after reluctantly going the previous week to have my teeth cleaned (way, way overdue)…..and winding up the next day with what seemed like a cracked tooth……luckily, turned out to be a cracked filling which took all of twelve minutes to replace (this guy is making some real dough gliding from room to room on roller skates- apparently working to make his exodus from the shopping center to a new building he is erecting with my profits…..was glad to get in and out and make the throbbing stop, but thought it was caused by over aggressive scraping/cleaning…..are health pro types ever accountable for the secondary problems they may cause?

Off to The Sea, my son……Made our annual pilgrimage to the coast of Maine this week, our third and last outing of the Fall. Trip over was illuminating with Biden signs abounding (3 to 1 in Red New Hampshire, 10 to 1 in southern Maine). In 2016, we made the same trip, and, after living in the Vermont progressive cocoon all spring, summer, and fall- were shocked to find these same areas engorged with Trump signs…we had No Idea, and it was devastating to us….so THIS trip got off to a world class start this year

The Atlantic is very different than The Pacific, where The Prodigal resides….joy and ebullience are countered Down East by a somber, powerful undertoad….it is overwhelmingly powerful….and, this time of year…overwhelmingly devoid of humans….long walks on the misty and mystical empty beaches all up and down the coast from the NH border to north of Portland…abandoned Ferris wheels and play shacks, skeletal bungalows, quietude amongst the rollicking waves, lonely surfers out for a big squall….stayed in a family cottage (we qualified with Lucy in tow in )the village of Scarborough and combed the back roads for Lobsta Rolls……………..Mainers are fierce and independently rugged souls, though not unpleasantly so….returned home (after some mandatory stops for tree digging) with a hint of sadness at the looming end of Autumn and the coming of the bleak terrain of Stick Season….yet joy of joys-we got another burst of Magnifico fall foliage at the sea…before it gives way until next year……ahhhhh…..The Sea….

Let’s make a better world……

Papi