112. Vermont dreaming

Week 112  8/20

This was the most fun weekend we've had in ages! Paul and our friend Reils had planned to canoe a stretch of the Allagash in Maine with four other men. Two of them needed to drop out, and a third began to suffer with back strains. Three people was not the right number for this strenuous week-long canoe-camping trip and plans changed. Instead, Paul, Reils and canoeist number 3, Blair from Colorado, journeyed to Reils' and Jane's place in Sheffield VT for some canoeing in that area. Jane decided to go too and invited me. We showed up after the men had already been here for a few days.

We started our mornings with good breakfasts. Paul's popovers are serious business, it seems.

While the men canoed, Jane and I took a hike in the beautiful Northeast Kingdom hills. Of course Annie was with us almost all the time and was a welcome companion.

After the hike, we went for a swim at one of several local ponds where Jane likes to swim. The rule was that Annie needed to be on a leash, but swimming with a leashed dog proved to be difficult, so Annie waited in the car until we were done. The water was very refreshing. 

We visited a lily farm where Jane had bought some plants in the past. There were some hardy lilies and some new, fancy types as well. We didn't buy anything this time.

'

We took two more stops on the way back to the Sheffield house. First was a new museum that Jane and Reils had read about and passed, but hadn't stopped to visit, the Museum of Everyday Life. Please take a minute or a few hours to look at this website. It's fascinating. It became clear to us that there is overlap between this museum and the Bread and Puppet Theater which we saw in performance the next day.

Framed objects and manifestos.

Objects and stories are solicited from the general public. A few topics covered in depth are pencils, matches, mirrors, dust and bells.

This was Jane's favorite piece, a detailed woman made from pencils and pencil shavings.

Last stop for the day was Currier Market which houses the Glover Post Office and some interesting artifacts. These are only a few of the taxidermy specimens at the market.

 

On the next day, we decided to canoe together the length of Lake Willoughby which is about 5 miles. A plan for climbing a mountain after the canoe trip was scrapped. We had the benefit of the current but the water was very choppy with whitecaps, so it was pretty strenuous (for me, anyway). Blair and Reils are in the canoe ahead of us and Jane's kayak is just a dot in the distance ahead. We arrived at a beach on the south end that is used for nude bathing. Oddly, the 5-or-so nude bathers were mixed in with adults and children of all ages.

We all wanted to see Bread and Puppet, but arrived very late into the performance. The show was "Our Domestic Insurrection Circus & Pageant." We missed most of the circus part.

After the circus, we were asked to meet at the top of the hill for the pageant. We followed the crowd through a field and then a beautiful pine grove to a performance area.

Next we were instructed to follow to the field where we saw the finale of the pageant.

Finally we walked the grounds, saw the garden and buildings, and toured the museum.

At the end of the weekend, Reils and Blair headed to Maine for a more modest canoe trip than the original plan. Jane, Paul and I all went to Mass where we viewed the solar eclipse at the Kleins' house. We had a lovely lunch there with Ann, Jon, Gina and Mary

111. Farandnear

Week 111  8/13/17


Farandnear was the estate of Arthur Banks in Shirley, Mass. and is now a property of the Trustees of Reservations. It includes a garden area with lilies and various other cultivated species and also many species of pine trees. The pine collection is being added to each year. This pavilion was built in the footprint of the original home which was torn down.

We spent a long time talking to the caretaker who explained the three golf greens we saw. The estate had included a golf course and he, an avid golfer, has been renovating these parts of it. He located a few old clubs and had copies made of the original scorecards.

Paul tries the niblick.

The property also includes a network of hiking trails through woods, meadows and marshlands. The trails were all very well marked and maps were provided at all intersections showing "you are here" (unlike during my first visit a few months ago). There was one section that was closed due to flooding caused by beavers. The area where we hiked also had an active beaver dam.

This section of the forest is called Paradise.

110. Trad

Week 110  8/7/17

What fun! A golfing friend of Paul's is originally from Ireland and plays there still as well as here in the Boston area. He is one of the experienced musicians who help lead a weekly Irish traditional music seisiun at the Green Briar Pub .

First, a large side room was filled with about 50 musicians plus about 4 of us watching. This part was called the slow seisiun and was appropriate for learners. However most seemed very proficient to me. As you might expect, it was very casual and most of the players seemed to know each other. There were fiddles, mandolins, banjos, uilleann pipes, bodhran and multiple sizes and types of flutes and whistles. 

Next, at about 9:00 PM about 15 musicians retired to the main pub area, sat around a set of tables and began to play the fast seisiun. Paul's friend was part of this, but took a nice long break to talk with us while some of the other musicians had their solo turns.

We thorougly enjoyed this evening and will be sure to come again.

109. Charles

Week 109  8/1/17

In the height of blueberry picking, we have scant time for adventures. But being on the water this week was just the thing. We paddled upstream from Norfolk to Lake Populatic, then downstream again.

Once again, I turn in my canoe seat to take a photo of Paul with fish.

108. Contemplative spot close to home.

Week 107  7/28/17

We often take a trip to Fatima Shrine for the Christmas display. It is about one mile from our house. Its not a place we come to walk at other times of year, usually. The constant music is annoying, but the trees and landscaping are beautiful. There were quite a few other visitors. Just about everything is marked with a plaque with the donor's name.

One feature of the shrine is a gigantic rosary. Each "bead" is a boulder with Hail Mary printed in a different world language. I think the types of stones are significant too, but I don't see any information about it now. This split stone and the chain and cross are part of the rosary.

Paul stands on the Iowa stone (his birthplace) on the map.

The sign on this tree slice mentions "sequoia and redwood trees" but doesn't say which this specimen is.

Here we walked along the stations of the cross pathway. A young nun was taking copious notes, maybe a journal or notes on the shrine itself.

107. Butterfly season begins

Week 107  7/19/17

I read in the local newspaper about a new butterfly space in Holliston near the community gardens. Paul and I decided to check it out for this weeks adventure.

It was a cute little greenhouse structure. There was only one other guest on the weekday we visited, but the guest book shows the butterfly space is well-appreciated.

There were only a few local species of butterflies at the time we visited, but many specimens of those, including monarchs. I can't figure out why there was no milkweed growing in the butterfly place.

106. Continuing the folk theme ...

Week 106  7/15/17

Tom Rush often plays a show at The Center for the Arts in Natick (TCAN). This will be our third time (I think) seeing him with Dick and Sandy.

We sat front row center and I didn't want to be distracting by taking a picture, so no photos of the show. We arrived early at our reserved seats

The show was lots of fun. Tom played many old favorites and some new songs form a forthcoming CD. Tom's accompanist was Matt Nakoa and we remembered Matt from last year and Sandy bought one of his CDs.

During intermission, Sandy gave us a tour of some new renovations at TCAN. This space is upstairs is used mostly for films, but also some concerts, I guess. I would be fun to see a silent film here with someone playing the piano.

105. Folk us

Week 105  7/8/17

A spectacular blueberry season has been making it difficult to keep up with the blog, but adventures were done and photos taken, so it's time to catch up.

We often go to the New Bedford Folk Festival which is held around the time of our anniversary. This year we went by ourselves.

Here is Paul, early in the day at the Whaling Museum stage.

These two young guys are Sam Gleaves and Tyler Hughes. They come from southwest Virginia, close to where the Carter family is from, and play old-timey Appalachian music. They both studied Appalachian culture and music in college. We talked to Sam and Tyler a bit and enjoyed watching them gain confidence with more established musicians throughout the day as their skills and talents were appreciated. I think they might have been a bit surprised by some of the more out-there performers using strong language and political or racy themes, but they carried on beautifully and got lots of appreciation themselves.

This performance was called "French Canadian Kitchen Party" and featured Benoit Bourque & Antoine Pigeon-Bourque, Pete’s Posse, and Yann Falquet & Pascal Gemme. This was one of my favorite acts of the festival and we had excellent seats too. 

We always love to see/hear Vance Gilbert. Here he plays with Seth Glier (second from right). I can't remember the names of the sax player he brought along (who I remember from previous years) or the woman who played and electric double-bass.

Here are Jefferson Hamer, Ry Cavanaugh and Laura Cortese and from Session Americana