Lake Champlain 2011, Flood Update

Hard times for so many.
These photos are around the Vermont Route 2 Causeway by Sandbar State park.
Normally Sandbar park is full of people.
This Memorial Day,
Empty except for water up to the barbecue pits,
a sad day for the park and
residents around the entire lake and
other areas where mudslides are likely,
and flooded streams,
saturated ground make for misery,
monetary losses
and mosquitoes.

Swallows VT 2011

 

 

Fred snapped a great one of our latest friend,

a swallow who we believe was displaced by the

others in the back shed where there are 10 active nests this year.

The swallows were healthier last year and came back

ready to get serious.

I believe the scary decline in bat population (we have only seen one or two), has given our swallow neighbors more food.

This year bugs are kings and

we appreciate our little neighbor: 

 

his nest under the eaves .

Also, it is the time of year for the peonies to bloom.

They always bloom when there are these windy thunderstorms.

The ants chew the outer coating.

Symbiosis.

soon their amazing flowers will emerge.

Last, a delightful Scottish Highland beef cow and twins.

the twins

Soggy Memorial Day weekend.

Pay tribute to all those who have fought for our country

and her values.

They are why we are free to speak, do, and be.

Take a moment and thank them.

The Seal

Both my parents were there,
younger,
like they were in that old 8mm clip
I did of them making supper one night.

They walked, moved, like when they were
younger,
but really about my age
now.

First one, then the other,
approached me,
and placed something on top of my head,
a Pagan seal,
I believe my Mom revealed,
nothing else,
then I woke.

A Friend's words

My friend Che posted a great song link (link is above).
Che posted as songs for the neuro appointment.

http://multiplesclerosisprincess.blogspot.com/2011/05/songs-for-neuro-appts.html

What a great post by Che!

Also the weather here crazy storms,
the worse lightning for New England,
I saw a bolt of lightning hit the ground a few hundred feet south of here.
No tornadoes but close.
Have to post when we can get on the phone line.
Blogger comments all messed up,
my friends,
I am reading and will have more zeit this weekend.
don't want to be misunderstood.......
mary

Spring IV

 

 

It is amazing to me,

these delicate flowers that

live through the harsh winter

and wake up like this.

Bleeding heart, solomon’s seal, sundrops, rhubarb, white violets.

Solomon’s Seal with a Bumblebee

Time for reform....

Article Title: Embezzlement Epidemic: Big thievery in tiny Ira

Link to Article: http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20110522/NEWS02/110521006/Embezzlement-Epidemic-Big-thievery-tiny-Ira


Here below is my letter to the Burlington Free Press that they would not publish.
It is comment #41 on the above article.
my letter posted 05/24/2011 but censored by the free press...(letter written below is by mary gerdt)
This is a good day to talk about Vermont property tax reform. Small towns are full of history and also bias and personal relationships. Take a Statewide property tax, add confusing, bizarre rules, mix in greed, incremental graft. Then when a citizen tries to fight, put up roadblocks like $10,000 retainer fees, being told "you can't fight city hall, it's not like Perry Mason where the perp breaks down on the stand". The governor on down is powerless to affect the delinquent tax policy and delinquent tax penalties and sales. Even though I believe many aspects are unconstitutional, no one seems to be able to grasp the concept because it has always been like that. Delinquent property taxes are cloaked in shame. WHY?? The Secretray of State has a lovely website about property tax sales but there is no enforcement. Each town decides. Our town foreclosed on us after being 9 months late paying $8,000 (one year tax on our 100 year family farm plus penalties, legal fees for the town,etc...no abatement offered, I as the wife/owner was never notified.). The sale was averted, as I told a friend, by God. Ever since, my faith has been tested. This article gives me faith. A feel good story to me. Wake up Vermonters. When my property was picked to be sold, was I treated differently than this embezzlers friends? Is that discrimination? preferential treatment?
 
What was so controversial about that letter?
 
I have tried to start another blog on the burington free press site. It is de-motivational because after several months they are still evaluating my site and now they do not want to hear my rant even though some comments looked less appropriate. Will have to write the author of this article.
maybe the concept was lost on him......

Spring III

 

Augusta’s Tulips

finally a sunny day

crabapple trees, monkton, vermont

A large glacial stone

disapproves of my bothering his nap.

His heart on his left, hair frayed,

a flower behind his ear.

what is his name?

The Sun is Shining

The Sun is shining.
Here is a link to Carolyn Wonderland.
Awesome.

400

My 400th Post

and why do milestones matter?

like birthdays or

round numbers like

400

or

19,000

(blog visits)?

Which is what my counter said this past week.

We humans from Earth

(and could there be others?)

like to be recognized and heard

and think that by us being where we are

that we have made a difference,

that we were meant to be

there and

then.

Still we wonder if it is the right place.



Apple trees and Lilacs, Monkton, Vermont Sunny Spring Day, must not be 2011...

I  hope you visit my fellow bloggers I follow. Many of them attracted readers to me as well
and they are my blogo(uni)verse.
Visit the astronauts and the Astronomy Pic of the Day. Always a work of extreme beauty.
Click on the musicians I follow and buy some of their music.
Read my ramblings and rants and I hope you enjoy.
I have been unable to capture decent apple tree pics this year so enjoy a couple reruns.

Thanks for visiting, commenting and reading.
mary gerdt, monkton, vermont 5.21.2011

The 399

The 399

This is my

399th

post.

And as I write,

 squeezing out a story,

fantasizing I am a

newspaper woman

of the 1950's,

silk stockings,

a pencil behind my ear,

a typewriter

with ribbon,

do you even know what that looks like?

Or a typesetter,

I have known one at least in my lifetime,

they set the individual letters

for printing presses and

made the nickel newspapers

of long ago.

But I am a blogger,

wondering some days why

but mostly feeling,

it gives me a place to spill

my perspective

and read a few others'

viewpoints.

My support group,

my opinions

displayed

my feelings,

what I can reveal,

my struggles

for justice,

my place for me.

This is the 399th post.

That is why we blog.

Spring II

Species tulip above
Tulipa Tarda
The original “wild” tulip.

Shock the neighbors tulips
(the orange component-the purple ones died out)

Rhubarb
Strawberry season must be close at hand…
well at least when it gets a little warmer.
We will take color where we can get it.
Stumbled onto Ray LaMontagne on CBS last night,
was a great concert! Search for it-they may have a tape.
I twittered it but really do not know what that did.
or should I say tweetered?
enjoying spring and sun for a change.

Morning Fog

Morning Fog

Thick and dense,

confusing,

 that mist of

only simple water droplets

hanging in the air,

Don't fall,

you fog,

the land is wet enough,

Rise higher,

higher,

you fog

and let the wind blow

 you back to the sea

from where

you

came.

Lake Champlain 2011

Some flood and bridge pictures.
So sad for those who have suffered.

Spring

 

So is it yellow-green?

Or green-yellow?

All I know is I had to snap these pics in a hurry

because next week

we will be seeing

more green.

happy spring even though the furnace came on again this morning.

Nurse's Week

Happy Nurse's Week!
Here is a poem for my co-workers, friends, and all who care for those in need.


Thought I would be an engineer,

Working with things, materials, the way things fit,
The way they work, and earn a living that men make.
Then I went to the school and the math was all wrong,
What did the numbers mean?
Where was the human-ness? To all these numbers?
And my classes got mixed up, was it a mistake or providence?
My English teacher was supposed to teach us technical writing,
Words without feelings.
But he hated that idea,

One at a time,
He thought he would teach us tech-ies

Literature,

The kind with people and feelings,

The kind where I studied the Lady of the Lake and King Arthur,

Deep in the stacks of U of I,

Where I got lost and wandered away from the engineering I had so set my sights on,
And came via a long circuitous fashion

To the mysterious science, the miraculous profession

Where you get to hold another human’s hand

And say,

I hope you feel better.

Spring is fighting

Spring is fighting,
To burst through all the cold,
and dry the waterlogged ground,
Trees and some roads halfway underwater,
The Sun giving us a hopeful diversion
and working his best
to dry up these flooded
sea bottoms, these meandering Lake Champlain valleys.
Yellow-Green or Green-Yellow is the crayon
I would use to color
the maple leaves
just starting to show their intention
of living,
full with water,
ready to burst into our familiar
comforting
summer
Green.

Shine the Divine: Creativity IS a Spiritual Practice: For Mother's

Shine the Divine: Creativity IS a Spiritual Practice: For Mother's

By LauraX
all the credit to her,
a
Breathtaking
poem.

Happy Mother's Day,
Mary

Clear Skies

We are grateful for clear skies today,
Praying the water recedes for all of our friends near the water,
and all us poor slobs trying to get to work to pay taxes
so the state of VT will try to cover illegals's health care expenses, er, uh, migrants....
just a few thousand, keep dairy farms alive.
Back to to the floods,
Let us have a sliver of the national news,
and let others see what these floods are doing to our poor people, yes, in VT poor people live next the the lake, clinging to their humble family heritage homes, paying freaky weird high taxes because it is lakefront,
now, without flood insurance,
did the town come by and reassess the rack and ruin?
No, send the check in for those taxes,
or the man will take your property.
Floods everywhere.
The sun is out.
Hope the crest comes soon, lake level over 103 feet.

Lake Champlain

 

Record flooding of Lake Champlain.

This is Route 2 causeway to South Hero, Vermont.

Luckily tonight the wind was calm but it is raining.

Sandbar State Park

 

Causeway Rt 2 heading North (above)

South Hero

We hope the waters recede soon.

Steps

Steps

What a funny (strange) word,
Looking at it, wondering this morning what my nighttime A-Ha moments were,
Writing my new post in my sleep,
sometimes that is a better place for it.

12 steps, 39 steps, 13 steps,
How many steps to kill a killer?

I read Kathy's post  on Window over the Kitchen sink
and I felt more kinship with her post than the cheers and glee,
Diane sawyer apologetically interrupting Dancing w/the stars
while showing a blood spilled photo, what's goin' down at Asama's.
If I misspell, I am keeping down the search engine activity.
This does not fill me with happiness,
seeing the blood spot, no dead body to look at,
am I becoming a death-er?
I will never admit it if I am.
Somethings we must keep to ourselves.

Then, PL, said clearly, Americans never forget.
He sentenced a man to death, saying that man was bad enough.
Still, my ambivalence strong.
Was there any other way?

And I remember my fight, how the town has ignored me, then said,
you can never change this law, this unconstitutional law,
and that you must be punished for not having enough money to pay your
outrageous taxes that you cannot change,
and no one from the governor on down cares that
these taxes are killing us, driving out the little people.

What are the steps to free myself from this fight?
PL told me I will never forget.
The lawyers said you cannot fight city hall,
The town says, let's celebrate our happy town,
The tax man lurks, and gets fat on an unconstitutional law.

I see no steps.
Where did that witty post go in the night?

May Day

May Day

'tis May Day,
And we are hopeful as the flooding rains forced the buds on the trees and shrubs to swell
and burst open,

The road has calmed down a bit, still shovel ready and we will scrape together money
for gravel to replace the stones that washed away.

Nearer the lake and rivers, we hope people take care and don't drive over water covered roads
and be careful of logs and debris in moving waters. The water too can have contaminants, don't go in without
protecting your skin.

Meanwhile it is 7 months until we have to pay the town 6k for taxes.
I just don't see why. We really do not live in a palace.
Will this make people vote, revolt, change the laws?
Planting onions seeds in pots today.