Happy New Year

Happy New Year,

Welcome 2012

a little music to welcome the new year:

link to great video with Carolyn Wonderland, Ruthie Foster et al tribute to the troops.

Various Artists | Vermont (Vermont Artists for Vermont Relief) | CD Baby

Various Artists Vermont (Vermont Artists for Vermont Relief) CD Baby


So were you wondering how to help Vermonters still struggling post Irene?
Buy this CD....

Photo from summer & a book

Camel's Hump
a photo from this summer

and then a photo of a book I got

at the community action secondhand shop.

King Arthur's stories condensed version

of Howard Pyle's stories.

This may be copyrighted and I am posting

one photo of a page that really struck me.

This is posted to promote reading and

the study of King Arthur and Howard Pyle,

a great storyteller and artist.

I gladly give credit to whoever did this.

p.s. i envision slaying the MonSter (MS) like this picture of the Knight slaying the dragon. a girl can dream.

Cold Front

Cold Front
Coming.
Blowing in the cold
out with any warmth,
cold front is coming.

Did not want to write about the cold,
normal years we would be hardened off by now,
used to the blowing sting,
the biting wind,
chewing at our faces,
cold front
coming.

We knew it was coming,
there would be the day,
when the cold front hit us
with a snap, a lashing,
a stinger.

Still the weather,
slow to come 'round,
in the end,
still changes,
cold front
coming.

Crazy Quilt

a Crazy quilt

made from fleece scraps.

I also call it a

neuro-stimulation quilt.

The odd shapes and weird angles and

mixes of colors

stimulate creativity

and not the

conventional.

Cory was very polite about it.

He liked the way the fleece felt.

Kelani helped open it up

Jillian watched from thre sidelines...

Where did the day go?

Where did the day go?
A cold sunny day in the north country after Christmas celebrations,
food and gifts.
Music,
musing,
some cleaning,
Fred making split pea soup.
The cats exhausted too,
Me napping and awakening thinking it was tomorrow already.
Relief it was not.
The wrapping paper put away
and tree watered one more time.
Back to work tomorrow,
leftovers will sustain us
and I wish I had time to read everyones' journeys.
Where did the day go?

Judy's Music Link

Link to a beautiful concert.
Wow...
Merry Christmas,
had intentions of creating a post but chose instead to follow Judy's lead
to post this link and let this wonderful music keep you in the Christmas mood 5 minutes longer,
10 if you repeat .
mary

Christmas Carols

Christmas Carols by Carolyn Wonderland & Guy Forsyth played while the ham baked.
We wrapped gifts and cleaned the house and hurried past the chocolates
lest they call to me again.
Christmas eve is the time I always remembered since I can remember, the darkness,
the lights of the tree piercing the
darkness.
Hunter & parents came for dinner & presents.
We gratefully received treasured gifts of merch Janet selected from Levon Helm's Midnight Ramble stuff like the poster she had framed. Then the story of the great staff at Levon's who made it happen in time.
Hunter enjoyed his new stretch of railroad track options and the mini 4020.
After they left,
Levon's CD at the Ryman went back in the stereo, we listened  awhile
and then
The Street team went to bed.
thanks janet, for an awesome job framing and picking the right one...

Covered Bridge #1

covered bridge, cornwall, vermont

This was #1, the first, because I happened on to it today
after asking for
unrelated directions from a friend.
Her father helped to
facilitate preservation
 of this fine bridge.


We live by 2 more covered bridges
and
plan to work on those photos someday.

Link to Amazing Glass Harp Music

Link to beautiful music:

http://www.glassduo.com/
Wow.....

Winter Solstice

It is the shortest daylight day and yet
it has been a weirdly mild winter so far in Vermont.
I wanted to post a photo of a crazy quilt I made but it simply cannot be captured (by me) on film.
Keeping up with friends blogs this week have had to take a back seat to candy making and
other Christmas planning or just relaxing from exhaustion without the sun to motivate me.
The shortest days only seem shorter because the sun goes down so early,
one yawns, one stirs some supper up and the cats curl up by the fire.
The dreams people are having seem more extreme, like my weird dreams about war and these weird tall spiked Prussian-like helmets. Google was no help on that one. I could not find a helmet quite as tall as the ones in my vivid dreams. The army on my front porch, taking Fred and I knew I was next. Sometimes I look at that front porch, oddly a pivotal point in many of my feelings about this place.
Hard to explain without you being there.
That is how dreams are.
Have a great shortest daylight day and enjoy the light as it slowly returns to re-energize.

From the Hubble

from the hubble site

Jupiter & Io as you could never have imagined.....

Source: Hubblesite.org

i believe image by john spencer. when I went to hubble to look for the site to get credits,
i had a hard time finding the exact one. hubble is a great telescope and worth it to see photos like this one. mary

Christmas Re runs

Christmas stories are re-run year after year
because some stories need to be repeated,
some lessons
are timeless.
***and with the departure of C.H. who did not believe,
oh what a passing that must of been, did he cross over into nothingness?
or was he greeted by a benevolent spirit?

I liked this post and thought about it on this chilly VT morning.
made 200 crock pot chocolates yesterday...interesting!

Yes Virginia
By Mary E. Gerdt 2008
On the unfortunate opposition to red and white stripes on Charlotte Central School pillars
Allegedly a symbol of something someone found offensive.
Yes Virginia
There are atheists
And ACLU lawyers
And people who will try to destroy
Your dreams
Yes Virginia
There are those who say they hate you
Or what you believe in
And how is that so different
After all.
Yes Virginia
You can pray for people who don’t believe in what you do
Because
They probably need it
At the end of the day when no one else would pray for them
Yes Virginia
People will say what you do represents religious or other beliefs
And it might make you sad or cry
Do they mean to hurt you?
I don’t know
Yes Virginia
When you do the nice thing
And someone says, “who cares” or “Why” or “You can’t”
Just tell them you are who you are
And they are who they are
And this is a free country so that really works both ways
In fact always.
Yes Virginia
Your youthful optimism and blind love only a fourth grader could muster
Is fragile and might be squished like a bug
Or you may hold on to it if you try very hard and believe twice as hard
That people might change or start to believe
Or at least feel comfortable enough to accept that you have a right believe enough to try to brighten someone’s day
Unsuspecting that behind the pillars stood one man who said Bah Humbug
Who tried to negate your good deed
That brought so many joy and a smile.
Yes Virginia
That is the miracle of the season no matter what you call it, no matter what your beliefs, there is no question that the days get shorter and shorter
until the light returns to shine on us all
Believers and non believers alike.
Yes Virginia
Don’t let that sinking feeling persist in the pit of your stomach
when you thought
You created trouble or
got in trouble for trying to brighten someone’s day.
You are the shining light we all seek
Believe it or not.

2 Trees

 

The tree on the left is the one dad said was the best locust tree. It is the straightest, straight up. I dragged barb wire out of it when we got here and thought maybe the old tree appreciated it. On the right is Dad’s spruce tree he brought home from the northeast kingdom in his pocket. I have been around long enough to remember that.

The chimes upper right we moved several times and Nancy gave us those a bazillion years ago. The sun glass fob was a gift M.R. gave me the Xmas before she axed me. I have forgotten most of my anger about that. She did me a favor. I thought someday it would break, like the wind chime weight before it. This wind chime has been exposed to wind gusts, pummeling rain and snow, heat and cold.

M.R. is gone now, I was reminded of her again as I snapped a random

photo.

crock pot chocolate next of the to do list

just imagine:

Night Angel 2

Night Angel 2

Night Angel
Oh, Where are you?
The darkness came,
Where did you go?

How to coax you?
Simple Angel,
Where do you hide
When it all falls apart?

Are you there,
There in the darkness,
Even when,
I cannot see?

Do you whisper,
words of urging,
to be the best
that I can be?

What if,
My own Night Angel,
There is no sound,
I cannot hear you?
What If my ears,
no longer work?
Will you touch
my shoulder softly?
Let me know,
you are alright.

Oh Night Angel,
Hurry softly,
Hurry back,
Hurry back,
tonight.

For Adele

For my boss Adele,
Bon Voyage...

Snow Images

Snow images past.

Has been relatively mild in VT

and we are thankful for every

warmer day since fuel prices threaten lives again

this year.

The fuel prices, an eerie phenom

whereby

big corporations and local dealers

gouge poor and needy and middle class & businesses, farms too.

why is fuel more expensive even though less refined than gas?

Why is all of it so high and why to politicians subsidize the program

with liheap without considering

someone is making a big profit?

no answers...

more past  snow images

keep warm,

Vermont is open for ski-ing

Light and Dark II

Light and Dark II

In the corner of my eye,

loomed giant shadows in the hedgerow.

Were they dark matter gone astray?

They were so dark

upon the darkness,

December darkness,

more night than day.

I barely saw those

Apparitions,

I blinked and they

were gone again.

Into the house,

glad I retreated,

the light there glowing,

the darkness

gone.



Sparkling Snow

Sparkling Snow
re-run
Sparkling Snow**all rights reserved

by mary gerdt

It happened today,

when I thought some great thoughts,


that peace would come

and

all hunger would stop

and the sick would rejoice when their pain went away

and the lonely will find a friend and the sad will smile.

It happened.

The snow sparkled like never before.


Is that a start?



p.s. sorry i posted first by cut and paste and ended up w/ too much stuff.blogger/internet can be irritating at times.mg

Antartica

Antartica

Link to a great article about the 100th anniversary.
I keep looking at my visitor globe for dots on the 7th continent.
Maybe soon...
Will sit here in the armchair watching all those daring folks brave
one of the most challenging places on Earth.
remember, when the weather looks nice,
don't be fooled you are in for a bad one.


http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/16/world/16pole.html

Not just a rock

Rocks sometimes look boring.
Some have intersting insides, like geodes, with beautiful crystalline centers and dull outsides.
Today's Astronomy pic of the day is a cross section of cosmic debris,
falling piece of asteroid, and not native to Earth.
Could these be seeds of change and evolution?

Image Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Hap McSween (Univ. Tennessee), A. Beck and T. McCoy (Smithsonian Inst.)

Photos Not Taken II

It was fortunate I left the camera at home to avoid any temptation of capturing the stark rare beauty of snow on rain making a thick frosting heavy and sculpted by wind,
perfectly coating everything and heavy up in the mountains,
the cold air came crashing in, the sun came up and everything lit up in the snow's reflection, the bright blue sunny sky,
and the dual grips on the steering wheel, gripping ruts of ice with studded tires, and coming to grips with the fact that some photos should not be taken, better to enjoy the view at the stoplight
or behind the school bus.

A new use for old tires - A garden using tires by Charles Sanders Issue #98

A new use for old tires - A garden using tires by Charles Sanders Issue #98


A great article about gardening with recycled tires.

K-22

K-22

kepler-22 found to be the closest thing to earth so far,
see apod=astronomy pic of the day today.
nasa will begin monitoring for alien transmissions,
huh?
i want to see the switch that flips on that surveillance cam or microphone or whatever.
i want to listen to the sounds from k-22,
and wonder
if i can hear them, can they hear me?
well, if they are bloggers,
they are welcome to comment today
or just read about our fascination
w/
them

Music Lesson link from the best

We are sorry to hear that Hubert Sumlin has passed suddenly and our hearts go out to his close friends and family.
We were fortunate to see him at Levon's and as soon as I got home I looked him up.
One of the best of all times.
here is a link to his lesson:

What a man...

Great Music

Great Music
Alexis P. Suter

We got her DVD of a concert at the Ramble.
Awesome...
http://www.alexispsuter.com/

CD is in the car now,

Sun Day

Sun Day
The sun is coming,
must have faith,
it does this every day.

First so dark,
Then just a glimmer,
Then full on,
Oh Here it comes.

And I anger
at life's bumps
and bruises,
and where we are,
how did we get here,
why do we not have more.

And I look at what
I saw as nothing,
and I see
we really have it all.

Love and food,
supporting partners,
caring people
all around.

And as people
shock or hate me
Or wonder who I
really am,

I have to keep here
on my pathway,
lit by sunshine
even in the rain.

Have faith that you are
Where you are supposed to be
and if it is a trial,
look for the pearl.

And if you wanted
more than you have now,
remember someone else
has only faith.

And if you lost
the faith of living
may you have another sun.

think it over,
reconsider,
may you see
the sun again.

this is part of the psalms challenge
my sunday school...thanks to robert's weekly Psalms Challenge http://tagein-tagaus-athen.blogspot.com/ and dina http://jerusalemhillsdailyphoto.blogspot.com/ for helping me try to
understand the words...keep the faith...mary

Ledges

Ledges

natural stone sculptures

Tried to open some old discs and the new technology

is not able to translate.

If books are all online, is that the risk?

For Don I

For Don I

40 years on the Radio today.

Once we tuned him in,

He was the one.

The local stations

OK

and still,

after awhile,

just not

Real

enough.

It started by flipping through the channels,

before computers, was it mid 80's? or later?

when Burlington coughed up the dough

for this expensive

but

sinful

show.

Our neighbors,

from New Jersey

grew up listening to

the I Man.

We thought we had found someone new.

Perhaps we had.

He had quit the bad stuff by then.

And his cohorts, the characters and skits,

played out on the airwaves for our morning commute,

changing plans, or driving slower,

when a good one comes along.

And his family, oh so special,

and what they do for children, vets

and others who have not.

Greening the Earth with

simple recipes

and giving proceeds

all away.

His love of animals,

of Southwest vistas,

Photography, Writing,

Reviewing books.

Interviews others,

Famous people,

Sometimes fearing

this heavy dude.

Shooting Straight,

He is

Rough and Tumble,

Sometimes Humble,

Sometimes sad.

We need the humor,

sarcastic comments,

laughing,

music,

news

that makes us mad :)

We like to hear

about the

NY scene, music, authors, cool people,

and

from all those

people, brave and all you who suffered,

who lived through

911.

Thanks for rising early mornings,

Keeping us laughing, well informed,

music playing, friendly banter,

You are a Special Daring Number One Cowboy!

p.s.

When he was off the air,

we

pouted, grumpy, depressed,

angry, sympathetic,

thinking and saying,

"How can we possibly start our day right sans the I man?"

check him out at imus.com

Three, Twenty Seven

Thirty years ago I arrived here

Not having one clue as to why exactly

except

I needed to be.

I collided with Fred in a

spiritual way &

he insists he met me years before,

was it

meine doppelganger?

I was twenty three.

We lived together for

3 years while we sorted out

whether it could be more

forever

than either of us

knew.

3 years
(oops, I meant 27 years ago...edited today :) mg)

and

5 days ago,

I said to Fred,

"we should get married."

Fred said,

"how about Saturday?"

So we did.

We had to have blood work then

to get a license and

wait at least 3 days

just in case per the law at the time.

Fred got the town clerk's husband

who wrote beautiful vows.

He had a whole book of them.

Fred picked out a perfect one,

no obey crap, or sickness and health crap,

 Vermonter type vows.

I had bruises where the doctor missed both

antecubital veins.

Long sleeves were the look of the day.

It was one of the last time I wore panty hose.

We got up for the 8 am ceremony,

(we had work to do)

and it was pouring rain,

unusually rainy.

We left the kids 11 & 14
(for the record, today i finally corrected their ages after some thought
and reminders fr Janet-thanks : >)watching TV,

this would not take long.

The JP's dog was a big yellow dog.

He jumped up on me and

 I wondered why panty hose were ever invented.

We had no witnesses save the JP and his wife the town clerk.

They took a polaroid

1984

(orwellian?) wedding

We went to the dump twice that day.

I found a washer and dryer

and told Fred that one of them had to work,

someone bought a pair and must have thrown out both.

They never break down at the same time.

It took me a long time to convince him of my theory.

We took one home in my Plymouth Horizon

named Vog

and went back the second time to get the other one.

Fred got them running with a 14 dollar cord

and wired them up.

No more laundromat.

It was a memorable day.

So 3's have been showing up all day.

A truck rumbled by at 3:33 am

as I read my clock.

(In the PM I also saw 3:33)

This morning

I explained to Fred the significance of the number 3

as relates to a 27th anniversary.

3 x 9 =27

3 Cubed =27

the numbers 27 added together:

2+7 = 9 or 3 x 3

I arrived 30 years ago.

google said

3 is a very significant number.

Fred wasn't sure of the significance but was sure about supper.

I picked up Scallops, Salmon & tortellini.

We have our own vegetables.

So dinner at home with the cats:

3 toms who greeted us this morning.

3 more years to Thirty.

Is that a lot of three's?

had to put this on paper,

er,

cyber paper.

Fred,

I'll ride the river with you anytime,

love,

mary 12.01.2011