Saturday, February 28, 2015

I hope you're taking notes 2

I hope you're taking notes 2


A friend forwarded an article link
From NY Times


Being pro choice, pro civil liberty,
I appreciate some people do OK in facility based living.

Likewise, consent does not always equal embracing, enjoying, or thriving.
My Mom said to not feel bad about sending her to facility care,
Until she went there,
Then she forgot she said that.

Friday, February 27, 2015

ONE ON ONE: Amy Helm February 4th, 2015 City Winery New York Full Session



What a treat in my email update from

amyhelm.com

I signed up ~~>pre order for a CD she is making

Giving a mini concert from the City Winery.
Wow is all I can say...

Thursday, February 26, 2015

Jay

Jay

Our Uncle would be 100 years old today.


It was a view I sorely missed
When I left the house I grew up in.
Uncle Jay,
Standing
In the kitchen,
His gentle tone,
Calm demeanor,
Those who also remember him
Know his posture,
Always greeting each child,
Walking in the front door in the evening,
A cup of coffee, some conversation,
Laughter and
Family

Happy Birthday Jay.
You are an awesome man
And
Mom's big brother.

She missed you so,
As we miss you and her
And
Those days.


Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Beth Hart - At the bottom



With all this cold weather,
I kept watching New videos,
This one really great.
The always amazing
Beth Hart

Adding another unedited sketch for coloring book




Sunday, February 22, 2015

Stagger Lee



My interpretation of that fateful night in the alley


A great.version of 
Stagger Lee

Thursday, February 19, 2015

Shiloh

Shiloh

It was a battle
In the civil war.
For our family,
A loss,
A scar on the family tree.

How did he die?
Our great great grandfather,
Bohemian immigrant,
Sent to battle by the Illinois regiment.
Leaving a wife and 4 hungry children.

They fought for the 5 dollar pension,
After he died.
I imagined one scenario.
I pray he didn't suffer,
While knowing he must have.


Monday, February 16, 2015

Lake Champlain

Lake Champlain is freezing over,

In South Hero
Rugged ice fishermen
Brave subzero temperatures




Crow flying over frozen lake

Saturday, February 14, 2015

Pondering Town Meeting

Pondering Town Meeting Day


(Oh I know it's Valentine's day....I posted this on front porch forum, local listserv)
I have written several articles, my viewpoints, on town meeting. I moved here from the Land of Lincoln in 1981. I finally started attending town meeting and have stopped again. It is an archaic bygone dinosaur process. Civility expected? Wish I had attended town meetings from long ago. Social media a threat to democracy? No, I feel it is the level playing field. In the auditorium with people looking at me, I freeze up, just as I did on stage as a girl. Why did I have to ask to have my name added to a map of properties when I have owned the property with my husband for years? It took all the sap out of me to speak up. I will not subject myself to Robert's (Civil War) Rules again. The town officers up on stage, above the fray. Most people silent, concerned, taxed to death. Let's get modern and run some polls. Allow people to virtually participate When convenient for them. Explain the budget, explain the changes. Explain why they need something that costs money. Put up a video. Anything else is excluding those who cannot attend, for any reason. One vote, one person. My articles: http://traveloguefortheuniverse.blogspot.com/search?q=town+meeting

Friday, February 13, 2015

Friday Night Musik

Friday Night Musik


This week, Falcons on my mind.


Mom's cause was to rid waterways of ddt.

We see falcons now.


So when the gaz company withdrew phase 2,
We did become somewhat elated.
Baby steps.

This song came to mind.
I figured Mom now rides falcons...

Support Richard Barone's project...


This link on YouTube...I flew a falcon...





Now from city musik
to
Bluegrass...

I scribbled the name Robert Earle and Old Home Place...
Heard this on imus.com radio
-actually iheart radio WABC NYC

Stellar

(tried to embed the video...have to do with a link...)

http://video.foxbusiness.com/v/4044898145001/robert-earl-keen-performs-old-home-place/?#sp=show-clips



Thursday, February 12, 2015

Gaz Recap.....breaking #fracking

Gaz Recap....Breaking  #fracking

We were ready for some good news on the fracking fighting front

Property Rights my main focus,
Safety,
Unsustainable,
Irresponsible,
Money Suck were the other reasons I opposed
the proposed pipeline to the paper mill in NY,
You know,
the mill that stinks sometimes, what is that smell??
They burned tires, didn't they?

Well,
Good news for Lake Champlain....
a Beautiful place...







Now for some links to articles...

VPR. WPTZ, and Vermont Digger...







Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Kevin Todeschi on Contemporary Cayce




Great YouTube link
Of an author interview.


Mom a loyal follower of Edgar Cayce
I bought this book on Amazon
Thanks D &D for the gift!

Monday, February 9, 2015

Possible, Possible.


one day,
I set the pen down on the paper.
Drawing freestyle.
Possible, Possible,

What would I capture today?
Back to the club circuit,
Possible, Possible.

In another life, or plane or pathway,
Anything is
Possible, Possible.

As the face came into focus,
There was his face,
I pondered,
Immersed in the drawing,
At my healing through art.
Someday I'll understand the rest.
Possible, Possible.

Saturday, February 7, 2015

Gaz Update...with gaps

There are Gaps in my Gaz updates.
I am not a journalist,
Really more of a Journal-er.

The group/listserv I belong to cranks out the links,
More every day,
Sometimes I just delete a bunch...
"natural gas" mistakes, land grabs, explosions,
occasionally...a victory for the environment.

So here are some links to read.
Realize there is so much more to this movement.
Fracking...injecting stuff into old dinosaur burial grounds,
squeezing the oil out
then send thru a pipeline from Alberta, Canada...Indigenous people's lands,
to a New York State paper mill via my neighbor's garden in Monkton, Vermont.
Stranger than fiction it is....(did they use google maps?)

http://www.addisonindependent.com/201502regulators-vt-gas-gird-newest-court-battle

Property rights...

http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2015/02/deerfield_files_suit_against_t.html

Friend Meredith talks electricity rates

http://vtdigger.org/2015/02/03/meredith-angwin-electricity-costs-spiked/


Great Commentary from a lakefront resident..

http://vtdigger.org/2015/01/29/norton-latourelle-questions-answers/

and another co patriot for the environment:

http://vtdigger.org/2015/01/25/rebecca-foster-vermonters-cannot-bought-sold/


that's all I can handle today...
help make history
fight gaz pipelines in rural vermont
it's not saving anyone...
















Friday, February 6, 2015

Archives of Monkton Chronicles


archiving old entries...
a town with no newspaper
at least in the traditional sense...
is there tradition anymore?
meg 2.6.2015

December 2014
12.15.14
It started snowing last week and plastered heavy snow and ice over trees and power lines. We lost power a few hours and others were not so fortunate. Even with all the cold, rain and snow, Been fired up about the town oh so powerful ones. Tax sale scheduled by the town again...when can this end? how? Meanwhile Fred got me some kefir grains. Now I am a dedicated kefir maker and drinker. My sister gave me some a long ago. It has a delightful taste. Lately, looking to buy some kefir in the store, the price is prohibitive. So here we are, making our own, or growing, ? raising? is that the proper verb? We need a cow, or a goat, that is for sure. More on kefir later. Suffice it to say it is a Pro-Biotic/Beneficial organisms. Fred made some sourdough bread from kefir starter...oh man, our new favorite food obsession.
Hope your Christmas or other Holiday of your choosing is pleasant. The days will soon be lighter. For now, lights adorn homes and trees. Not so much shopping going on...did anyone notice? meg


November 2014
11.30.14
November winds down in Monkton, Vermont
With temperatures fluctuating around freezing,
winds either straight north or straight south.
In a few weeks the daylight will start gaining again.
Christmas already being marketed heavily.
The VT prop tax bill still stuck in my craw...a big ouch. Then Fred talked to people with greedier towns..others pay 9 grand a year? more?
Wanted to post something to mark the end of the 11th month, Stick season, Thanksgiving, Hunting season, now shop until you drop or are trampled...
Keep warm...hey why aren't gas prices falling like the news people tell us???
Food, produce all high...if oil prices crash will all the prices go down?
Not if they keep printing money.
Oh, forget about it....Gray, Brown, Stick season....That is November. meg


11.10.14 What will we do when we run out of dinosaur bones?
You know, Fossil fuels?
The time change happened last Sunday. Many on Earth cannot fathom, no matter how oppressed, repressed or depressed and most present day humans don't have to deal with so called daylight savings time. If the US cannot fix that, no matter which major money sucking party is in power, we are doomed.
My pineal gland is throbbing. Then today, 8 days later, our older atomic clock decided to change the time...we had done it manually...so now it must be resert again. What a waste of my finite number of life moments.
Cold weather is seeping in. A huge storm over Alaska is spinning. We covered some of the windows with plastic, a petroleum product, used to prevent burning petroleum products. Gas prices still $3.30+...Fast to rise, slow to drop. Food prices spiking...once blamed on fuel, you will not see prices ever go down.
Zen Tangling, up to lesson 2 after 8 months...slow learner ;<}
As I do these trying not to be skeptical, following the ruleswhich I find difficult, I start to see, or sense or conceptualize a relaxed place, a meditation. The image that emerges from this exercise surprises me, pleases me, relaxes me. My blogger friends, Twitter people I follow or are followed by, FB binds me to the outside world. Every day a new app, a new image, a new view. Google, Blogging, all chronicles of the current day. Most might be irrelevant in the future world. In the future, If we do research the past, will all of this twitter feed be like the Zentangle, like a Test pattern to Calibrate the current events, painting the future we are powerless to predict?
meg


October 2014
10.31.14 Hallowe'en
October winds down with fairly mild weather overall. Soon to change. I blame the recent impressive solar flares for a little warming spell. Oh, and snow possible for tomorrow..not much.
The leaves all nearly gone now. A few golden leaves left.
The elections are Tuesday. We hope for property tax reform/relief. I am disappointed the price of gas stays so constant in Vermont...down a little, but not like the other areas. Same old song I know. Hoping for the proposed gas pipeline to be stopped. Neighbors have been spreading the word. Hope you have a great November wherever you are. meg

10.15.2014
Already halfway through October. Has been cold and now a few warm days. The leaves are turning fast and falling, The winds and rains, gloomy skies, diminishing sunlight...are all a part of the Fall experience.
The tax bill will be paid by my retirement savings. Having a hard time thinking of how hard I worked to earn that money. Now will pay taxes on it and pay taxes with what is left. No fancy vacation, no pay for 6 months, taxes on taxes.
The town casually mention tax sales in December...maybe. Getting stuck on this again. Lack of consistency, targeted property takings, constitution taking the back seat. No wonder I wrote nothing so far this month. meg


September 2014

September 29,2014
If I blink it will be October. Time does fly.
We received several more tax bills-the dreaded floating number...Trying hard not to let it detract from the beautiful
fall foliage. Originally taxes were the town's cut from the harvest. Now the town state, schools, civic groups all want a cut.
Have enjoyed listening to good old fashioned play by play-NY Yankees on #WVMT 620 am Vermont. My home team is The St. Louis Cardinals, and they are going to the playoffs. I drew a pic for Derek Jeter and will twitterize it.
Tommy our last cat is on my lap and gaining after being sick.
Glad to see Herrad: AccessDenied blogger is back online. A welcome friend.

September 18, 2014. The property tax bill arrived, second version, revised for our 2013 income. Guess they don't care I had no income for 6 months this year, 2014, due to disability waiting period for social security. Back in 2007, I told the town that $10,000 for 1 year for taxes, late fees, penalties for 1 year on our sad looking farm should be forgiven. The account they demanded was earmarked for my eventual disability. Now I am here, and the hungry town wants more of my bread. FYI the tax system has victims like us and beneficiaries like #NFL non profit?? Or the tax collector who I paid 8% of $6k and he never spoke to me or the town attorney, who got $1k and never spoke to me except later, after the shakedown, after $10k vanished...
I know, I know, you grow tired of my intolerance to being treated this old way. I see it as an ever-current issue. Tax sales being talked about on monkton, vt minutes...cryptic, better stay on top of it. No set schedule, rotating attorneys, sales of real property at the whim of town officials. No properties listed by name, thieves in the night.
On a lighter note:
We had a pleasant sojourn to Virginia. It looks like Vermont,
and so similar at first. Then the southern culture shows us our conditioned responses, local vernaculars and different foods, roads, rules. The weather much more tolerable than their summers, early fall a beautiful time.
Have a great day fighting your battles and counting your blessings. meg

Friday Night Musik


Some weeks hear a song on the radio,
and
I know it is the one for Friday Night Musik.

Thanks to Imus radio show I listen to on 
WABC NY 
on 
iheart radio
over the internet.
Mr. Warner Wolf spun this Al Carson song
and 
I knew it was the song...
tgiff!
(damn cold in the north country...)

Thursday, February 5, 2015

Conquerors Wanted

Conquerors Wanted




If you have Multiple Sclerosis,
Please consider joining the movement
To Conquer Multiple Sclerosis.

Who knows the MonSter,
Better than You?

The gathering of this information will help researchers.
Please feel free to share this site.

Meg

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Coloring Book (for aliens)



More of my coloring book
Aliens?
Castles?
SRV singing?
"Give me back that wig,
Honey, let your hair go bald..."

What did it mean?

Monday, February 2, 2015

Woodchuck Day 2015

Woodchuck Day

rerun from last year i liked it so much...
whew, cold winter so far...monkton, vermont

2014 by mary e. gerdt
all rights reserevd


They're called woodchucks
In the North Country,
No less like Hogs,
Than their southern cousins.

The day when Punxsutawney Phil is dragged from his nest,
The Vermont Woodchuck sleeps in frozen splendor.

Shadow or not,
Sunshine or clouds,
Woodchucks don't care,
Below the ground's hard frost,
Or in the hollow of a giant tree,
Or under a building in a nest made of leaves.

We know winter drags in the North Country Style,
Six weeks we'd be happy,
If the ground is bare and no piles,
Of snow, ice and gravel,
Sticks, bark and dirt.

The Woodchuck,
He says,
The spring will come when it's ready,
My friend,
Now back to my nest,
See you in 10 (weeks)

P.S., forgot about the official Vermont Woodchuck day greeting,
Reminded by Kia Comeau on WDEV FM that when greeted with
"Happy Woodchuck Day," The proper response is "Bug off!"
From Saturday am show
Music to go to the dump by...meg

Sunday, February 1, 2015

The Universal frequency: YouTube,link to more great music!



Found this link to Stephen Limbaugh's YouTube channel
432...is it the universal frequency?
No matter,
This music is Stellar!
Buy his new album too...