Survivor Charlottesville

I begin my story of our summer vacation with my encounter with the TSA.

I have my injectable experimental meds in a bag and when I approached the conveyor belt, I announced out loud I have injectable medications. My voice seemed louder than it should be, but no one was listening except perhaps the hundred or so people in line.

I said again to TSA women, I have injectable meds.

I was waved through and then the TSA guy said I didn't declare my injectable meds.

He said now he has to search my whole bag. Of course our plane was sitting idling and he is swabbing my purse and a woman had to frisk me.

So began my real life story. I suppose next time I will whip out my shots and declare even louder to the whole line of people. But as you will read below, we did not let this spoil our great week in Virginia, US. Hope you enjoy it.

Some stories start with the ending and thereby hints at the lesson learned.

Our story starts with a cabbie asking innocently at the end of our week in Charlottesville, "So did you have a nice relaxing week at a bed and breakfast?"

I began to laugh at 4:40 in the morning. We were 10 minutes late and our faithful driver waited for us.

Well it's a long story I said.

And that is the truth.

We began at my brother and his wife's home which is a country retreat. Comfortable, relaxing and full of good food, conversation and a tour of rural Nelson county.

Here is the rooster and one chicken. We had delicious fresh eggs, and meals of salmon, cheeses and other delights.

We enjoyed dogs, a cat, a horse and the gardens, views and comfort.

Monday came soon and we drove to our next stop, Survivor style.

Having been pampered for 2 days, we departed the bed and breakfast like home for the Agro tourism vacation where anything was possible and we faced the reality of life down on the farm.

J and M greeted us and we were happy to see them. They were preoccupied however with the need to worm the sheep herd. Farm life waits for no man and we plunged into our first adventure. I drew up doses estimating weights and felt I was back in my ICU days.

Fred tackled sheep and demonstrated his skill with sheep whispering.

J and M got dirty too. We go to eat lunch when done and thus began our agro week.

We picked from the garden greens, beans, broccoli and much more.

We had berries and cherries.

Mid week we went to Mad Maggie Cottage in Highland County. What a special retreat
where we lazed a bit and ate fresh Allegheny mountain trout and portabellas stuffed with spinach, et cetera!

Of course, the rainbow was a welcome sight and a view we shall not soon forget.

We spent 2 days at the cottage

then we wound our way back over the 3 mountains

to the sheep farm.

More challenges faced us as we fought to maintain a meat free diet

enjoyed by our friends. I bought a pound of sliced turkey for lunches.

Once when Maggie and I went to the store to buy bleach for the power washer, I spied an elderly petite man buying a 12 pack of soda and a very large 2 inch thick juicy steak. He almost had company!~

The cottage has satellite radio now.

We struggled to aim this little antennae towards the sky and the cabin went from perfect quiet to plugged in. Part of me wanted to go back to no news, no noise, just the sounds of birds chirping, the wind and the conversation of friends over a good meal.

The challenges were each rewarded by a good meal and porch sitting or a nap.

The last morning we were at the farm we had bought Jimmy Dean sausage/egg biscuits to heat up. Our reward to ourselves.

We busied around packing our bags up and loading the car.

Now there are times when being married to an electrician has its percs.

This was one of them.

The microwave circuit breaker tripped.

Our anticipated meat sandwiches sat frozen in the microwave.

Our final challenge.

Fred managed to find the breaker and we got our hot meat sandwiches.

They tasted better than anything I could remember.

Our reward for our week of challenges and memories.

The cabbie summed it up for us while we sipped crappy coffee from the Sheetz store,

"Sometimes you have to go without to really appreciate what you have."

I wondered if he was doing a Ricardo Montalbaum impersonation.

De plane, De plane...

As we left our Fantasy Island Agro tourist farm vacation, we smiled and started planning when we would return. Then we looked for the advil.

And took a long nap.

Happy Solstice

Happy Solstice
Hope you have a wonderful longest day.
Here we see we are near the end of planting opportunities.
As the daylight slowly wanes again, we are reminded of the winter darkness to come.
Cast it off, cast off the darkness.
Bathe in the light here today.
We put in Levon Helm's midnight ramble series volume 2.
See ya later.

Summertime is here...shhhhh

Summertime is here......shhhhhhhhhhh a friend said softly.
In case the Gods should snap it away just as it can happen in our beloved changeable Vermont.
So I wrote Summertime 2009 all rights reserved by Mary E. Gerdt
First draft.
Summertime

Summertime brings the heat and sunshine except for days like this where it is gray and raining. Our artichokes are happier with these soakings that really infuse the plants with that healthful rain. Plants love rain even more than the mineral water that comes out of our well. I love the rain when it is a work day. To work on a nice summer day is asking myself, “What are your priorities?”
On a rainy day, I say to myself, “Good job-you made it to work.”
In the dead of winter I sit and think, I really should get up and do something. The lack of sunlight runs our batteries down and says, “Sit by the fire awhile…Later…Just a few more minutes…Later…Snowing again? Just go to bed and dream.”
In the summertime, I think things like “What do I have to do? What do I want to do? My calendar fills up. Everybody awake now. Our formerly hibernating bodies cast off the dream world.
Last Sunday I planted a tray: 48 onion plants and then got up, stretched and sauntered to the greenhouse to get another tray. They are great little plants we started early May.
At 300 I stopped and said-we will plant 200 more next weekend. Then I sat in the sun for a little time.
I thought about how the sun warms us and lights the summer with long days.
In the winter we have to burn wood, corn, oil, propane, depending on which commodity is cheapest and available. We use plastic to cover the windows and draft dodgers made of fleece tubes filled with rice.
In other words, the sun enables us human to create all of these warmth giving/warmth preserving items.
Because of the sun, wood grows, as does corn, oils and gas mined from decayed organic materials, plastic and fleece created from petroleum which is oil.
I wanted to somehow save all the sunshine in Sunday so we could let it out in the winter.
I wanted summertime to come a little earlier than it did this year.
As much as it oppresses me to be too hot, a day just like Sunday is welcome anytime in Monkton. We have one summer day for every 3 days of winter.
Ahhh…Sit in the sun awhile. What a rare day.

addendum.different subject.politics?or comment on how people treat each other.i believe this is about the latter.do not hate me because i like sarah palin or her family.that would be weird, wouldn't it? NOW this time denounced the reference to some scummy ball player jumping her 14 year old daughter.Defendants of D.L. said he meant the 18 y/o. My reply is, AND that makes it OK? She is a new mother with a desire to help others. IS SHE open game for sick comics? No, this went too far and NOW took too long.Don't ignore abusive language towards women, no matter what your political opinion is.
Where was NOW then?When Sarah Palin's family has been being ridiculed all along?
Don't join in on gossip which you wouldn't want cast upon yourself.
No matter the religion you are or aren't, Remember the Golden rule is universal on Earth. Even when you hate someones political views.
Hate is icky.
mary gerdt in monkton and i approve this message

Less pain with Injections

I have been meaning to share this tip for less painful injections or fingersticks.
Look for
Alcohol swabs with pain reliever/benzocaine.
It is not good if you are allergic to the "caines" like lidocaine so be careful.
Otherwise it is useful for swabbing your injection site, let dry and then inject. I find it helps the surface pain the most.
Spread the word. We got ours at walmart for 4 cent more per hundred over the traditional alcohol wipes. Also available at many pharmacies.
Have a great, less painful day.
Mary Gerdt

Hunter and Fred's Birthdays

It is hard to understand how the world rotates in a grand circular orbit where a full lap around ends up being in a certain place relative to the sun and that day is our birthday.

Hunter just had one (literally number 1) and Fred's is tomorrow.

So I thought it worth mentioning that here we are in our grand orbit trusting the universe to steer our spaceship while youngsters like Hunter remind me why.

Fred and I plan on dinner of salmon, yellow rice and fresh asparagus.

Then we will be watching one of the Levon Helm Midnight Ramble series he got from his loving wife to soften the blow of being another year older and the aches and pains of life after

one.

The artichokes are struggling but have some hopeful new leaves.

A Wicked Wind

A Wicked Wind
Blew through Monkton and neighboring areas on Sunday.
Of course we had felt compelled to plant our artichoke plants on Saturday during a brief window of sunshine.
Rain was predicted to continue and we assumed they meant a drizzly May shower.
But defying prediction by even Roger Hill, a Wicked Wind came up or actually he explained in his post cast that cold dense air was tumbling down on us. The branches pitched and twisted and the poor artichokes took a beating. I found a piece of remay and covered them to keep them from total destruction. Then a frost last night just added insult to injury. Today I uncovered the plants that are mostly hanging in there. No frost now for a while and hopefully that sinister wind will dissipate and lose its destructive nature.
We lost one apple tree that snapped off at the base. Friends had a tree uproot and crash on their house and car. Luckily again no one hurt.
A wicked wind shows us how just a puff of air to the earth can be so large in our life on the surface.
June first we had to burn a fire to keep warm.
Still skeptical about gl*bal w*rming.

Nature's Power

Nature decided I should stay inside as the overdue rain is coming in buckets.

We do need it and it is filling the leaves out, plumping them unfolding their large green hands that keep us cool in summer, shielded from intense sun, making a misty shell that protects from frost and scalding.

In other words, it's raining.

Nature's power is complex, however, and best described in floods of colorful words linked by feelings one has when out in nature.

Nature's power keeps people alert tonight for flooding, the dirt roads are getting slick and mushy, and you just can't laze out back basking in the sun and watch the spring.

Nature's power draws us to plant crops and harvest what we are able.

Desiring food grown here on the hill of once volatile rocks, now glacial debris that floats to the top of the garden constantly, slowly. Desiring we sell our surplus on our roadside self serve farm stand to earn what we paid for plants.

We call it Eat the Farm...email eatthefarm@aol.com for more information

Seeing the ravens fly, crow and eat our leftover bread

is just a slice of nature's power.

Where do you feel the tug or push of nature's power?

Follow it.

Last Night we saw Levon Helm

Last Night we saw Levon Helm
At the Midnight Ramble in Woodstock, N.Y.
and all his wonderful staff, band, friends and fans.
Yesterday can be described in two words:

Peak Experience.

We were blessed to get tickets to this sold out Birthday bash and further blessed to be sitting in the front row balcony overlooking the stage.

The potluck barbecue before the show made everyone slow down, eat a little, hear a preview of Electric Dirt, Levon Helm's new release due out soon.

see LevonHelm.com

It was beautiful spring weather and the storm held off.

Levon's studio is a warm inviting post and beam barn with concertgoers perched on the floor and seemingly in the rafters as we were.

The first band was Matt Sucich and the Vanderette's. They are a delightful cast of musicians with heartfelt songs and music to complement their life messages and tales to tell. Matt gave a taste of his rowdy side and we and the crowd enjoyed their show.

We bought several of their CD's in hand painted covers showcasing early work. Listened today and we both enjoyed them.

Then Larry Campbell, Amy Helm, Theresa Williams and the other musicians I cannot name: the fabulous Brass orchestra, guitar, organ, and others came on stage and got set to play and then the moment we had anticipated when Levon Helm walks onstage. The whole barn warmed with the audience hootin' and hollerin' and reeling in the moment.

Levon made a facial "O" and after a quick nod around he ripped into Ophelia.

They did 28 songs in a row and Levon stayed in for all of them.

His subtle moves and looks between him and band members

communicated silently his question, correction, direction, order or nod of approval.

Levon sings, drums and plays mandolin and he is a warm hearted soul who adds emotion to the words and he clearly enjoys what he does with all his heart.

We all sang Happy Birthday and they got him a nice cake printed with the Electric Dirt album cover image.

Words cannot properly express the vision of Levon playing his drums, his looks to the audience, his soulful interpretations, his precision quiet communication with multiple band members. If you ever have an opportunity to go to a Midnight Ramble, go to levonhelm.com and check it out.

I kept peering over the railing at the hands of the extraordinary Donald Fagen and wondering, "Who is that man?". I am bad with names. Then he sang his own work and my light bulb went off.

The brass section were powerful and polished.

Amy Helm and Theresa Williams harmonized beautifully and gracefully.

Larry Campbell plays Violin, mandolin, guitar and voice and if I leave out details, forgive me. He is really quite talented and his music soulful.

Fred and I are celebrating the year of being married 25 years. We felt we had to do something truly

Stellar

And the Midnight Ramble realigned our commitment to each other and that no matter how the world treats you, you can still go to Woodstock, listen to some Stellar Music and retreat even for an evening into a rare and special place where you can see the music being made like the nebulae make stars.

We will never forget our special night at the Midnight Ramble.

Tomorrow back to the garden.

Fabrications of the Idle Mind

Sometimes people make up details they label or believe are facts to serve their narrow minds.
This indeed is an important mechanism for the manipulative, the narcissistic.
Their belief of their stationary viewpoint is just that. Stays in one place, stagnant, rotting.
The idle mind loses the momentum we need to create new things, new experiences.
It is funny to compare what one person sees against what another sees.
Our filter is the experiences we have had before, what we learned and retained, and our personality "mix". Think of each of our brains being wired according to our DNA blueprint. Add trauma, disease and external forces. We are being bombarded each day by rays, zooming space particles, bacteria and other pests, sunlight, magnetism, and on and on.
Even stationary life then is still always alive and in motion, evolving, changing.
Even as the stagnant human endeavors to keep from changing, he has changed.
Even as we see the fabrications of the Idle Mind, we realize it is in the past and best forgotten, like other gossipy trash people often spew when feeling insecure about themselves.
Feel how our minds should remain active and stimulated and not stagnate.
Exercise your mind when you can.
Do something new today.
Fabricate your mind in gear and drive it.

A Different Drummer

Looking up all facts about drumming in preparation for the Levon Helm concert next week. What excitement as we anticipate the concert of a lifetime.
Drumming actually puts you into an altered state where your left and right brain are balanced. Drumming keeps you in the moment, the now, the heartbeat. Drumming evokes emotions, lets it all out and puts you in the groove.
Shaman used drums to alter their consciousness.
They are now using drumming circles in dementia wards, cancer groups, other illnesses (incl. MS), ADHD!
So feel the beat, tap your feet.
Listen to the drumbeat and you'll hear the bones of the music, the rhythm.
Listen to Levon and you hear the soul.
We'll report back on this travel story later.
Rat a Tat Tat

Thetford Center

The Travelogue staff (me and Fred) went yesterday to Thetford Center which is Southeasterly from us.
What a beautiful bumpy ride down past Barre and through that surprise instructionless rotary. Basically a sign that said <---Route 12--->.
No East or west as if our instinct might have guided us.
A rotary with no hints about how to merge. Just go like h*ll.
The road sported more open land and less of the spot development we see here.
The towns and schools over there more modest, more sensible, preserving the puritanical roots of the inhabitants. I hope it stays that way a little longer.
The Thetford Center community center is small and tidy and utilitarian. Big sunny windows, nice kitchen and basic simple chairs, tables, essentials.
A friend's 60th Birthday party was the occasion. We enjoyed the simple afternoon away from our sometimes stressful lives.
These are only available if you are willing to take an afternoon, depart from the interstate and bump along some back roads and break for bear, moose, turkey and tractors.
Bring a dish.
We also checked out Garden mats (in Calais,VT) produced by this stressed out guy who cuts holes in these tarp like plastic fabric sheets so you can plant and cut down on weeds. We got an 18 x 4 foot foot section just to try it out. Think we'll do peppers.
Have a great Mother's day to Mothers everywhere. You are why we are here. I salute you.