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Schenectady Rendezvous
Even though she has a cold, Ann seizes this opportunity to take a train to her old neighborhood in Brooklyn and visit some friends. Meanwhile I spend a few more days in Vermont, then drive to Schenectady to pick her up at the train station there. (A little lesson from people who follow a lot…
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Plainfield Harvest Happenings
Jason gives me a nice peek into the Plainfield community by taking me to a couple of fall events. The first is a harvest party, a pot luck featuring one of Jason’s lambs roasted whole and and fresh apple cider. There’s a cold wind, but everyone has themselves and their children wrapped in layers of…
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Spruce Mountain
Just up the road from our host’s abode is a trail to the Spruce mountain fire lookout in L.R. Jones State Forest. The trail is rocky and wet – this country seems like it would be a giant swamp if the mountains weren’t here to keep the water flowing. The summit is windy, making the…
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East Hill Road Loop
Ann and I run some of the picturesque roads near Plainfield. East Hill Road
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Netherlands Green Taxis Tally Graph
I did a quick improvement to my little Tally Graph WordPress plugin for www.groenetaxi.nl, a site for “green taxis” in the Netherlands. Tally Graph is front and center with a graph of the number of trees saved per month by their green transportation initiative.
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Sheep and Code in Plainfield, Vermont
For a few years now I’ve been developing websites with my colleague Jason Lemieux of vernalcreative.com, but until now we had never met in person. I’ve always been intrigued by Jason because he balances his career developing websites with running a small sheep farm and raising a family. I always wanted to see how this…
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Visiting Burlington
My aunt and grandmother lavish food and music upon us while we stop in Burlington, Vermont to see them. I haven’t made it out here since my visit on my big bike tour eleven years ago. It’s rare and warm family time. Dinner The wild rain is predicted to continue, but breaks long enough for…
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Live Music: Heinavanker
I can’t remember the last time I heard a good Estonian vocal ensemble! My Aunt Julia provides a rare opportunity to experience six expert vocalists from Estonia create heart-stilling harmonies based on meditative, monastic-sounding early sacred music and Estonian folk hymns. The effect on me is simultaneously simple and complex, the apparent simplicity of voices…
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Live Music: Charles Fisk plays Chopin and Debussey
Flood warnings on the radio accompany a hard rain as we make our way to Shelburne, Vermont to see my grandmother Ruth. We feel fortunate to make it in time for dinner and one of the musical performances Ruth, at 91, arranges for her community. Tonight a pianist from Wellesley College performs a mix of…
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Lost by GPS on Presque Isle
We have our first experience with misplaced trust in GPS navigation, making a 5 mile outing into 10. Fun! We’re driving east to Vermont, and it’s been raining like mad. Itching for some exercise, we drive through Erie, Pennsylvania to Presque Isle State Park, where it looks like there’s a good 5 mile bike trail.…