In which we find ourselves in another part of the world
A new hope
Or
The dawning of a new era
Or
Kitties!!!!!
We picked up Deja and Vu (working names since we can’t tell them apart) today at the shelter. They will probably be sad to leave their tabby sister, but she got a lot of attention anyhow and might have been a little too proud of her stripes.
Goodbye drapes. Goodbye new upholstered chair, hello paws on your face at odd times of the night.
Green-Up Day
Today is Vermont’s annual statewide trash pickup. Volunteers will collect 40,000 bags of trash, like these near Whetstone Creek.
Last night I trucked into Amherst to see Tradition is a Temple, the Modern Masters of New Orleans jazz. It was one in a monthly series of jazz movies hosted by the local NPR jazz DJ.
The movie focused on the current history of NO jazz especially as it traces to the efforts of Danny Barker, who was a big jazz historian after his own career wound down. He got enough kids interested in the old ways that many of the big brass bands you’ve heard of (Dirty Dozen etc) go right back to him.
As a bonus, the filmmaker was there and engaged in a cool Q&A. Turns out he wasn’t really trying to make a movie, but instead an iPhone app called Tutti Music Player. Which you should check out. Needs more free content, however.
Reward
Today’s track workout ended in drizzle, but the rainbow made up for the chilly mist. I think the April showers start today.
Monumental
This weekend, we ventured across the Connecticut River into Hinsdale, New Hampshire.
Hinsdale is set in a beautiful spot, at the confluence of the Ashuelot and Connecticut Rivers. However, the town has been in decline since the one and only factory in town, which made mowers, closed some 80 years ago.
Now, it is home to the country’s oldest continually operating Post Office, a junk shop, and, possibly during weekday lunch hours, a little café. There is a Walmart, and a Tractor Supply on the edge of town. between those two and possibly the school, those are about all the jobs that exist.
Very excited to see this sign go up at our next favorite eatery last week, replacing the “opening in February” sign that had been there before.
Another one bites the dust
Past the kiddie stickers, party favors, and assorted bric-a-brac, empty shelves stretch into the distance at the Yankee One Dollar store, which is about to close.
Since we’ve been here, two “dollar” stores have closed, and one has come in. Fewer dollar stores is clearly good for the image of the town I want to live in, but more storefront vacancies is clearly bad for the image of the town I want to live in.
It’s ok to use camouflage duct tape if your Camry is too sexy for your repair budget.
On this Easter day we give thanks for the farm animals and the wheats and potatoes and coffee beans who all were sacrificed for our nourishment at the Eagles Club’s annual buffet breakfast. And the salts, let us not forget the salts, whose tribe must surely be depleted.
Winners and Losers
Our local economy is small, but still complex.
The nearby nuclear plant will be shutting down this year, a victory for the anti-nuclear activists, and a clear economic loss for the area (neighboring town Vernon won’t have a police department next year, for example).
One winner I wouldn’t have thought of: the struggling local newspaper, who now is publishing big color job ads from the Idaho National Laboratory.
Vultures
We often see them soaring over the river, and they’re really quite graceful. But seeing them hanging out in a tree looking at you is a different, slightly creepy story.
Altogether there were about 15 of them… Apparently they’re quite social.
Almost every bus in Hartford has this on it.
Civic-minded
Brattleboro Adventure – the Auckland Edition 