football is back!

I probably shouldn't be so excited about football returning after a lockout these past few months. It was over money...like these guys-specifically the owners, don't make enough. Players make plenty as well, although i do view football as a brutal sport where many retire with long lasting injuries. But be as it may...I am a happy camper. I can't imagine fall without football Sundays! And football pools. And maybe a super bowl...I know- wishful thinking.
So, the changes were announced this week. Hurtful. Todd heap. Derrick Mason. Kelly Gregg. Can't imaginf the Ravens without this core of veterans. Especially Heap. Mason wrote a very heartfelt message in the paper the other morning about how much he loves Baltimore and the fans. And if they asked him back, he would return in a nano second. A very tearful goodbye.
I hate to see summer go away. I love the relaxed atmosphere. But I want football and fall.

blogs be forgotten

Wow...really been a week since I visited here? Guess I was busier than I thought. Catching up takes a while.
Heat wave has finally broke..it is 90 today, which feels great conpared to 120. Weekend was filled with socializing. We went to visit our good friends Barb and Arnout to the country..Monkton. They have a beautiful home they just remodelled with a state of the art kitchen. Barb demonstrated her cooking skills, swam, played games, chit chatted...nice weekend. It was capped off with a library summer social at a larger than life home of a board member. Large, tastefully decorated, and for sale. Anyone have 1.5 mil? A bargain..house is 8K squeare feet. Then back to my humble abode, which took me 20 minutes to clean the bathroom. Although I guess if you live in a house that big, you hire someone to clean it.
Off on another adventure next week...Colorado! And Mt Rushmore. Looks like I can check off CO, WY, and SD off my list of visited states.

Back to reality

After a very long drive home Saturday (10 hours), I am back in hot and hazy Maryland. Yesterday was not too bad, humidity was down, just hot. Maddie and I took a good 4 mile hike in the park...seemed more difficult in this weather.
So, I have stayed on track with good eating. In fact maybe too good..had a low blood sugar reaction at 4 AM. Gotta tweak a few things.
I miss the people I met and beautiful Vermont. But time to start thinking about Colorado! It just 2 weeks away and haven't given it much thought. I did make an attempt to arrange for a rental car..not cheap. At least 100.00 a day. Kids are excited about going..haven't been on a family vacation yet this summer. Should be easy to eat well in Denver, right?
More later..still behind in laundry. And I haven't gone searching for ak-mak crackers yet.

All good things must come to an end....

My last day in Vermont heaven. Hike this morning was an easy one. I actually wore tennis shoes this time. It was a long one-around 4 miles, but not many steep hills. Of course, we had Manhattan woman with us, who usually is way behind everyone else. One guide ends up staying with her the whole time. And she apparently complained there was no bathroom facilities on the route. Yeah, really. However, she is also the one who thought Appalachian Trail hikers stay in hotels in the evenings. Think we is perfect to deal with the jungles of New York City.
Headed back for a lunch of onion soup and caesar salad. not sure how low cal the salad was...
Did water aerobics in the afternoon and realized my body was exhausted. Guess 25 miles of hiking in a week finally caught up. Dinner:steak, stuffed portabello mushroom with quinoa and brown rice and steamed veggies.
Day ended with a hiking guide who plays the mandolin. Perfect for a week with snow lovers who try and make a living on the off season. And its not easy. many of the those working for thr spa work many jobs in the off season until the snow season opens up on December 1. Closes on May 1. They had 80 feet of snow this season. And Killington's population goes from 500 to 20000 during ski season. They make lots of money.
So, I went to check out tonight so I could avoid the rush and lo and behold, Ms.Manhattan was at the desk...yelling at the front desk clerk. So surprizing eh? She felt she should NOT be charged for 5 days of hiking when she only did 4. Because, if we could remind her, she was LATE. A sweety named Larissa (teacher heading to Boston to teach) mentioned she should be reminded that she had her own persoal guide everyday she was here.
So, back to the land of beautiful tomatoes and corn. It's been a great ride..feel good, energetic, healthy, calm....just what I wanted...

vermont day 5

Today i realized my feet were yelling at me. 20 miles of hiking in 4 days was way more than what they were used to-especially in those awful hiking boots. So, it was a quasi down day. I did an alternate walk today..an hour around Killington, which will always involve hills. Felt that was adequate and could do that with sandals on. However do you remember the woman who came in a few days ago and had a meltdown? Guess who joined on the walk? Oh joy. I was also joined by the healthy cooking woman-little spacey, but good hearted and always looking for her Zen. Fortunately, it was buffered by June, another spa attendee who I took a quick liking to. Small business owner in New Hampshire-very grounded and was known to break free of the compound and do her own thing-lobster dinner (no butter), cruising the mountains, whatever moved her. Loved her spirit. The meltdown woman I have come to find out, is from Manhattan and probably wound too tight. Also admitted often she was a 5 star kinda gal..have NO clue why she came to go hiking in the mountains.
Afternoon Karen and I cruised Vermont. We touched on all things Vermont-cheese, maple syrup, and covered bridges. Great day..this is a beautiful state...
Lunch: butternut squash soup with dried cherries; salad, and pizza on pita bread. Dinner was grilled salmon, brown rice, and snow peas and zucchini. Delish.
One more day :-( One more hike. And two days away from a glass of wine.

Vermont The real day 4

I must be in a fog of perspiration. Today really is day 4 and I am alive and well. I am still struggling with blisters (like many others) but feel good otherwise. Fell like I've sweated off 10 pounds. I should be so lucky. Today's hike was a bit challenging-some big hills. We stopped for a fruit break at a beautiful meadow overlooking the green mountains. Worth the effort.
Had a free facial today...ahhhh....and laid low..swam and read.
Tomorrow I am taking off from hiking and heading out to see some of Vermont. Maybe my blisters will heal. Or not. It makes hiking tough, but then you think about Survivor and think..shit, I can do a 4 miles with blisters.
Off to dinner...lunch was the best yet:
crackers with goat cheese (goat cheese in vermont...yum)
quinoa salad
chick peas and fruit.
Cheese!!!!

Vermont Day 4

Today's hike took us to Woodstock Vermont..a charming town of about 5000. hike leader was "Shannon"=a spry,very serious young lady in her early 20's. We call her general. She feels she needs to tell everyone how to hike, breath, drink water, and set the pace. I almost threw her off the path. She carries a small pack filled with bandaids, trail mix, almonds, cell phone, bug spray..list goes on. We r not hiking the Appalachian trail people. We returned to the van and those riding in her van asked her to turn on the A/C-weather was very hot and humid for Vermont...she said no, she would roll down the windows. I guess they needed to tough it out..
We spent some time in town..a welcome break. Headed back for a pedicure. Karen needed to do some laundry (you go through clothes quickly with sweat)and low and behomd, the local laundrymat is a bar/laundrymat. Yeah..we got nuts and drank a wine spritzer! Wonder what Shannon would say...
Lunch was a turkey, veggie, and hummus sandwich. yes, people, I experienced bread for the first time since arriving. Dinner was salad, talapia, beans and rice, and fresh pea pods..gotta had it to the chef-he is quite good.
Speaking of chefs, we had a cooking demo yesterday for black bean burgers. At least I think that was the end result...instructor was all over the map..no measurements, then she passed out vinegar to smell, followed by pickled onions-not sure how that related. We did actually get to a black bean burger with fresh salsa. We had 13 people. I had a taste equal to a teaspoon. I consider that a snack..
A golf group arrived today at the hotel..I sighted bagels and cream cheese. In addition, looks like a few newbies for the spa are the serious minded hikers. Who go on 30 day cleansings. I sat with Jeanne, a die hard liberal from Philly and her hubby.
Bought different socks today in hopes of avoiding more blisters. No really, I am loving this. Hikes have been beautiful. Food great. Met some terrific people. I could do without Shannon.

Vermont Day 3

Have a quick 30 minutes before aerobics and had to share a bit about today. I am getting up at 6 30..which in itself is a struggle for me. But I do it, and head over to morning stretch at 7 with a crew member. He is an older guy..probably in the 50's range who has been nicknamed Grumpy. Not a smiler and you have to think he really doesn't want to be stretching with a whole bunch of middle aged men and women at 7 in the morning.
So, after a very unappitizing breakfast of eggs and mushrooms and cardboard english muffin (first time I haven't liked the food), we meet downstairs for our hike. Meanwhile, there is an woman in her early sixtires who arrived yesterday..she wanders down to the lobby at 9 07 AM. Everyone is told to meet at 8 45. The van that takes you to your hikes has left. She proceeds to have a meltdown..screaming at anyone who works for this outfit until the owner spent some time with her and calmed her down. If anyone needs to de-stress, it might be her.
We hiked with Connor and Beth today. Connor-young, energetic, college age, who hikes in the summer and does ski patrol in the winter. Sweet kid, lives in the moment, positive, and enjoyed talking to all these women who could be his mother (and maybe his grandmother). He even took a detour and showed u Calvin Coolidge's home he grew up in. Beth was equally as nice..also snow worker bee by trade and hiker in the summer.
And I think we had the best meal so far...fresh tomato soup with oranges (no salt but you didn't miss it), pasta with spinach, chicken, tossed with a sesame sauce and iced tea.
Off to do do laundry..going through clothes like crazy.

Vermont Day 2

It is actually surprizing I am upright at the moment. Hike the morning was 5 miles-not too beastly, but enough to break a major sweat. I have to say, it was nice not to be bringing up the rear in this group. Guess all those water aerobic classes paid off. My feet were sore, but word has it that I need different socks-HIKING socks. To go along with the hiking bottle. They do supply you with walking sticks and water bottles.
Met some interesting people toady...love the Canadian contigency. Then to mix it up a bit, they threw in a colorful woman from West Virginia. She tried all activities, including meditation. Which apparently didn't go as planned when paired up with a priest. She has also been thrown out of yoga in her past..needless to say, I liked her.
A bit of pool time before he headed in for dinner. Food is good..despite no salt. Amazing how much you use when u don't have it in your diet.
Capped the day off with my free massage...which has put me in a state of euphoria. Everything is going well, but I seem any signs for lobster. Will I be able to hold out?? If I am asking the question, we might be in trouble...

Cleansing in Vermont Day 1

So, here begins my week of a respite from the mad world into the beautiful mountains of Vermont. I am tucked into Killington, the skiing capital of New England. We arrived late this afternoon as the air temperature gradually dropped as we traveled north.
The Inn at Six Mountains is an older ski lodge, but just a bit weathered. Rooms are comfortable and spacious. We were given ample time to check in and unpack before we were given a quick tour of what we could expect in the coming week. Basically, we have 21 hikes within 20 minutes of where we are. The guides choose 3 or 4 each morning-all varying in difficulty. Needless to say, I'll be on the beginner hike. Dinner was Salad-greens, cucs, tomatoes, garbanzo beans, vinegarette; half piece of boneless chicken marsala, choice of mashed potatoes or sobo noodles with black bean sauce, green beans with almonds, and a peach cobbler topped with granola. So far, so good. Except, don't ask for butter, salt or ketchup. There is none.
Evening was a lecture by the founding owner Jimmy Le sage. 61 year old aging hippie (he admitted this), with a bit of a belly and lots of energy. His philosophy with his retreat..de-stress, walk, hike, eat healthy, and move your body. Not really sure I agree with some of his thoughts, but what the hell-i'm in the green mountains of Vermont. As he says, there are no ugly parts of Vermont.
Time to sleep, I'm cold (49 degrees) and I have a packed day of activities. Hope I am not in a coma tomorrow...

On a roll...

Boy, I seem to be on a roll in the "paying homage to relatives" department. How many people can say they love their relatives enough to spend a few minutes sharing the good stuff? Yeah, there's always some bad stuff, but they always say the good stuff has to outweigh the bad. So, let's continue the roll and chat about Nick's twin..Timothy. No one would ever suspect these two to be twins..no resemblance physically or in personalities. Tim is the laid back one..go with the flow..nothing rattles him. Unless he wakes up in the morning and his teen daughter has trashed his kitchen from a late night snack. He is the go-to guy for sports-he eats and breaths football. Because of this, he has a very special relationship with Maddie-he often calls just to chat with her about football and games.
He is generous to a fault..dogsits our lunatic dog (before he acquired a lunatic dog himself), offers airport rides and will pick you up with milk and bread for you when you return; and agrees to be a safe haven for the broken-all ages. He once housed an acquaintance from early restaurant days who was in need of a place to stay for a couple of weeks. She holed up in the basement, high on pain killers, never saw the light of day nor ate anything, occasionally asking for a ride to her property or to a bank. Talk about patience of a saint...what we love about him.
He's the tannest man I know..screw skin cancer...he is at the pool slathered in a lotion called sun amplifier. Wicked humor-thank god..he has 2 teen girls living with him. Culinary skills can't be matched. Mixes a mean drink. And loves blues music. My kind of guy.

dog days of summer

Now begins the long stretch of dog days of summer. My brother was kind enough to share the meaning of this quip..which has something to do with many hot days and dogs hating it. Well, who doesn't? This is fairly typical of Nick-giving us snippets of useless information, quoting B movies, and offering way too much information for facebook. I love my brother. He is the one you can count on to have a speech at Thanksgiving-usually something heartfelt and pithy. He will speak at all birthday parties-honoring the special guest with humor and emotion. He will also check obituaries and attend all funerals of anyone he crossed paths with in his lifetime, no matter how remote. There has been times where he showed up at a funeral and had the wrong person. Being the gracious individual he is, he would shake hands with the bereaved family and tell them how sorry he was for their loss. Thank god he didn't do a speech. Although that would be quite funny.
He is a master in human connections-always has friends in all parts of the world who own restaurants, businesses, services...even ran into someone on the streets of Sydney Australia from his childhood. That man has had more free meals, cocktails, concerts, and sporting events than anyone I know.
Yep, there are times when he drives you crazy, but loved just the same. Here is today's quote for facebook from Confuscious Nick:
Take a leap of Faith. The safe and easy path does not always yield the greatest satisfaction. Kung Fu Burns.