Lunch, Filmmaking, Re-Bop Records, and the Supreme Court

Our friend David has made his way up to VT to work on several projects, one being a documentary film about a local Vermonter Diana Winn. The more we learn about her story, the more we want to hear. Diana is a musician/songwriter who started the Re-Bop record label, where she brings together talented songwriters, musicians and child and adult vocalists to create songs for the “award winning” recordings. Another claim to fame is that she has been a part of a Supreme Court case, “Wyeth v. Levine,” that could have a major impact on the lives of millions of Americans.

Ten Dayz in the “City”

House sitting has been a service we have been providing often lately. From our care taking in Philadelphia to some serious pet sitting in rural Vermont, we fortunately had the opportunity to cat/house sit in Montpelier- the capital city. Not only was it fortunate for us to be staying in town at the home of some very cool older folks, we also coincidentally lost use of our vehicle just days before the gig. This city (town) is easily traveled without wheels, so we could live and function efficiently by walking everywhere we needed to go. Our dear friend, Iza, kindly drove us to our temporary dwelling, and when we arrived we saw we were just blocks from Hunger Mountain Co-op, so it was a bit like our lives back in Philly when we were just minutes from the Market.

Much Brotherly Love

Back to our wonderful homeland. It was Wintertime 2009 not so long ago. We left Walden and traveled through Montpelier (so Amy could get one more day of babysitting in) and headed southbound with a full car and a full tank of veggie oil. The plan was to make it back in time for Robert’s annual Grinch Party, and we did just that (sans a sleepy Amy). This is also where I begin my unintended journey to gain an upwards of 10 lbs…

EXTRA, EXTRA! Sagittarians and Saris!

December not only brought us a lot snow here in the North East Kingdom, but it also brought us two fabulous events that we were fortunate to attend. Our great new friend Chris (Yogi Mukti) invited us to his annual Sagittarius party in Montpelier, and we were happy to accept because “we like to party” and, hey, I (Jon) am part Sag myself! The email invite stated that it would be a tropical themed party and to dress for warm temps which sounded entertainingly ironic for this time of year in VT. So, after picking up Brooke from work, we ventured to the outskirts of Montpelier. When we arrived, as promised, there were subtropical temperatures in Mukti’s home along with people decked out in bathing suits and tropical wears.

Thanks and SNOW!

Though we missed being with family for Thanksgiving, we were lucky enough this year to share delicious meals with some new friends. Our afternoon began with a visit to “community supper” in our neighboring town of Hardwick. We have volunteered at community suppers two times now, and we try to make it out for the meal whenever possible. Local farms and businesses donate much of the food, and many of the smiling faces helping to cook and clean up are people from a wonderful community called Heartbeet Farm. The meal was fantastic. We were thankful for the abundance of many tasty meatless dishes and happy to feel at home in such a positive environment filled with love and goodwill.

FEVER, FEVER, FUN!

The temperatures are cooling, and we have tried to imagine what it will be like when these great outdoors become less friendly and less like an addition to our cabin. See, we have no bathroom or plumbing (our running water has frozen) and we are used to going “#1” amongst the trees and “#2” up the path in the outhouse or at the house. So far, we have still been able to find comfort in the chilled air, but we are anticipating the changes.

Return to Philly!

It’s not just a place where the Liberty Bell resides, where Rocky ran up a whole lot of stairs, or where you can get soft pretzels fresh from the oven at 1 in the morning. It is also a place where gray concrete meets colorful community gardens and car fumes meet parades of many themes. Philadelphia is a place where we come home to see some of the most beautiful familiar faces and places in our world!

Work, Work, Work… FUN!

We have been pretty busy while living the “simple life.” Farm work never ends, there is always something to do. Besides the obvious planting and harvesting of yummy veggies, we have had the pleasures of learning some new skills such as preserving and storing what we harvested (cabbage, carrots, turnips, potatoes, beets, beans) for the winter in the root cellar. Whether it be freezing, pickling, canning, we are doing it.

Familiar Faces

We were so lucky and grateful to have had visitors since we have been here and are hoping to have more as the seasons continue. Our first uniting of Philly home and farm world was when our friends Kristin and Jason and Scrapple the dog came for a weekend.

Lettuce Bee Farm

It has been over a month since we arrived at Lettuce Bee Farm in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. Through www.organicvolunteers.com, Lettuce Bee was the only farm we had secured a date to come volunteer before we had left Philadelphia in April. We signed up to volunteer 2 weeks with the possibility of extending it another week or so, and here we are 3 weeks later planning to stay the rest of the growing season and straight through a very snowy Vermont winter! Did I mention we have been staying in a little rustic cabin in the woods?