Fall Ended Too Early!

Our first snow and frigid weather came on November 10th! And more is arriving every day!

Earlier in September - the Air and Space Museum is so huge you need several days to see it all. 

Scott and Kolya working on a robot project - lots
a very little pieces.

This immersive work of art at the National 
Gallery of Art  took a while to see it all.

The Botanical Gardens are a good place to go in
the rainy weather!

"Let the wild rumpus begin" at the Museum of
American Indian Culture.

 

The Northeast has been suffering from drought for the first time since they began monitoring in 2000. Impacts are widespread, including water supply and quality issues, increased wildfires, crop losses/low yields, and livestock forage concerns. Here is Shrewsbury many shallow wells have dried up or have little water. Luckily our well is deep and we haven't seen any reduction. The big visible change is a early and drab foliage season. And that means less tourists and unhappier ones than normal. For a change the constant nice weather is negatively commented on! And rain is a delight. Obviously there are lots of other parts of the country that have suffered much more, but it's all quite new to us. 

The modern wing of the Gallery of Art was spectacular!

We've been traveling to visit family this season. First a week babysitting our 7 year old grandson Kolya in Washington DC. They live right in the Capitol District so while he was in school, we visited several of the Smithsonian Museums: Air & Space, Museum of the American Indian & Culture, National Gallery of Art, and the Botanic Garden. James and Morgen had a fun week in Asheville, NC. 

Our oldest son Josh in Central Park

His birthday dinner - Michal, Shira, Heather, Josh,
Cookies, Uzi and Maya

Heather helps with the blowout!

Ready to blow out the many candles - Wilma,
Heather, Brent and Leslie

Brent's birthday party group at the restaurant: back row: Sharome, Morgen, James, Brent, Scott, Wilma, Joseph, Eric, LaVern, Leah, Gabriel, Wandi, Leslie, Lisa and Yosi. Front row: Heather, Muriel and LaVern. 

At Brent & Wilma's home later: Standing: Scott, Lisa, Eric, Maya, Yosi, Heather, Wandi, Joseph, Brent, LaVern, Uzi, Shira, Josh and Michal. Seated: Oren, Leah, Wilma, Lindsey and Muriel. 

Next we drove down to NYC to celebrate 4 birthdays - all in a week's time. Our granddaughters Maya and Ariella's were first, then our son Joshua and last Scott's brother Brent. We stayed two nights with Josh and family in the upper east side of Manhattan and then went over to South Orange, NJ for a big dinner celebration for Brent's 75th. Josh, Michal and 3 of their kids, Maya, Jonathan, and Shira came. James, Morgen and Kolya drove up from Washington. Scott and Brent's Aunt Muriel Fox Aronson, 97, came with her two children, Eric and Lis. She just recently finished her book tour for "The Women's Revolution". 

Chryl, Pam, Liesbeth, Heather, Reesa, Jean Marie, Kim, Sarah and Ella with desserts.

Meanwhile at home we kept busy as usual. Heather had here eighth cooking class to benefit Pierce's Store. The theme was Appetizers & Desserts. Eight students cooked 4 appetizers, two cold and two hot. They worked with puff pastry and filo dough plus arranged canapes. For dessert we made a chocolate raspberry layer cake and two fruit tarts. Five guests joined us for dinner. We raised $460 for the store. 

Grace Church with an unusual apparatus!

Our two Opera Singers - that's Elizabeth 
Wohl on the top.

Pink Martini is one of our favorite groups so we went down to Plymouth to see them and stayed with Debbie and Dick. Marty joined us The concert was wonderful as was the fun company and food! Then the Champlain Philharmonic Symphony collaborated with Arc Benders Circus Opera for a fun version of The Magic Flute at Grace Church. Two opera singers and acrobats performed both physically and vocally. The aerialist and soprano, Elizabeth Wohl, sang the Queen of the Night aria upside down hanging from silks! 

The Vermont Symphony Jukebox quartet

And then the Weston Theater did The Twelfth Night Show. Four band members are thrust into the spotlight when charged with staging a one-of-a-kind production of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night to save their beloved theater. There was a good deal of the actual dialogue along with songs, puppets and general antics. Last was the Vermont Symphony's Jukebox String Quartet on stage - performers and audience - with a theme of Strength and Hope. The selections included both Beethoven and Shostakovich, as well as Ethel Smythe and Woody Guthrie! 

And finally for this blog entry, we babysat our 2 year old grandson Rowan in Boston for a week. Sean and Will went to London to celebrate Will's 40th birthday. Halloween was really fun for us - hundreds of kids came to the house and Rowan handed out a lot of candy! He was an adorable duckling and Scott was a giant bee. I was much more pedestrian with a horse head. It was a wonderful week!

Grandpa, Rowan and Jeremy

A bee and duckling prepared for Halloween.

Grammy with Rowan who is trying
out Scott's bee glasses

Great visit to the Children's Museum - here Rowan powers 
up the lights.

What Do You Do When You Retire?

Sunrise on our deck - time to water the flowers. We've had almost no rain for a month - very unusual for Vermont!

We still have friends and family who are working full time way past 65. They worry about what they'll do with themselves once they stop work It's really hard for Scott and I to empathize. Of course, we retired around 55, sold our home in Boston, bought a sailing boat and moved aboard. And for a good deal of next 20 years, sailed around the Caribbean. But since we sold it in 2022 we've been more at home and still find an enormous amount to do. In fact we both need to practice the word "No".

Heather manning the cash register at Pierce's
Store in Shrewsbury., since 1865 (the store not
Heather)!

Here's the view the other direction but there are
several rooms out in the back too.

In 2007 we bought our current home here in Shrewsbury, VT and we could be here full time and never be bored. This community has provided wonderful friends and opportunities to serve and be served. We're often asked if we plan to move closer to our children or permanently to a warm climate. No chance. We are confident that no matter our needs as we grow old, this is the place that will meet them. 

Marty, Debbie, Ted, Scott, David, Karen and
Heather in Plymouth for dinner.

Scott, David, Dick, Debbie, Marty.

Post Modern Jukebox

It's been a busy summer. Besides the big trip out to Michigan, we visited friends in Plymouth and saw Post Modern Jukebox followed by a weekend in Boston. In September we had a weekend up in Burlington to see the premiere of Downton Abbey The Grand Finale (amazing dinner at this year's Vermont best restaurant, Honey Road). Our youngest son Sean and his husband bought a lake house in Western Mass. with friends and we had a lovely time visiting them. Scott's brother Brent, wife Wilma and their cousin Lisa came for a stay. 

Sandy Bragg is the Sommelier at Pierce's Store
and runs wine tastings and here, a Wine Pairing.

The Wine Pairing Seminar was held in the 
Pierce's Barn - an event space now.

Our friends Silvana and David came for a visit
and we saw them earlier at their home in Boston.

Scott's copper heron

Scott's on the board of Green Mt. Neighbors
and led a hike on the AT/LT.

Heather's little studio space at Rutland's Maker
Space - The Mint.

Theater and concert productions continue: Amelia at the Northern Stage, Other Desert Cities at the Dorset, and Stand Up Shakespeare at the Plymouth Folk Festival. We ate lobster at the Lobster Fest benefiting the Rotary and had several events with Green Mountain Neighbors - a local volunteer group that work to keep Seniors At Home. Of course there were dinner parties, at our home and at friends'. 

On a long weekend in Boston we visited the 
Peabody Essex Museum in Salem.

The Yin Yu Tang House, a century's old Chinese
family home has been relocated to the Museum. 

The U.S.S. Constitution rests at the Charleston Yard
 and is still afloat. She's taken out into the harbor once
a year and turned around. 

Amusing bronze statues provide a seat at the table!

We took the Ferry from Charleston into Boston
proper and walked the Harbor Walk.

Heather volunteers once a week running our local Coop and General Store, Pierce's (watch this U Tube video on the store - (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-Dy1f_oYyk) and often also at our local volunteer run Library. She belongs to the Rutland Garden Club and maintains the garden at the Godnick Senior Center. She a member of two Book Clubs and has a studio at The Mint, Rutland's Maker's Space. She cooks meals for needy neighbors, has a Cooking Class once a year to benefit Pierce's Store and provides the appetizers for their wine tasting events. 

Scott is on 5 boards around town and the treasurer of all of them! He ran twice for State Senate and did very well, but not quite enough. He's very active in local politics. He is a talented sculptor and takes a week long course every summer at the Carving Studio/ Sculpture Center in West Rutland. One year he was chosen as one of 5 featured sculptors at their fall Sculpfest. This year he did a copper 5 ft tall heron which ornaments our garden. 

So no problem keeping busy out here in the country!

The view from Sean & Will's deck in Beckett

Their friends and co owners of their new vacation
home , Jesse, Sarah and Oscar.

Scott, Sean, Rowan and Will

Rowan - now 2 and very cool!

Shira, looking pensive and lovely. Unfortunately
this is the only photo we got during their visit!

Enjoying lobsters at the Rotary Dinner.

Brent, Lisa and Scott

Burlington VT - Main St - foot traffic only

One of the fabulous tapas at Honey Road - this
one was big!

Heather just taking advantage of a bunch of
balloons for a photo.

The Sugar river runs through Claremont, NH and
powered the regions early industries. We stopped
there on the way home for lunch.

The Fourth Annual Tortugeezer Reunion

The 2025 Tortugeezer Reunion. Top row from left: Tom, Dave, Kevin, Jerry, Scott, Diane, Charly and Scott G. Second row: Dave (in blue), Pat, Kathleen, Uli, Roy, Tamara, Marsha, Steve  Debbie, Rick and Karen. Front, seated:  Heather, Dale and Ellen.

When the COVID epidemic became obvious many of our cruisers friends found themselves in countries that were closing their borders and airports. Scott and I were in Belize and took immediate action. We checked out of the country and raced down to Guatemala and into the Rio Dulce. We and a number of our friends were just in time before they closed their border. Many of our fellow cruisers were not so lucky and had difficult times during the rest of the year in Belize and Honduras. Neither has the protection from hurricanes as we had in our mutual Marina, Tortugal. More of this and our adventures are covered in previous blog posts. But one result of all this was a weekly Zoom that united all of our Tortugal cruisers through the epidemic and in the years since. 

March 17, 2020 - celebrating St. Patrick's Day at Tortugal Marina, Guatemala in "masks". Rick & Marsha and ourselves left a few days later on a American Embassy repatriation flight home. 

We and many others returned when we could and Scott and I decided to sail north to the US and sell our boat. We did so successfully in 2022. But the ZOOM meetings continued and we've all kept in touch. The first in person reunion was in August, 2022 in New Orleans, followed by Montana in 2023 and last year here in Vermont. This summer we met again in Marquette, Michigan, hosted by Dave & Ellen on "Cordelia". They are still cruising in the winters out of Tortugal.

Scott with Karen & Charlie from
S/V Leap

Heather with her back to the camera and then, around to the
left: Ellen, Debbie, Kevin, Dave and Dale  - these were all 
taken at our first BBQ welcome dinner.

from left: Diane, Jerry, Dave, Uli, Tom, Pat 
and Steve

At every reunion a few people come early to 
help with the preparations. Jerry & Debbie and
Tom & Uli came a day early.

Our first morning we walked a trail around the
Presque Isle peninsula.

A popular jumping off place is at the end.

Our cruise to the Pictured Rocks left from
 Munising and took about
2 1/2 hours. The day was perfect!

We entered one of the narrow bays in the cliffs
and Uli snapped some photos.

Pat and Dave with Uli and Tom behind.

Ellen, Dave and Roy on the left and Marsha & Tamara on the right.

A view down the line of Pictured Rocks National Seashore. Beaches were interspersed and a trail
ran along the top with lockouts. 

They organized a wonderful schedule of events and the weather cooperated! Scott and I shared a house with Kathleen & Kevin, Dave & Pat and Diane & Steve. Our first night was a BBQ at Dave & Ellen's home. They had prepared a real feast with meat on the grill and a variety of salads and bread. The next day we all scattered doing different agendas. Dave took Scott and I on a  hike around the Presque Isle peninsula. That afternoon they arranged a cruise on Lake Superior to the Pictured Rocks National Seashore. The weather was perfect as you can see from the photos. What a beautiful spot. 

Jerry, Debbie, Heather, Scott, Uli & Tom

Ellen, Dave, Karen & Charlie

Downtown Marquette had a sidewalk festival that night with the main street closed for traffic. Lots of vendors sold gifts, flowers and food. We opted for a sit down dinner at Lagniappe Cajun Creole Eatery. We had to take two tables as it was packed. The food was great. 

The dramatic front entrance to the museum

This marvelous statue commemorates Chuck and
Jann Perkins, lifelong Vermont skiers and 
Philanthropists. 

That's the largest of the two ski jumps. One of 
the Olympic Training Centers is at Northern
Michigan University in Marquette. 

Next day we all had different plans after getting together at Dave & Ellen's for a long leisurely breakfast. Dave took us to the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame. Heather was a PSIA level II Ski Instructor at Okemo Mt. in Vermont and had been skiing since a child. She was able to lead the group around and was familiar with a lot of the exhibits and people. Afterwards we marveled at the huge ski jump nearby and found it amazing that anyone could actually go down it!!! It has hosted the Nordic Ski Jumping Tournament for 138 years. That evening was our banquet at the penthouse of the Landmark Inn. The views were beautiful, the meal delicious and the company outstanding! But the highlight was a concert by Dave and his friend, violinist Janice. They have been playing for many years and it was such a treat to hear them. 

It was Pat's birthday and we all
enjoyed the cake.

A look at the whole group after dinner, prepared for the concert

Dave & Janice in concert

A group of us toured the 1866 Marquette Lighthouse nearby, then had lunch at the wonderful sandwich restaurant downtown, Donckers, returning to see the Maritime Museum in the afternoon.  We gathered at Dave & Ellen that night for our last evening all together. Actually Scott and I had moved in that afternoon. We ordered pizzas and salads. Plans were already underway for next year's reunion. Kathleen & Kevin are hosting down in Guatemala in December, 2026. 

The  Maritime Museum

Scott and I pose in front of the lighthouse

There were a lot of stairs up!

Pizza night at Dave & Ellen's. Rick & Marsha, Tom
Tamara & Scott, Dale & Roy

Scott, Heather, Ellen, Dave, Karen and 
Charlie

The next day there were only a few of us left for breakfast and then only Scott and I stayed for two more nights with Dave & Ellen. It was a relaxing time. I made a lentil stew with the ham bone we'd had left and a Cuban Peccadillo for our Sunday dinner with them. On Saturday they headed off to a friend's wedding where Dave & Janice were playing, while we went on a canoe trip. on the Au Train River with Autrain Canoe & Kayak Rentals. What fun! It took us 2.5 hours to go 7 miles on the river - our arms were fine, but our buts were sore. It's a one way trip with lovely scenery. We were happy to have a quiet night on our own after that.

On Sunday Dave & Ellen took us around the sights of Marquette. There are lovely streets of period houses built during the heyday of Iron mining. Iron ore of the Marquette Range has been mined continuously since 1847. Scott and I went to the Cliffs Shaft Mine Museum in the afternoon and learned all about the history and the people who mined there. I loved the individual stories of the men and their wives. Some of the terrible accidents and cave ins were of course covered in detail. 

Our canoe heads down the Au Train River

It was a little overcast but warm and mostly 
peaceful. We did pass occasional big groups of
partying people and that was a challenge. There 
also lots of snags and rocks in the river so kept us
on our toes.

Scott poses with our canoe at the end of our trip.

The lovely Tiffany Window at St. Paul's Church

Ellen is a talented photographer and her works are
featured at a large coop artists store downtown,
The Gallery

An exhibit of unusual currency and coins from
around the world at the Flagstar Bank

We enjoyed a lovely dinner with Dave & Ellen that night and the next day we were off for our trip home. Both directions went very well although the time between flights on the way back was so short that we had to run to make our flight and were the last people boarded. Sean picked us up at the airport and we had a night with them before driving home the next day.