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Tag Archives: Vermont

My.Daily.Distraction ~ Post 156: The Sound Of Music Strikes 50

27 Friday Mar 2015

Posted by duckykoren in Entertainment, Movies, Music

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ice cream, Julie Andrews, LGBT, Movies, Music, Sound Of Music, Stowe, Trapp Family Lodge, Vermont

The announcement on this morning’s news that the movie THE SOUND OF MUSIC is now officially 50 years old brought back mountains of memories from my childhood, sweeter than any apple strudel.

That’s when I came to the realization that this movie has made its presence known to me throughout my entire life.

First, I had to check to see if this 50th anniversary was indeed correct.

After a few taps on my iPad, I was browsing through Wikipedia’s extensive reading list on how THE SOUND OF MUSIC impacted the world.

Although it was first released on March 2, 1965 it didn’t come to my attention until 1966. That was the day when my Mother brought home this movie’s soundtrack in the archaic form of a long playing record.

Within a month I had all the songs memorized word for word.

I still remember the day when my Grandmother and I went to Toronto’s Yorkdale shopping centre to see this movie.

Afterwards, we went for our obligatory ice cream cones at the ice cream parlour located next to the theatre. And when I say obligatory, I do mean obligatory. When in the presence of my Grandmother, it is an inevitable fact that you will be having a close encounter with ice cream.

I had banana ice cream cone. Her choice of ice cream flavour for that day was coffee.

As time passed, again and again, songs from the movie kept reintroducing themselves to me. Whether singing them in a choir, or plunking them out on a piano with my cousins, these songs were hard wired not only into my heart but into my brain as well.

Then came all of the family photographs of my Aunts, Uncles, Cousins and Grandparents, who had made the pilgrimage to Stowe Vermont to visit the Trapp Family Lodge.

One day it would be my turn, I told myself.

And that day finally arrived in October 2012, while my husband and I were visiting my Mother in Williston Vermont. It was Thanksgiving holiday in Canada and we had a few days off.

She invited us for a drive to Stowe Vermont, where she would treat us to brunch at the Trapp Family Lodge.

How could I resist?

At long last, I would be able to see for myself what I had witnessed in heaps of family photographs and postcards.

The fall drive through the Vermont mountains was both beautiful and unforgettable.

However, it was with a heavy heart a week later that I told my friend Mitch, that alas, while I was at the Trapp family Lodge I saw no blonde haired and blue eyed children, no lederhosen, no Muzak playing “Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens…”, no kitschy embroidered alpine dresses, nay…

… Not even one single *Edelweiss*.

There were only impeccably dressed Maitre’Ds, fancy yet austere hotel lobbies and seating areas and an incredibly expensive gift shop where very sad and boring T-shirts sold for a whopping fifty dollars a piece, and knitted hats for seventy five dollars.

We were very lucky that a bus tour had arrived otherwise we would not have enjoyed any German cuisine. The only other fare available was what you could get at the bar.

Mitch’s heart broke alongside my own.

I really should have seen this utter disappointment coming a long time ago.

That was in 1987, when the news reported the death of Maria Von Trapp, the character portrayed by Julie Andrews.

I spoke to my Mother who lived in Vermont, on the phone that same day and told her I had heard the sad news.

“I met her,” she told me.

“Did you really,” I exclaimed. “Tell me more.”

“She wasn’t very nice, in fact she was very bossy with her staff and customers.”

I was mildly shocked. Mother continued…

“The consensus here in Vermont is that even God is going to have a hard time keeping her happy.”

Oh dear.

My own two daughters eventually grew to love this movie as much as I did. In fact my youngest daughter turned one of the songs into her own:

“HOW DO YOU SOLVE A PROBLEM LIKE ARIA?”

What a problem indeed…

“Sigh.”

Looking back, I think that my friend Mitch, said it best…

“What the The Trapp Family Farm needs most right now, more than anything is a creative infusion from THE SOUND OF MUSIC’s biggest fan base:

…The LGBT community.”

I know this to be true because they were the only ones who held a moment of silence when it was announced that Eleanor Parker, the actress who played the baroness and Captain Von Trapp’s lady friend passed away on December 9 2013.

Otherwise, I have no hope whatsoever, and the proverbial hills will no longer be alive with the SOUND OF MUSIC.

Rather, these hills will die under the root of all evil:

The love of money.

In closing, I bid you a sad…

So long, Farewell!

My.Daily.Distraction ~ Post 145: Agreeing To Disagree

16 Monday Mar 2015

Posted by duckykoren in Celebrities, Entertainment, Television

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Tags

Aerosmith, American Idol, celebrities, Entertainment, grief, Jaylo, Jennifer Lopez, Judge, loss, Mother, Movies, Music, Scotty McCreary, Steve Tyler, Television, Vermont

I’d like to take this opportunity to poke a little good humoured fun at my Mother with the following short story.

Don’t worry…

She just loved to poke fun at me whenever she could.

In fact, she never missed an opportunity.

Like all Mothers and daughters, we had our disagreements.

I liked Johnny Depp, she didn’t like Marty Stewart, she loved Fox News, I preferred CNN, she liked the republicans, I was all about the democrats.

You get the picture.

There were a few things we agreed on too.

Like Jaylo for example. We both agreed that we didn’t like Jaylo.

Then came the night that I got a phone call from her.

She was a big fan of the television show American Idol.

I wasn’t.

She never missed an episode, and made sure she kept me up to date on every episode whether I wanted to hear about it or not.

“Guess what?” …she asked me as soon as I picked up the telephone receiver.

“What?” …I said.

“I just went online and bought a set of Jennifer Lopez movies.”

Yup, I thought to myself… her obsession for American Idol is kicking in again. The same thing happened when Steve Tyler became a judge. After decades of turning the radio dial every time Aerosmith started playing, she suddenly became his biggest fan.

Don’t even get me started on Scotty McCreary.

I sensed a moment of confusion before asking her:

“Now why would you buy a set of Jennifer Lopez movies when you don’t even like her?”

“I love Jennifer Lopez, I watch her every week on American Idol,” she replied.

“Mother, Jennifer Lopez is Jaylo.”

There was a few moments of silence as she thought that one through.

“I hate Jaylo!” she replied.

I was smiling at this enigmatic faux pas of hers for days.

I don’t know whatever became of those movies that she ordered. When I packed up her apartment they were nowhere to be seen. That will remain as one of life’s little mysteries to me. Maybe she cancelled them. Maybe she burned them.

In closing, it’s a good feeling to know that even though she’s gone…

…She can still make me smile.

I miss her so…

Memories Of Mother… Post 50: The Sailor And The Sea Monster

23 Wednesday Jul 2014

Posted by duckykoren in Uncategorized

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blogs, Breast Cancer, Cancer, Family, Gerda Carroll, grief, hospice, Jim Carroll, Lake Champlain, love, Sailors, Sea Monsters, Stories, Travel, Vermont

image
Both Mother and Jim became part of Vermont folklore about 20 years ago.

Their claim to fame was that while out on a sailing trip on Lake Champlain, they caught sight of Champ, the Loch Ness monster of Lake Champlain.

For those of you not familiar with Vermont folklore, Lake Champlain is the home to Champ, a sea creature not unlike Scotland’s Loch Ness Monster.

As you can imagine, sightings are extremely rare. But there are accounts from witnesses who say they have without a doubt spotted it.

And so…

Yes, Mother and Jim became quite the celebrities when their story appeared in the local newspaper.

Jim even got a stint on the Vermont elementary school talk show circuit.

He really enjoyed telling the school children about how he and Mother spotted Champ while they were out on their sailboat. Champ appeared to be having a leisurely snack and a swim.

Jim explained to me what he saw:

“There was this thing floating on the water not too far ahead of us. It kind of looked like a log but it was way too big. Then I saw it’s head come up out of the water. It had a big long neck. It looked like it was eating something, because there was this long, skinny stuff hanging out of it’s mouth…. Kinda like toilet paper.”

Jim even went through the trouble of drawing me a picture of what he saw.

It only took one look for me to agree, that yes, that looked like a big old sea monster to me.

And so the story goes that Mother and Jim stood on their boat and continued to observe Champ in the water.

But then of course, mere observation was not enough for Mother.

No…

There is more to Jim’s story:

Apparently, Mother grabbed the underwater camera, handed it to Jim with the following instructions:

“Jump in the lake, swim up to Champ and take some pictures!”

Jim begged to differ, and refused her request.

He was not about to swim up to a sea monster for a photo shoot.

And quite frankly…

I don’t blame him one bit.

The situation that he happened to find himself in reminds me of a quote that goes:

“Do not meddle in the affairs of Dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!”

I’m sure the very same applies to anyone who swims up to Champ, the Lake Champlain sea monster with camera in hand just to do a photo op!

Memories Of Mother… Post 47: Lipstick Red

20 Sunday Jul 2014

Posted by duckykoren in Uncategorized

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Airport, blogs, Breast Cancer, Family, grief, loss, love, Orange, Red, Travel, Vermont

image

This blog post was originally posted in September 2012 when I flew to Vermont to celebrate Mother’s 71st birthday.

Out of the hundred or so pictures that I took while visiting my Mother for her birthday this past weekend, I unfortunately missed my chance to take what would have been a very proud moment for me.

As you may or may not know, all my life, Mother has been trying to convert me from my usual red lipstick to wearing her shade of 24 carat ORANGE lipstick.

She was not successful.

Imagine then, my pleasant surprise when she met me at the airport on Saturday wearing RED lipstick.

I didn’t really notice at first as I got in the passenger side of her car where she was waiting. However, I did notice that there was something more vibrant about her, more fun.  As as I bent over to give her a kiss, she asked me a question that caught me quite by surprise.

“Didn’t you notice?” she asked.

“Yes,” I replied after taking a better look at her face.

“You’re wearing red lipstick, how wonderful!”

She then began to reach for the kleenex that was already waiting in her purse.

“Good,” she said, “now that you’ve seen it I can take it off.”

And so she did.  Thirty seconds later, she was back to her former self, clad in orange and all.

I let out a sad sigh.  So close, I thought.

Now that was one picture that I would have cherished… Mother wearing bright red lipstick.

I had my chance and missed it.

Maybe it’s just as well that I didn’t take a picture.

Mother would not have been impressed.

She did after all, put in on just to humour me…

…if only for 10 seconds.

However, the sweet memory of her in red lipstick will stay with me always.

Always.

Memories Of Mother… Post 44: The Sum Of All Jeers

17 Thursday Jul 2014

Posted by duckykoren in Uncategorized

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Breast Cancer, Cancer, families, grief, hospice, loss, love, Math, mothers, Vermont

image

My Mother always kept a calculator on her kitchen table…

…except for mealtimes of course.

It was the type of calulator that had a roll of printing paper in the back.

With every calculation Mother punched in, it would answer her back with a resounding:

“Ka-Chunk-A-Chunk-A-Chunk.”

I really learned to hate that sound.

No, I never much liked that calculator at all.

Maybe because I was jealous.

Maybe because it was better at math than I was.

And faster too.

And the printed paper that got spit out with the correct sum of the calculations was proof that yes, the calculator was smarter than I was.

I was never any good at numbers.

Mother always claimed the same.

She repeated to me again and again how much she disliked her chosen profession of accounting.

And yet, she tenaciously clung to her accounting business until her very last days.

Mother was a Virgo to my Pieces.

She was a black-and-white mentality with no room for grey in between.

However, as her daughter I was pragmatic and given to compromise.

It seemed that we disagreed on just about everything over the last few years:

Politics.
Her health.
Society.
Family business.
Celebrities.
Even our own religion.

Towards the end, I made it a point to seriously pray for strength and guidance while I visited my mother.

The last thing I wanted to do was to get upset or angry with her.

The problem was mine.

Not hers.

I needed to learn more patience, as she grew more forgetful, more confused, more tenacious and more stubborn.

I asked my friends if their Mothers ever drove them crazy.

The answer was a resounding yes.

However, one of the few things that united Mother and I, and bound us up in love was when we agreed at how blessed we were to be part of the Scherer family legacy.

It was always a positive point of reference to return to after one of our more challenging discussions.

And so…

When word came that Mother was on end-of-life care, we had to begin dismantling her apartment.

At last, it was time to clear out her favourite corner of the apartment.

That’s where she sat by her round wooden table with her computer to her left and her paperwork to her right.

It’s where she sat and surfed through Amazon stores to find her amazing clothes.

It’s where she ate her meals, did her accounting, played on the computer, did her nails, and spoke on the phone.

Clearing out this wonderful little nook was going to be tough.

It was only then that I noticed Mother’s calculator on the top of the table as always.

It was at least 25 years old, ivory white, bulky, with a roll of paper in the back awaiting it’s next calculation.

It was then that I realized again how much I really despised that calculator.

How many times had Mother and I been in mid conversation, when suddenly, out of nowhere, she would begin to madly press the calculator buttons, which was followed by the inevitable:

“Ka-Chunk-A-Chunk-A-Chunk.”

Had our conversation been that boring?

Really?

Not taking my eyes off the calculator, I paused a few moments to consider my options of what to do with this contemptible machine.

Then, without knowing why, I surprised myself by throwing it into the “stuff to take home” box on my right side rather than the garbage bin to the left.

No doubt, you must be curious as to why I did not want to throw it away after secretly despising it for the past twenty-five years.

Well, as with many of Mother’s things , I guess I just was not ready to let it go.

Now, you cannot imagine my disappointment last weekend when I couldn’t find Mother’s calculator in any of the boxes that I brought home from Vermont.

I had assumed that it was forgotten, or mixed in with boxes designated to stay behind.

However, looking back, I now understand the reason for why it was left behind.

Maybe I wasn’t willing to let go of Mother’s calculator….

However, it’s clear to me now…

That Mother’s calculator…

…Was willing to let go of me.

 

(Photo above is of my husband’s calculator, almost identical to Mother’s.)

Memories Of Mother… Post 41: The Belle Of The Mother’s Day Ball

14 Monday Jul 2014

Posted by duckykoren in Uncategorized

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Belle, Blessings, Breast Cancer, Brunch, Cancer, Family, grief, love, mothers, Mothers Day, respite house, Vermont

image

Throughout the day, there was a steady stream of visitors. Not necessarily all friends or loved ones but counsellors, and staff as well.

All of them offered comfort and support. It was good feeling to know that mother and I were not alone.

In fact, I felt very blessed.

I was able to spend time with my mother, hold her hand and give her lots of kisses.

My main priority was to see to her comfort, and the rest would fall into place.

I didn’t want to think about all that right now. It was Mother’s Day, a day to be celebrated and a day to be thankful for.

I felt like the luckiest girl in the world.

After mother finished her milkshake she slept for the rest of the afternoon.

When the nurses came in to tend to mother it was just past 5:30 PM.

I took this as a cue for me to take my leave.

She needed to be bathed, changed into her nightgown, and have her personal needs attended to.

After giving Mother a hug and a kiss, I told her that I would be back to see her in the morning.

Then grabbing my Mother’s Day brunch bag I left the room.

As I watched through the door to Mother’s room, the nurses were already primping, preening and fussing over Mother like she was the Belle of the Ball.

And to me…

….that’s exactly what she was.

It was comforting to know that she was in loving hands.

Closing the door behind me, I felt grateful for such a wonderful Mother’s Day.

The first thing I did when I got back to her apartment was begin the laundry.

Next it was a matter of getting the garbage downstairs into the disposal room.

While I worked on finishing four loads of laundry I made several trips to the disposal room.

Then it was time to start making some phone calls and letting people know that Mother was in the Respite House for end of life care.

At about 8 o’clock I decided to open up my Brunch Bag and see what was for dinner.

To my delight I found a croissant, Brie cheese, strawberries, and Lindor chocolates inside.

My evening ended with an episode of BBC’s Sherlock, which was enough of a diversion from the day’s events to put me in the mood for sleep.

Tomorrow would hold new challenges and I wanted to be ready for them.

I slept very well that night.

Memories of Mother… Post 32: Vermont Cuisine at Shanty On The Shore

05 Saturday Jul 2014

Posted by duckykoren in Uncategorized

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Tags

Birthdays, blogs, Breast Cancer, Burlington, Cancer, Crabs, Family, Food, grief, loss, love, mothers, Seafood, Shanty On The Shore, Stories, Travel, Vermont

IMG_0398

 

In March 2013, I published the following post:

 

For a birthday surprise, my Mother had planned to take me to Stowe, Vermont where we would enjoy some nice German cuisine at the Trapp Family Lodge.

After checking out their restaurant hours online, she printed out the luncheon menu and handed it to me.

Their fare was as follows:

Soup of the day…
Green salad with pecans…
Chicken BLT…
Assorted sausages…
Grilled Cheese Sandwich…

Certainly not the German entrees that we had expected, and certainly not worth the two hours it would take to drive there and back again.

Instead, we decided to visit a little seafood restaurant right along the shore of Lake Champlain called ‘Shanty On The Shore.’

It was a three story old wooden building and as you walked across the floors they would squeak you old shanty squeaky sea songs.
The walls, tables and chairs were painted in glossy bright nautical reds and blues.
We sat at a table along the back wall that overlooked the lake with a Burlington ferry dock and marina in between.

As the entrees were placed before us, we were handed our bibs. Mother put hers on, however I passed on mine.

If this was going to be messy, then let it be so…

What followed wasn’t pretty.

We commenced to smother ourselves in butter, garlic, lemon and a lot of tasty morsels of seafood ambrosia.

By the time our feast was over, we fell back into our seats with sated delight and….
… smiled at each other.

We both agreed that passing up the Trapp family Lodge had been a good call.

Believe it or not, Mother actually had enough handi-wipes in her purse to make us presentable to the public. I felt like a kid again as she pointed out the crumbs I had missed and brushed away the coleslaw from my blouse.

It was at that moment that I was very grateful that there are some things that never change.

As we exited this sea food shanty, she turned right as she headed back to the car, while I turned left so that I could take a little walk, and enjoy a few moments of life along the Lake Champlain shore.

Maybe, I would even take a couple of pictures.

As I walked along, it was the simple things that caught my eye:

…grown over train tracks choked with weeds and grass and red with rust,
…a parked bicycle chained along a broken fence, patiently waiting for its owner to return,
…an empty parking queuing area for the Burlington ferry where Frank and I had gone through many times during our visits to Vermont.

I enjoyed every moment knowing full well at this was my final day in Vermont before heading home tomorrow.

And so ends my blog posts for this weeks journey to Vermont.

It was very nice and peaceful visit.
Thank you Mother…
Thanks for everything….
*****

——–

Memories Of Mother… Part Nineteen: The Heart To My Mother’s Door

24 Tuesday Jun 2014

Posted by duckykoren in Uncategorized

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blogs, Breast Cancer, Cancer, Family, grief, hospice, loss, love, mothers, Pain, Travel, Vermont

Image

 

After saying goodbye to Mother’s friend, she drove off  and left us as we stood in front of Mother’s apartment building.

With keys in hand it was finally time to head up to Mother’s apartment.

As much as I was looking forward to being surrounded by all things Mother, I was keenly aware that we would for the first time be entering her apartment without her in it.

Further, as emotionally charged as these moments were, I had to concentrate on the immediate task at hand. My responsibility was see to the list I had been provided with and to get it done as soon as possible. Next, I had to make my way over to the Respite House to see Mother.

And so entering her apartment building, Frank and I went through the two sets of doors that led to the lobby, got into the elevator and arrived at Mother’s floor. As I approached her door I admired her lovely welcoming floral heart wreath as I always had in previous visits.

But this time things were different.

There was no Mother behind her apartment door who would welcome me with warm, fragranced embraces. There would be no ample kisses would leave me covered with in orange lipstick….

Not this time…

Not ever again.

Now, to be fair, I must tell you that previous visits to Mother for a week’s holiday were known to have some challenging aspects.

Before each visit to see Mother, I would pray for patience, strength and the ability to always be loving no matter what subject matter was discussed, whatever lines were crossed or how often she agreed with what Fox News was reporting.

You see, Mother along with being lovely, utterly charming, engaging and generous to a fault… on occasion she could be controlling and maybe even stubborn.

Trying to make plans with her was difficult due to her social anxiety.

Further, she never took no for an answer, and was pretty good at getting her own way.

That is…

Except of course when it came to the cancer.

 

 

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