Know Your Island Neighbor

Spring has finally arrived, and once again the Champlain Islands are alive with the sounds and sights of migrating birds. Soon maple sugaring season will draw to a close and neighbors will open their homes to welcome the warm weather. Eventually various sizes and shapes of flowers will burst forth on the landscape. The change of the seasons is an exciting time, and also one for reflection.

For some Islanders this was certainly a hard winter. It’s on everyone’s faces and minds, and evidenced further by the foreclosure and auction notices in this very paper. Now is the time to talk to neighbors and see how they faired, especially the elderly. Did they have enough heat, food, help with chores, or rides to the doctor?

Ask now, and talk things through while it’s still fresh in the memory. A little foresight can make a big difference in the lives of fellow Islanders. We all like to think things will suddenly get better, but it will most likely be a more gradual transition to good economic times. By talking to each other and finding out issues now, we have a lot of time to work through them, as solutions don’t come quickly.

By knowing the challenges our fellow Islanders faced this winter, we can better plan how to help them during the next. Every little bit helps, and little things go along way. Could be you have a friend or co-worker who’s cutting down a tree and is looking to get rid of the wood. Maybe you have some extras from the garden to can or dry. If you’ve got some extra freezer space you could even freeze some fish you catch in a block of ice. It could be as simple as clipping coupons to give away, or sharing a trip to the grocery store with an elderly neighbor.

Not so long ago it was our sense of community that set us apart. A time when neighbors helped neighbors, whether it was getting in the hay before the rain, watching the kids so someone could run a few errands, or an electrician offering to wire a town building. In your own way, do what you can to help your neighbors and make our Islands a better place.

Holy Smoker!!

So on a recent trip to that mecca of low budget consumer spending K-mart, I bought something that thoroughly excites me to use, and totally worth the $5 I paid for it. I love to grill and finally bought myself a smoker box. It’s awesome, just a small metal box with holes that sits on the grill while you’re cooking. It works phenomenally!

So I started using a box of mesquite chips that I bought in the store, and it imparts a wonderful smoky flavor into the meat. You just soak the wood chips in water for about a half hour before putting in the box on the grill, and voila; smoke. The best part though, is I can make my own chips to use in the smoker. My father cut down an apple tree in his yard, so I can take a couple of the smaller pieces and use my hatchet to make chips. Way cheaper than buying them for $5 a bag!

Even better though, I can also make my own hickory and alder chips, and experiment with other types of wood to see what I like best. I know where there’s a Butternut that just dropped a branch, and suspect that might have a good flavor to it as well. Not bad, a $5 investment, that I can refill for free……pretty happy about it.

My Wife, The Love Of My Life; Part I The Proposal

My wife and I met while working at nearby Vermont State Parks. We were actually friends for quite awhile before we began dating. However I suspect this was just because she lost my phone number at the end of the summer, or at least that's the story she sticks too! :)

Anyways, fate intervened, and lo and behold one day I'm heading into Dick's Sporting Goods to get new line for my fishing poles, and there was Ashley. Outside with her mother and little brother checking out puppies some guy was selling out of the back of his truck in front of the store. Not oblivious to the signs of neglect, she snapped up one of the Weimeranner puppies and took it home. Izzy has been a fixture in our lives since.

Ever mindful of the fact she was the boss of the flower beds at her park, I slowly gained her confidence to be able to relocate a couple apple trees to better spots, and work on beds without her supervision. Important to note I was allowed a free hand with the raised beds we used for veggies. So any free days I had were spent in the park of my future wife, puttering in gardens, and fishing, while waiting for her to get done work or have some free time.

I had been planning to ask her to marry me for awhile, the issue was the ring. In the non-summer season I worked as a teachers aide, and didn't have a lot of money saved up. Still I was able to slowly and surely over time, build up what was for me a small sum. Then one day after pay day I had a lucky break. I had just deposited my check the day before, and not spent anything. There I was sitting reading the paper and I saw that a jewelry store in St. Alban's was going out of business and was selling off their stock at 40-50% off.

Oh the timing! I shot down to the office, and lied to the secretary that I had forgotten about a dentist appointment, and had to go, but I'd be back in a couple hours. Pathetic lie, but I'm not very good at that, and it served it's purpose. I got to the store and checked out their ring selection. I knew which one it was as soon as I saw it, but looked at all the others to be sure. Still kept coming back to the first one that caught my eye. It was a Marquis cut diamond, and I just liked it so much more than any of the others.

So I bought it, and kept it in my pocket. I held onto that ring for about a week waiting for the right time. Just seemed like whatever I thought the right moment to be would never come, and that ring was burning a hole in my pocket. So one day after she got out of work I decided to force the issue. There's a promitory at her park, a beautiful point that juts out into Lake Champlain on the inland sea (where we'd later be married). I knew this was the place, but how to get her there?

She got out of work and I met her on the porch. It was a cruddy day, gray, drizzling, and Ashley was just glad to be out of work. It had been a long day, a not so good day. I asked her if there was anything I could do to make her day better, and she said no. That's when I knew it was time. So I asked her to go for a walk out to the point, and she looked at me like I was crazy.

"It's raining," she said. But I prompted her to go get her rain jacket and come with me. We got to the point looked around, and she started to head back. Thinking fast I took the ring from my pocket, opened it up, and set the box on a piece of bare ground covered with flat shale rocks. Knowing no park ranger can resist the urge to pick up trash in their park, I said "hey someone left something over here." She came over and started to say someone left their ring. Then I explained it was her ring, and asked her to marry me, to which she replied yes.

Little over a year later we had a pig roast with our family attending, and were married on the very spot she picked up the ring.

Act Locally, Think Nationally

There is no doubt in anyone's mind that we live in trying times. Many of us go to work everyday, just glad to be employed. Wanton for even a brief glimmer of hope, we are bombarded with bad news constantly. The worst part is that there really is not a lot your average citizen can do about such enormous issues.

An Islander really can't affect the outcome of national health care, debt, recession, and the economy going down the toilet. Let us not be overwhelmed by this, and instead act locally and think nationally. Going beyond our own frugality, we can simply help our own members of our Islands community in their struggles.

Local food shelves will surely see need in this year and the next. Anything that's donated would be a blessing for those who receive it. I like many others don't have extra coins to spare, and donate neeeded canned goods. But this doesn't mean we can't help, there is much opportunity for Islanders with some spare seed, soil, and time.

For those who've never gardened before, start now. If you've got a south facing window, a packet of tomato or squash seeds, and a couple small cups of soil you can help. No garden space? Got room on your porch, step, or walk for a bucket or two of soil? That's all you need.

No soil? Just talk to your local farmer about his pasture, Stuff your old buckets or containers 3/4 full of last years dried cow patties. Top off with some topsoil (if you have it) or a 50/50 mix of beach sand and organic matter like compost or very rotted wood. Put in a sunny spot, and water daily and you're on your way!

If you're an established gardener, consider tilling up more, and enlarging your garden. Start a couple extra plants, or try something new that keeps for a long time. Remember all those zuchini and summer squash that you couldn't give away last summer? Pick them smaller this year, slice them up, and dry them in the oven. Done this way they'll keep all the way till next summer!

Islanders will never solve the issues that face the United States. We barely stand a chance of affecting how Vermont weathers this economic storm. We can make a difference here at home in our own community, amongst our friends and neighbors. I implore all, please try.

Lawn Sale Crock Pot

A couple of years ago my wife picked up a couple crock pots at a lawn sale. A smaller one she donated to the Park Interpreter at Burton Island State Park to use for candle making with the kids. The other, a much larger one, we kept for our own use. It has removable stoneware and a plastic lid, and paid something like $10 for it.

Well we have certainly got our money's worth out of it so far; countless soups, chili's, stews, and roasts. It's so handy to get all the ingredients the night before and either start it then or put it in the fridge for the night (depending upon what's cooking), and start it in the morning before leaving for work. Not even kidding, when as of recent it's been getting used 2-3 nights per week. It always comes out tasting great.

Some potatoes, onions, carrots, maybe cabbage and some on sale meat, works like a charm every time. I freeze a lot of ingredients from the summer garden, and toss those in as well. A sprinkle of chopped chives, shredded russian red kale, and hot peppers adds a lot to the stews and soups. There's also the dried ingredients from the dehydrator as well; tomatoes, summer squash, zuchini.

It's funny, as of late I've been walking through the aisles of the grocery stores telling myself, hey I can make my own of this and that expensive ingredient. Just as interesting is when I'm watching PBS's Create channel on TV, and I have all the ingredients they're using between my freezer, and pantry. Martha Stewart watch out!