Bliss in Burlington

   Well, greeting friends, it’s good to be back writing long (but not too long) posts of my adventures as a Head living in post millennial America. Do to popular demand, I’m starting a blog and its called Kempepedia; a name brought to us by the sharp mind of one Tara Assi. Your best bet is to set up an RSS feed or sign up for email alerts, as I will make posts as my muse moves me, and she doesn’t do too much on days I work 12 hour shift. Gonna try to do it weekly and see where it goes from there. I will also be posting write-ups from the Vault in a series I’d like to call Classic Shemp. This blog is dedicated to the next generation, including but not limited to my nephews Owen and Patrick, my niece Mallory and Adrian and Tara’s currently percolating twin daughters. Maybe they can read this and see why Uncle Dave is so crazy. So let’s get on with the show.


      I spent the last weekend of summer up in the fertile lands of Vermont, home of Ben and Jerry’s and Phish. Left on Thursday and treated it like a day of work. Got up at 4:20 and was on the road at 5:05 in the AM. Missed all the rush hour traffic of York and Harrisburg and was on my way. Took the interstate highways until right after I passed Glenn Falls, NY, sight of my epic Halloween show in 1994. From then until Burlington, it was all rural roads, farms, and a racetrack called the Devil’s Bowl.
     When you roll up onto Burlington, it gradually forms and all of a sudden, you’re in the downtown. Randomly parked two blocks from Josh’s parents condo and two blocks from where Switzer was just getting off of work (Was up in VT for Josh and Switzer’s wedding celebration).
     Thursday night was cold and it rained incredibly heavy and intense. They got almost an inch of rain. The rest of the weekend was picture perfect. Jeremy and Laura rolled up in the afternoon and we hit the Vermont Brew Pub for dinner and jocularity. We all crashed around 1 and around 4 a super loud chirping and a female voice awaken me. Go back to sleep and startled awake again. And again. And again. And the intervals are getting shorter and shorter. So finally I get up and go out into the hallway. I’m looking for an intercom, cell phone, something. While I’m out there, it goes off again. It’s the smoke detector going off due to a dying battery. I stand on a chair, in my boxers, and being a little shorter than average, can barely reach the detector.
     About a month and a half ago, Switzer’s and Josh’s abode caught on fire and that’s why they were living in the condo. So the last thing I wanted to do was set off the smoke detector or break it. But I could not find the battery and then it went OFF!!! Well, Wilson was barking, Switzer was having flashbacks, and everyone was awake. Josh, using his engineering degree, disabled it and we were able to get back asleep.
     Friday Switzer and myself drove to New Hampshire so she could pick up here new puppy, a redbone coonhound named Franny. The woman that raised her had a crazy Noah’s Ark farm thing going on. Ducks chickens, peacocks, quail, and pheasants running wild on her property. Inside the house, a child doorway blocker separated the kitchen from the dining room. The females were on the dining room side while 7 male puppies were on the kitchen side, with urine stained and soaked newspapers all over the floor. While Switzer TCB’d, I stood a corner, checking out the web on my new and improved phone and watched a fly walk up a wall like he belonged there.
     After a stop at a rest stop, (all their rest stops in NH have liquor stores at them best there is no sales tax in NH and I guess New England really likes to drink.) we hit the road. Franny is all hyper and crying and chewing on Switzer’s dreads. We put on Phish and she chills out and goes to sleep. Yup, they got the right dog.
     Friday night we go to a restaurant call the FarmHouse. It’s built in an old McDonald’s that closed down in downtown due to lack of business (How awesome is that). Amazing food, more cheese that you can imagine, and all locally supplied from Vermont. The cheddar was fantastic and I’m not a big cheese guy. Then we headed to Necter’s for a Dead cover band. For the few that don’t know, Necter’s is where Phish got started (along with the late lamented club The Front), so seeing a Dead cover band there is pretty amazing. Those wacky college kids drink Pabst Blue Ribbon like its going out of style and it was a blast and a half. Camped in the backyard at Taraleigh and Dan’s (Shameless plug: Check out her magazine Healthy Hippie on FB. Be a fan, You know you want to). It was cold (lower 40’s), but my beard keeps my whole body warm and comfortable.
     The next day was the wedding celebration which included a kickball game and a really good 3 piece band called Crane, formerly known as Bloody Knuckles. That was followed by a fantastic cookout firepit celebration of their wedded bliss. I went to bed around midnight and took it easy because I had a full day Sunday. What did I do on Sunday?????? Just drove 9 hours to see Widespread Panic play an hour from my house.
     Hit very little traffic until 83 and got home in time to watch the Steelers win and the Ravens lose. (Does it get any better than that?) Then Paul and myself headed down to Baltimore to see Widespread Panic. It was also Frank Zappa day in Baltimore. He was born there and Sunday was the 25th anniversary of him testifying before Congress about the importance of Free speech and the danger of the PMRC (Look it up on Wikiepedia) The statue was funded by fans in Lithuania. Zappa plays Zappa played for free. I missed that but how cool is that?????? I got a tix for less than face and then helped Paul save 5 bucks on a t shirt. Don’t be surprised, the lot is my natural habitat. Panic tore it up like they always do. I got my Disco, Let’s Get Down to Business,  and Ron Halloway sat in for a song,
     An amazing weekend and a great way to kick off my blog. Thank you Vermont for the inspiration and Tara Assi for the name…..FURTHUR!!!!!!!!!!!!