A sign on Quechee Main Street near The Green says, “Free
concerts Every Thursday.” I presume they mean as long as The Green is green. I
made myself go last week, thinking that I’d kick myself when winter rolls
around and there are no more concerts and I’d have never have gone to one. Well, I attempted to go. I don’t really have
a lawn chair to take and set up by the grandstand or a Quechee friend on whose
blanket to sit. I called ahead to the Parker House Inn because I’ve seen that
their terrace restaurant overlooks the Green. I inquired whether there’d be an
intimate table for one in time for the concert. My first clue should have been
that the British-sounding maître d’
said, “What time would that be?” I
guessed 7:00. (It actually starts at
6:30, so I walked over at 6:45 to see if they’d seat me early. )
They sat me early, but with the restaurant music going and
people talking, I could not hear any of the concert (which is actually a dude
with a mic, singing James Taylor songs on his guitar. ) The view of the river
however was stunning as I watched the sun set over the Vermont mountains. The Prosecco and gazpacho were tasty and I
felt elegant and hardly conspicuous reading a couple articles by myself waiting for the
food to arrive. Work articles on the stochastic frontier. (Sounds like a wild
west adventure you want to go on, huh? ) It’s a model for analyzing world health organizations for heterogeneity
and efficiency compared to each other. They plug in things like a country’s
smoking rates and obesity rates to bunches of formulas like this:
yit= α + xit′β + vit- ui
and
LogHealth = α +
β1logExp + β2logEduc + β11[(log2Educ)/2] + β22[(log2Exp)/2]
+
β12[(logEduc)(logExp)] + vit - uit,
Honestly, who even uses Logs anything anymore? Then they add in a factor for the money you spend on health care and rank the 191 countries studied. With a
“Government Effectiveness” measure, they tell us Japan is number 1 and USA is
number 22 and then I’m no smarter. I
start to read the signs on the restaurant walls.
________Votre Brune 'Vilfort 40' _______
_____La Biere qui Reconforte___________
Your Brown Vilfort
40- The Beer that Comforts.
The only word below that I recognized from my French lessons
was champignons (mushrooms.) The kids and I had practiced ordering omelets in French when we visited Quebec a couple summers ago. I tried to
imagine what the sign possibly meant to do with mushrooms. It looked like someone had kyped the dented metal sign
out of the forest, like a “Trespassers
Will” sign.
·
_______Ramassage
de champignons_____
______________INTERDIT___________
Collecting of mushrooms - Forbidden
Departing on foot, the moon had come out over the
restaurant. It is about a 2 minute walk back to my apartment where I found this
nice recipe for gazpacho. All the tomatoes and cucumbers are getting ripe
in everyone’s garden and Judd and I can't keep up with recipes for all the neighborly gifts.
I made a batch at home.
Kelcy said, “it’s like eating salsa with a spoon.”
Well, it’s good salsa….
Fire-Roasted Tomato
Gazpacho
1 can (14.5 oz) organic fire-roasted diced tomatoes, undrained
1 ½ cups tomato juice
1 small cucumber, peeled,
chopped (1 cup)
1-2 big fresh tomatoes, diced
¼ cup finely chopped red
bell pepper
2 tablespoons finely
chopped red onion
2 tablespoons finely
chopped fresh cilantro
2 teaspoons white wine
vinegar
(the Parker House Inn added massive chunks of Maine lobster)
· 1In food processor,
place all ingredients. Cover; process with quick on-and-off motions
· until mixture is coarsely pureed.
· 2Cover; refrigerate at
least 1 hour to blend flavors before serving.
Serve cold with extra diced cucumbers and cilantro sprigs as garnish.
