On the Road: Pennsylvania 2026

As I have mentioned many times before (most recently here), my family has a cabin in the woods in central Pennsylvania.  It is part of a summer community that has enriched all of our lives for over 40 years.  This year's trip was unusual for many reasons, starting with the fact that I was on my own in the cabin.  For various reasons, neither my parents, my wife nor my child could make the trip this time.  So, it was just me.

A tornado hit the community for the first time just a few days before I arrived.  Didn't know Pennsylvania was prone to tornadoes, did you?  Well, they are unusual but not unprecedented.  Even so, the 2026 total so far is already twice the annual average.  Climate change is real, folks.  Fortunately, no one in our community was hurt and only one cabin took serious damage.  The impact on the forest, though, was dramatic.  Many trees were topped, felled and entirely uprooted.  The woods will recover, of course.  The human trauma might have more long-term impact.  Our safe haven suddenly feels considerably less so.

Our place was fine - at least regarding storm damage.  However, after 40 years without serious mouse problems, the little fuckers got in this winter and made quite a mess.  So, unfortunately, I had to devote way too much of time to cleaning it all up.

Even with all of that, it was still nice to be there, and quite enjoyable on my own.  I'm an introvert in the extreme so quality time to myself is always welcome.  Even in the midst of cleaning out all the mouse poop, I was reminded of why the place is still so important to me.  For a variety of reasons, mostly geographical, I did not grow up feeling close to my extended family.  I like them but I haven't really spent much time with them.  Rather than hauling off to Ohio, Nebraska, Texas or wherever the clan resides, we spent our summers in the Pennsylvania woods.  My spiritual cousins are there.  That's what makes the 9+ hour drive worth it.

Star Trek: Before and After

Episode: "Before and After"

Series: Star Trek: Voyager

Season 3, Episode 21

Original Air Date: April 9, 1997

via Memory Alpha

The story begins six years in Voyager's future.  Kes is on her death bed.  From there, she experiences a series of flashbacks, living her life in reverse.  We get to know the family she had with Tom Paris and the tragic ends met by some of her shipmates.  Eventually, all is made right.  We - and Kes - return to the "correct" timeline.  And the eternally wise Tuvok reminds everyone that the future Kes experienced is only one possible outcome.

"Before and After" is a popular choice for best of lists for the series.  Because of my bias against time travel narratives - not to mention Voyager's tendency to go to that well far too often - I'm not putting it there.  However, there's no denying it's a lovely character story for Kes and we're running out of those fast.  

In my favorite scene, Kes assures her daughter Linnis that Linnis herself will be a good mother because Kes knows the child will turn out fine.  Because of the way the timeline is messing with her, Kes has actually only known Linnis for a few minutes but she still knows the right thing to say.  Star Trek treats such effortless empathy like a superpower and maybe it is.  Wherever the gift comes from, the moment shows Kes at her best - indeed, the Deanna Troi legacy at its best.  Seven of Nine is about to bring tremendous breadth and depth to the narrative but when Kes leaves, Voyager will lose a lot of heart.

Acting Notes

via Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Wikia

Jessica Collins (Linnis) was born Jessica Lynn Capogna in Schenectady, New York, April 1, 1971.  She was the runner-up in the Miss Teen USA pageant in 1988.  She studied acting at the Royal National Theatre Studio in London and the Howard Fine Acting Studio in Los Angeles.

Collins is best known for her television work.  She has had starring roles on Loving, The Young and the Restless and Tru Calling.  She won a Daytime Emmy for Y&R.  Guest appearances include Beverly Hills 90210, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Grey's Anatomy.  Films include Beautiful, Catch Me If You Can and Live!

Squid Eats: Palmer Lane Maple

Creemee is Vermont's term for soft serve ice cream.  Our state's twist (pun intended) on the concept is higher butterfat content and, of course, the most famous flavor is maple.  Palmer Lane Maple in Jericho is our local shop.

The Palmers started out as a retail store, with a wide assortment of products from the family's own maple operation: maple candy, maple sugar and, of course, loads of maple syrup, all grades.  Business really took off, though, when they started selling creemees during the warmer months.  They've won Seven Days's Daysie award for Best Creemee in Chittenden County the past four years in a row.  

Star Trek: Business As Usual

Episode: "Business As Usual"

Series: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Season 5, Episode 18

Original Air Date: April 5, 1997

via Memory Alpha

The eternally enterprising Quark is buried in debt.  A cousin offers to bring him into the lucrative arms trade, a big no-no on the station.  Quark and his new associates devise an angle to make it work - with Bajoran blessings, even.  But when talk turns to weapons of mass destruction, our greedy friend discovers his own limits.

The most interesting Quark episodes are the ones where we see his capitalistic bounds tested.  It's part of why I think the much-maligned "Move Along Home" isn't really so terrible and why I appreciate Mirror Quark more than most of the other characters in that story line.  Like all of the other principals, Quark is on a journey through the course of the series.  Over the long run, his is not even the most remarkable growth within his own family.  He may not even rank second.  But his development is absolutely essential to the whole.

"Business As Usual" includes homages to several classic films: The Third Man, Scarface and Dr. Strangelove.

Acting Notes

via Beverly Hills Cop Wiki

Steven Berkoff played the role of Hagath, king pin of Quark's new trade syndicate.  Berkoff was born Leslie Steven Berks in London, August 3, 1937.

I've featured many stage greats in this space.  Berkoff plays in a different league from all of them.  He has written at least 33 plays and his directorial style is widely known as "Berkovian Theatre."  I found this description by critic Aleks Sierz:

The language is usually filthy, characters talk about unmentionable subjects, take their clothes off, have sex, humiliate each other, experience unpleasant emotions, become suddenly violent. At its best, this kind of theatre is so powerful, so visceral, that it forces audiences to react: either they feel like fleeing the building or they are suddenly convinced that it is the best thing they have ever seen and want all their friends to see it too. It is the kind of theatre that inspires us to use superlatives, whether in praise or condemnation.

On screen, he has built his reputation in villain roles: General Orlov in Octopussy, Victor Maitland in Beverly Hills Cop and Lt. Col. Podovsky in Rambo: First Blood Part II.  Television appearances include BBC classics such as The Avengers, The Saint and Doctor Who.

Squid Mixes: Joaquin Simó's Sidecar

After making the raspberry limeade involved in last week's cocktail, my wife had a bit of left over simple syrup.  I have been charged with finding cocktail recipes to make use of it.  First up is Joaquin Simó's Sidecar from Robert Simonson's 3-Ingredient Cocktails.  Simó's variation combines cognac, dry curaçao, lemon juice and the crucial simple syrup.  

It's probable that my resulting drink didn't turn out quite like Simó's as he lists a specific cognac and a specific curaçao.  No doubt both are higher quality than I'm willing to shell out for.  But mine was still a nice sidecar, if perhaps not noticeably better than my own home recipe.  

We still have plenty of syrup left so stay tuned.

Star Trek: A Simple Investigation

Episode: "A Simple Investigation"

Series: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Season 5, Episode 17

Original Air Date: March 31, 1997

via Memory Alpha

Odo falls in love - with someone other than Kira!  In the course of a murder investigation, he meets Arissa.  It quickly becomes apparent that she's in danger of becoming the next victim.  He takes her under his protection, even inviting her to stay in his quarters.  His intentions are not romantic, yet it happens anyway.

It's a DS9 film noir story.  I love these and honestly, there aren't enough of them.  I would be 100% down with a series consisting entirely of Odo-led mystery stories.  Is "A Simple Investigation" the best one?  No.  But the romance is a great vehicle for Odo character exploration.  He's a Changeling once more but still straddling the in-between space, not quite belonging to one world or the other.  Given his lack of experience with intimacy, either physical or emotional, he's still an insecure adolescent in many ways.  And yet, his vulnerability makes him an appealing partner.  By the end, even after she reverts to her true identity (spoiler), Arissa's affection is genuine.

With 29 years of hindsight, we know there's development with Kira still to come.  A story like "A Simple Investigation" gives Odo space to explore what a romantic relationship is before he finds "the one."  I can say from personal experience, that's important.

*****

Acting Notes

via The Delerious Movie Wikia

John Durbin played the role of Traidy, one of the Finnean assassins.  "A Simple Investigation" is his fourth of five Trek appearances, the most significant being that of Gul Lemec in the "Chain of Command" episodes.  Durbin was born in Council Bluffs, Iowa.  Films include Return of the Living Dead, The Blue Iguana and Number One with a Bullet.  Beyond Trek, he has made guest appearances on The A-Team, Melrose Place and Moonlighting.

Squid Mixes: Raspberry Limeade Cocktail

I will admit upfront, my wife did the hard part for this one.  She made the raspberry limeade, following the Vanessa's Raz recipe in olive + gourmando: The Cookbook by Dyan Solomon, owner of olive + gourmando, one of our favorite Montreal restaurants.  My job was to find the best liquor pairing.

I chose gin over vodka or rum, the other suggestions I saw online.  In my experience, gin draws flavors together while vodka pushes them apart. And rum just adds more sweetness, undesirable in this case as the tartness of the two fruits needs to shine.

The drink was our picnic cocktail for the Vermont Symphony's America 250 performance in Shelburne, held at Shelburne Museum, facing west - ideal for a glorious sunset.

If you squint for this one, you might recognize Bernie Sanders, our Senior Senator and a leading light for progressive politics in the United States for a decade-plus.  Bernie was the narrator for "Vermont Is a State I Love," a speech by Calvin Coolidge, backed by Edward Elgar's Chanson de Matin.