Wow! What a change in temperature! About a 30 degree drop overnight.  The air is so nice and dry today everyone should have lots of energy.  We should feel lucky - there were winter storm warnings in the Sierras this past week.  Some of the mountains in California and Nevada - elevations at 6,000 ft. or higher, were hit with snow and winter-like conditions.  We think of 1816 when Vermont had a "year without summer," and crops were frozen and lots of people nearly starved.  That was due to a volcano eruption in Indonesia clouding the atmosphere with ash. There's no such accounting for our freaky weather, but I'm sure scientists have plenty of ideas and no matter what the explanation, there will be doubters.  Most of us don't even know what "normal" weather is anymore - over time memories dim, averages get skewed, and most of us adapt.

Our deck is nearly finished.  The weather has cooperated these past few days and we can't wait to get everything put back in place.  There will be some work to do on the existing white lattice and trim, but that won't take long.  At least we aren't looking at ever having to paint spindles and railing again.  Bill has done a super job so everything is reinforced and stronger than before.  The railings are slightly higher than our old ones, but that pretty much assures nobody is going to lean over and fall.  And there's room for me to scoop snow under the bottom rail when I'm clearing the deck in the winter.  Fred throws it over, but I use a "push and shake" method, pushing the snow with the shovel to the railing and then shaking it until all the snow has fallen over the edge.  Works for me.

Joe's Ponders should know that most of the directories have been delivered - if not to members directly, to a neighbor who has volunteered to distribute on their road.  Years ago we used to have "captains" on each road who did stuff like this for us.  They would let us know if someone moved or if one of our members died on the road they looked out for.  We've found that unlike those days when everyone knew their neighbors all along whatever road their camp was on, these days some people simply don't know many of their neighbors.  So if someone comes to your door carrying a little red book, it's a neighbor with your directory.

Not knowing our neighbors is probably at least partly due to lifestyle changes.  People are busier than they were 50 years ago, there are more toys and gadgets to keep them occupied, and perhaps people are less apt to walk up to a stranger and introduce themselves than they used to be.  There used to be a tendency to welcome newcomers into the neighborhood by paying them a call, and perhaps bringing a small gift; but today that is not always appreciated.  People come to camp to get away from the work place and, I suppose, other people, and having someone knock on their door at camp could be considered more of an intrusion than friendly gesture.  We may not want to "waste" the time to invite them into our home and socialize. Kind of sad, isn't it?

Not only that, but people are less trusting today than 50 years ago.  When someone we don't know knocks on our door these days, we are inclined to be suspicious.  Are we going to get robbed or conned?  Or worse?  While people hardly ever locked their doors at night, let alone during the daytime, now lots of folks keep doors locked all the time and have security systems.  And I respect that - I just feel sorry those carefree days are gone.  

As usual, I've gone way off subject.  When I sat down at my computer this morning, I really only intended to let people know their new directories are in the process of being delivered to the best of our abilities.  That said, I'm going to close and move on to rewriting some of the material I've done for the West Danville History book.  We (Patty, Dottie, Jane and I) have decided no matter how careful we are when we write a piece, invariably we begin to make changes when we read it through; and no matter how many times we read it, we're still going to make changes.  There is a solution, and we hope we've found her - an editor.