Word from Tom and Camilla -

Camilla is home, at Joes Pond, resting comfortable after 2 days of medical drama, tests, procedures and now, great results. She should be fine. Thanks you to everyone for including her in your thoughts and prayers. A special thanks to Dr. Joe Hebert for his thoughtful care, accurate diagnosis and great planning which make it possible for Camilla to have a full and complete recovery. We are indeed very fortunate to have so many wonderful, helpful friends.

Thank You

Tom Dente

***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****

Our maple tree is about as colorful as it's going to get, I believe. This picture was taken late yesterday. Fall Foliage Day in Cabot went very well.

On the morning tour, we went first to Henry Menard's beautiful gardens and then to Molly's Falls Dam. We followed the penstock that winds along Rt. 2 and terminates at the surge tower above the power plant just outside of Marshfield. The tower is clearly visible from both Rt. 2 and Rt. 215. Our GMP host at the plant was James Moreau (see photo). James explained the functions of the plant and treated us to a tour. He briefly powered up the huge generator - BIG noise - and it wasn't even generating. He said it gets much louder when it's engaged and generating. Archie Bullard, a local hero during the great flood of 1927, stayed at his post in this plant for 154 continuous hours, providing power for the hospitls in Barre and Montpelier while most other power plants in the area had been washed out. After hearing the deafening roar of the machinery, we all wondered how Mr. Bullard fared after his long ordeal. Even if he had ear protection, he must have suffered at least some hearing loss.

The lovely water garden at Ray and Evelyn Richer's was a lovely way to end our day of sight-seeing tours. The tourists were thrilled with Joe's Pond, the loon pictures, and the serenity of the place. Ray and Evelyn are gracious hosts and I'm sure any of the tourists who went there yesterday will return if the visit Vermont again soon.
***** ***** ***** ***** *****

Well, in case anyone read the blog earlier today about not doing the "90#" thing on your phone, Steve and Bev Allen report it is a hoax. So I've deleted it from the blog. I guess I'll just go back to my policy of not forwarding messages, no matter how informative or scary they are. There's so much stuff out here in cyberspace I'm sure everyone gets enough without my contribution. Thanks, Steve and Bev for bringing me back to reality. Here's what their message said:

Jane,

Any time that you see a message like the one forwarded on your blog it is 99.9% sure to be false! I check every single one with this site: http://urbanlegends.about.com/ But then to be sure I just don't forward them anyway! But thanx for the blog - we enjoy it every day! Here's the text message from About.com.

Regards,

Steve and Bev

90# telephone hoax

Description: A hoax. The text of one such email follows:

Remember: Hoaxes are a waste of both time and money. Please don't forward them on to others. And if you are tempted to forward something just in case, read the article Toxic Excuses instead.

*****

And so, dear readers, you can make up your mind whether to believe and forward or simply delete those pesky "forward" messages.