Welcome to November!

We are getting more "seasonal" temperatures lately, but still no snow. As most local folks know, we generally get a snowstorm the first or second week in October - but that hasn't happened this year. I don't remember specifically about October last year, but we sure didn't have much snow at all until after New Year's. Things seemed to catch up, though and the ice went out about the same as always.

Speaking of the ice going out, Fred has revved up the Ice-Out page on the web site. I like it - but we wonder what other folks think. If we don't get complaints, he'll probably jazz up some of the other pages, too. He took some time out to bring in some of the wood he cut and split over a year ago. It's tamarack and while it doesn't burn as well as maple, birch or beech, it's just about right for this time of the year when we only need a little heat in the house. Our cat, Woody, went into the woods with him - he seems to enjoy climbing on the wood piles and is on high alert, darting glances into the woods, aware of every small sound and movement, waiting for the right moment to spring off his perch and dash into the underbrush after some real or imaginary prey. After his initial burst of energy, he'll often find a sunny spot on a fallen log and calmly sit in the sun watching Fred at work. He's been completely tired out tonight, sprawled on the rug between our chairs in the living room - sometimes he acts more like a dog than a cat.

Halloween was pretty quiet here as far as I know. As usual, no children came to our door, but judging by the news reports lately, something unnatural has taken over the minds of some people. So many reports of violent acts - not what one expects here in Vermont. Gives Halloween a whole new meaning. Perhaps with cold weather things will begin to get back to normal.

I've just finished working on getting the Joe's Pond Directory into book form, much like the one we did in 2003, and hope to have it available on-line in about a week. That's for those of you who prefer to have something in your hand rather than on the computer. I've had several requests for a new directory, so I thought I'd try doing it this way to see how it goes. I'll be updating the directory on the web site regularly as before, and the book version will be published with all updates once a year. Anyone who wants it can buy it on-line or let me know and I'll do it for you. More about how this will go when everything is in place.