We're tying things down, getting ready for a bit of a storm. It will be a good night to stay by the fire - but I think we should have our kerosene lamps and candles ready. The forecast is for heavy rain and gusty winds 50 m.p.h. or more - and while that doesn't sound like much to those of you who have experienced hurricanes, it can be enough to tip trees onto power lines along some of our back roads. I don't think it will be very cold, and that makes a power outage easier to deal with. When it's 20 below and the power goes out for a while, we can be in trouble. Our flag is straight out - the wind is out of the south.

Fred now has the final three cords of wood for our 2009-10 heating season. 2008-9 wood is all dry and under cover in the garage. We've actually had the little soapstone stove going since before Labor Day - on cold days and evenings for a while, but now it burns continuously. Fred is outside now, (that's him heading up the hill with his chain saw) trying to get as much as he can of the last three loads that came yesterday stacked and covered with a tarp before the rain comes. I was out until lunch time finishing tying up and staking trees against the wind and heavy snow and cold of winter; I also put stakes along the stone walkway as a guide for Fred when he uses the snowblower to keep the path open. I think it could cause quite a lot of damage if he ran off the edge of the stones and got one caught in the augers of the snowblower. Once the snow banks are up a foot or so there's no problem, but sometimes the first few snowstorms are just enough to make everything look level and it's hard to tell where the walk is.

I was out on our deck a few minutes ago and watched the storm coming from Walden. (see picture below.) It seems to follow Rt. 15 and in a few minutes we will probably begin to get some rain. We've been hearing gun shots from down on the pond - I expect they are hunting ducks or maybe partridges. It always makes me a little nervous, especially since hearing about people being accidentally shot while sitting in their own homes. I really think target practice should only be allowed in an area well away from homes and other buildings - preferably in a bowl like a sand pit. With cottages and rear around homes ringing our pond, it doesn't seem to be very safe to allow hunting here,either, although I don't think we actually have very many hunters come here to hunt. It seems unfair to hunt the ducks here on Joe's Pond because they are very used to people. I think it's against the law to shoot them in the water - but when they're so tame, how the heck do you get 'em to fly? Shoot in the air, I guess. You can tell I don't know a thing about duck hunting . . .