Mark your calendar . . . !!

FRIENDS OF CABOT LIBRARY PRESENTS

 MID-WINTER SOUPFEST 

Saturday, February 21, 11:00am - 2:00pm

Willey Building, Main Street, Cabot, Vermont

Come out of the cold to enjoy a bowl of homemade soup, 

cornbread muffin, cookie, and beverage

 all for only $5.00!

With several soups and cookies to choose from,
everyone should find one (or two!) to satisfy their appetite.  

All items will be available for individual purchase.

Also available for purchase: Cookbooks, DVDs and VHS Movies.

Proceeds to benefit the Cabot Public Library.

Volunteers and new members are ALWAYS welcome! 

Please call Wendy at 563-3150 if you are interested in

supporting this event or wish to become a 'Friends' member.

******

If you love roast pork, you will not want to miss the fabulous
Roast Pork Dinner 
North Danville Baptist Church in North Danville

Saturday, February 21, 2009
Servings begin at 5:00 PM
Reservations Only!

Menu:
Roast pork, stuffing, mashed potato, gravy, coleslaw, 
glazed carrots, applesauce, rolls, dessert, beverage.
Cost: $10 for Adults; $5 for children 12 and under; preschoolers are free.

Call: Betty
Remick at 684-2183 or Judy Heath Parker at 748-8519
Take Out is also available!

The sun is out, mostly, and right at this moment there are no snowflakes in the air! The thermometer outside my office shows 26 degrees - not bad at all. I think we're going to have a bit of a respite before then next mega-storm hits on Monday night. The snow has piled up a bit over the past few days, though. Entering onto W. Shore Drive from our driveway could be hazardous because the banks are pretty high and unfortunately the traffic by here is usually going at a pretty good clip, even this time of the year.

There's a good thing about having high snow banks along the back roads, though - at least if you get into a slide, there's something relatively soft to catch you and you aren't likely to get hurt unless you're going really, really fast. It's not the same as going off the road and hitting a tree or dropping into a deep ditch. Of course, your car can still suffer some damage, even hitting a snow bank. Best to take it slow and don't go off the road.

I've been busy talking to descendants of the Blodgett family and sending off the book we just produced at the Cabot Historical Society. The family is scattered, some in Vermont, many in New York State, Florida and Pennsylvania. I only know some of those living in Vermont, but news travels quickly about something like this book, and lots of family members want a copy. I was surprised when I looked closely at the genealogy Rev. Fred Blodgett wrote. There are connections to families in St. Johnsbury, like Maitland Bean and Hugh McLean. The first of the Blodgetts to arrive from England landed in Boston in 1635.

Later:

I was interrupted by son Bill and his new wife, Monika - you've seen the wedding pictures. It's always fun to have them stop by. They were on their way back from St. Albans where they went to the U.S. Immigration Office to update Monika's papers and set things in motion for her daughter, Joanne, to come to U.S. from Namibia. Apparently that will take some time, but they have started the process and we're hoping Joanne will be here to start school next fall in Waterford, Vermont. In Namibia, the children go to school all year, so it will be interesting to find out what grade level she will be. Here at 10 she would normally be in fifth or sixth grade, I believe. There will be lots of new things for her to deal with, especially school, but also the cold and snow, and we are all looking forward to helping her. We had hoped she might be here by summer so one of her first experiences in her new country would be Joe's Pond, but I guess that isn't to be.

We've had a few snow squalls this afternoon, but it didn't seem to build up much. We don't need a lot more snow, for sure. Here's a notice that came this afternoon:

********

CABOT SCHOOL BOARD MEETING

Monday, February 2, 2009,

Information Center - 6:00 p.m.

AGENDA

1. Call to Order: Chris Tormey, Chair

2. Approval of Minutes

a. January 12, 2009

b. January 19, 2009

c. January 21, 2009

***Laura Soares, VSBA, will meet with the Cabot School Board at 7:00 p.m.***

3. Public Comment

As Needed.

4. Student Report: Lillian Alexander & Jese Feltus

As Needed.

5. Principal's Report: Regina Quinn

                a.             Updates

                b.             Other             
6.             Superintendent's Report:  George Burlison                                                                         

a. Director’s Term of Office

b. Boxed Agenda Items

c. Woodchip Facility Update - John Bouchard, Chiptec V.P.

d. Other

7. Board Discussion

a. Annual Meeting Presentation

b. Long Term Goals

c. Governor’s FY2010 Budget Expectations

d. Other

8. Board Action

As Needed.

9. Executive Session

As Needed.

10. Adjournment

FUTURE MEETINGS:

1. Next "Regular" Cabot Board meeting will be on Monday, February 16, 2009 at Cabot School in the Information Center at 6:00 p.m.

2. Next Superintendent Position/Governance Search Committee meeting be on Wednesday, February 18, 2009 at 7 p.m. at the Cabot School Information Center.

Future meetings will address:

1. Elementary Guidance

2. Whole Day Kindergarten

3. Physical Plant

4. Communication

5. Money & Accounting

6. Food Service

7. State Level Political Action

This came this morning from Cyndy and Ray Rouleau:

I thought you'd like to see this blog. Renee and Brendan are in Honduras with the Shelburne-Charlotte Rotary..............Cyndy........

Renee wrote:

Check us out on the web: www.philomenasoltour.blogspot.com

Will write more tomorrow....we're pooped!

Thanks, Cyndy and Ray. Looks like Renee and Brendan are having a real "working vacation" - but they seem to be enjoying. Good for them!

Here in the frozen north, we're shoveling out from under about 16-18 inches of snow. It's hard to tell just how much we did get - my measuring stick shows well over a foot, and when I went out this morning and shoveled off our front deck while Fred finished up the driveway, there was a depth of at least 16 inches on it, and I'm thinking the deck may have been shoveled off early in the storm so there may not have been a full count there. It was light and easy to handle, and although it was still only about 15 degrees, it was nice out there. I got a couple pictures of Fred and the snowblower - just to remind folks what we're doing on a daily basis here while you're basking in the sun.

I noticed on the morning news that area schools were delaying opening for two hours. That would be to allow the road crews ample time to clear the roads, I expect, although I believe our road was plowed very early. It takes time to reach all areas of the back country where the buses have to go. I'm listening to the scanner, but there isn't anything happening there, so I guess things are under control, as usual. This wasn't a bad storm here because it was all snow and cold enough so it was also light and fluffy. In other areas where there was ice, I'm sure things are much worse. The good news is, Sunday starts a whole new month, and perhaps we'll get at least a hint of spring in the next few weeks. Of course it all depends on that old woodchuck . . .

Here we are again, dealing with snow, snow and more snow. This is the third and last (I think) time Fred will be out to snow blow today. It's coming down fast enough so he wants to do the driveways so it won't be such a big job in the morning - and if there were an emergency, it would give vehicles a better chance to reach us if there isn't a foot or more of snow in our drive. You never know. It's hard keeping ahead of it, but at least there doesn't seem to be a stiff wind blowing it around - not yet, anyway.

The temperature has come up a little, but still only around 20 degrees, so no icing or melting going on here at Joe's Pond. There have been some accidents out on Rt. 2 and Rt. 15, though - not too serious as far as I can tell from the scanner, but it's easy to slip off the road when it's like this. The plows have a tough time keeping ahead of things and the snow covers up the sand as soon as they spread it.

Not much traffic on the roads, though. I can see a few cars on Rt. 15, but not as many as usual - some folks went home early, I'm sure, and nobody is out on the road unless they have to be to get to work or back home. We'll dig out from it all tomorrow.

The forecast for tomorrow is from 5-12 inches of snow. We are getting a light but steady snowfall today, along with an occasional break of weak sunshine through the clouds. The measuring stick by my lilac bush shows three feet on the ground now. The temperature is still only 10 above, and I don't expect it'll get very warm today.

Bev and Steve Allen sent the cartoon at the right. Click to enlarge.

Thanks, Bev and Steve - I guess we'd better be careful what we ask for . . .

My cousin Lyn and her husband, David, came for lunch yesterday and we went through the manuscript they have written in researching a quilt they discovered in So. Dakota a few years ago. The quilt had been given to a young Vermont woman, Mary Bickford, when she married Charles Howe in 1856 and went to Wisconsin. They later moved to Dakota Territory, and years later the quilt was donated to the South Dakota Historical Museum in Pierre, SD. Lyn, who was born and raised in Cabot, recognized local family names, and that touched off their quest for information. Each square of the quilt had been made and signed by a different friend of the young bride, but after nearly 150 years, many of the signatures were no longer legible.

Lyn and David were able to find more information from some of Mary and Charles Howe's relatives still living in the area, and have been researching Vermont records to find where in Cabot the quilters lived and something about them and about Mary. Their work has led them to many discoveries and yesterday I was able to provide a few photos from our historical society collection. It will be an interesting and well-documented paper when it is finished.

This came yesterday from Rob Denny. Rob and Florence have a summer cottage on Cove Rd. here at Joe's Pond. Rob sent pictures which I have put into a slide show. Due to the erratic nature of computers and my inability to control the beast, the pictures may not be in the exact order he describes below, but I'm sure you'll enjoy them anyway - and my apologies to Rob: Rob's Pictures

I thought you might enjoy some shots I took over the weekend. We visited friends who volunteer for the Nat. Park Service.....They spend a month on Loggerhead Key. Loggerhead Key is 2 miles west of Ft. Jefferson which is 70 miles west of Key West. These Keys are part of a cluster of 7 Keys which make up the Dry Tortugas National Park.
Shots 1-5 are of Ft. Jefferson on Garden Key
6 & 7 are shots of a chug. (Chugs are boats made in secret in Cuba....Cuba is 90 miles South of the Dry Tortugas.) On Jan 1 fourteen Cubans landed on Loggerhead Key. They are permitted to stay in the US (Wet foot, dry foot)
8 Ft Jef from the water
9 Light House on Loggerhead Key
10, 11 and 12 shots from the lighthouse...looking south, north and west
13 Lighthouse shot taken from south point of Loggerhead
14 Sunset
15 & 16 Shots of Bush Key from Ft Jeff (Nesting area for Frigates and Sooty terns)
I hope you enjoy the pics.
Take care.................see you in the spring............Rob

Thanks for sending those, Bob - looks like a wonderful trip, and the sun, water and sand alone are a treat to see for those of us here in cold Vermont.

Here's more of what we're about at Joe's Pond. Winter recreation for some, cold forced labor for some of us if we had to be out on the ice all day. Thanks to Diane Rossi for sending this photo and message today:

Lots of activity on the ice today. These guys trudged on this morning while it was still dark, and 19 below!! It's 3 pm, and they're still out there....I don't think they're catching much. In fact, I haven't seen a single fish come out of one of those holes!

The guy in the tan outfit even got stuck in our driveway, and it's not even slippery. He must have summer tires on.....makes you wonder.

I rec'd a very large bunch of photos from Liz Randall today. She and John went through Manhattan to reach southern New Jersey and Liz took pictures going through two tunnels and mid-town Manhattan. Some of you may not be able to access the slide show, but for those of you who can, it's an interesting journey that many of us don't experience. Most people avoid driving through the city. John and Liz make it look easy . . . and I enjoyed the "ride." Here is the slide show: Manhattan

Another cold night. We've had lots of sunshine today, but it's been cold and started off very windy. We've been busy inside all day, so the temperature really didn't matter. We have only a sifting of new snow, so Fred didn't need to do the driveways, and the good news is there's no large snow amounts due for at least a few days. Tonight, our cat, Woody, carefully settled himself in front of the fire between two chunks of wood. He's aptly named, I guess. He often uses the pieces of wood as a pillow, but tonight they were placed just right for him to make a comfortable, warm bed. Now he's beside me on a little desk where we keep his rug. He spends a lot of time helping me when I'm working on the computer.

Bonnie Dannenberg wrote an article for the latest Cabot Chronicle in which she quoted the Rev. Fred Blodgett's description of the old snow rollers used years ago to keep the roads in winter. He also wrote that roads were kept by neighborhoods, generally designated by school districts.

The article reminded me that at one time there were 14 school districts in Cabot. Each neighborhood - wherever there was a concentration of homes - would have a school. Often it was in someone's home and the teacher might be anyone who had a bit of education. Schools were kept only a few weeks, depending on the weather, whether the children were needed to help work the farms, and the availability of a teacher.

For many years the roads were kept by groups of neighbors, sharing the work as best they could. People could provide man hours or materials in lieu of paying taxes to the town. The tools were whatever the farmers had available - shovels, rakes, hoes, horse-drawn plows to make ditches and water bars, harrows and wooden drags to smooth the road. The system worked well and each district took pride in their roads. Later, when the town decided to have a road crew and one man to oversee the work, there were complaints that only roads in and near the village were properly cared for and the outlying area roads were the last to get attention.

During the winter, roads were rolled. There were large double rollers pulled by four or six horses. The drivers sat high on the rollers, unprotected from the weather. They must have been grateful when someone invited them inside to warm up. When the roads became too drifted for the horses to go through, the men would shovel or sometimes make another road through a field or the woods where it was sheltered from the wind and the snow wouldn't be as deep or drifted.

There were "winter" roads and "summer" roads. The road that is now Rt. 2 between West Danville and Marshfield was rerouted in the winter, and people traveled on Molly's Pond until spring thaws made it too dangerous to be on the ice. I imagine people took shortcuts across Joe's Pond, too, when traveling from Cabot Plain or Walden area to West Danville during the winter. The stage from Cabot (see picture at right) ran regularly to Marshfield. Slow, cold way to travel.

Later, when the Town of Cabot got their first tractor plow, it was still not an easy task to keep the roads open in the winter. The picture on the right below was taken coming up Rt. 215 from Cabot towards Walden. The drifts were often very deep and hard and the plow would first make a narrow cut and then let the big wings out to roll the snow back to widen the road so vehicles could pass, at least in some spots. It wasn't unusual that a driver would have to back up to a wide spot in the road in order to let an approaching vehicle pass. There wasn't a lot of traffic, fortunately, and nobody went anywhere without their tire chains and a shovel. Horses managed those roads much better than cars or trucks.

It sure looks as if back when these pictures were taken there was a lot more snow to deal with, but perhaps it was just that the equipment wasn't as efficient and people didn't know how to build roads or take care of the snow as they do today. Or a combination. I know that when I was a kid and lived on Cabot Plain, it wasn't uncommon to be snowbound for several days until they could clear the roads. Even when I first went to work in St. Johnsbury in the early 1950's, there were times when I'd come home on a weekend and not be able to get out to go back to work on Monday. It was sometimes hard to convince my boss in St. Johnsbury, where there was no weather, that there was a blizzard going on just a few miles away on Cabot Plain. I think he always suspected I planned my visits back home to take advantage of those storms . . .

First We Brought Back Your Paper
Now We are Bringing Back Your Maple Festival!
The Cabot Chronicle is the proud sponsor of the Cabot Maple Festival
A Community-wide event
March 28, 2009
At the School Gym

Watch for details in upcoming issues and on our Web-site.
SUGAR ON SNOW
MAPLE VENDORS
CRAFTERS
DOZENS OF INDOOR & OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES BENEFITTING
MANY CABOT GROUPS AND CLUBS
We are now scheduling vendors and crafters,
We are recruiting volunteers,
We are soliciting ideas and group involvement
For information, please call: Allison Joyal, 917-3789
or The Cabot Chronicle office, 563-3338.

I have a couple things for you today. First - we made a slide show of our trip into St. Johnsbury yesterday. We always combine our errands, so we did banking, grocery shopped, got haircuts, filled the car with gas, picked up mail in W. Danville - that's the usual routine. We go into St. Johnsbury every two weeks, so we are pretty busy getting everything done. We were struck again by how much less snow and general winter there is in St. Johnsbury. This is usually the case, but you'll see the difference in the photos. Here they are: Slides

I had forwards this morning - same thing from two different sources - about all the money Microsoft is giving if people will just forward the e-mails to their friends, etc., etc. Thousands of dollars handed out to everyone who does this. I've posted something about this hoax before, but I thought it is worth repeating. When these things come to you - dump 'em. Don't even bother. You KNOW it's either a harmless (except for clogging the internet with useless e-mails) prank or it's someone trying to get names for their address lists to send out more spam or junk. When you receive something like that and you think it might have some truth, check it out. It's easy. Here are some of the sources I use: hoax.slayer.com, urbanlegends.com, snopes.com, truthorfiction.com. There's another method I've found often works, just Google search using a few key words from the message. Quite often something will show up - often on one of the sites I mentioned above.

I read in the Caledonian yesterday about the problems here in the north country getting propane. There are several things making it difficult, not the least of which is the weather we've had that makes transportation difficult, but there are other factors, too, and folks need to conserve all they can so this fuel source doesn't run out in this bitterly cold weather. Lots of people heat with propane, and it will be very serious if dealers begin to run out.

I overheard a man who is in the wood supply business saying yesterday that the bottom has "dropped out" of the wood business. Probably when the price of oil went down. Most folks already have their wood supply, but lots of us want to keep a year or two ahead so it will be seasoned by the time we need it. It's amazing how many industries are subject to a trickle-down effect of the sluggish economy.

On the other hand, apparently the folks working out the problems on the rail-trail here in the north country are counting on some stimulus package monies to help keep that project going. According to the article in the Caledonian, a fair share of the original grant money awarded has been lost because of delays in the project. It's a good project, but I can't help wondering how it will stack up against others like new roads and bridges.

If anyone is wondering if today is any less snowy than when we took the pictures yesterday, all I can say is yes, there isn't much snow in the air today, but there's no sunshine and the thermometers are sliding downward again. It was in the mid 20's yesterday, but right now only about 22 degrees. By tonight it's going to be below zero again and worse Saturday night. Darn! Still no January thaw in sight.

I still can't be sure who wrote the poem Steve Allen sent that I posted the other day and we thought might have been written by Elsie Fitts. Steve said he actually got it from a friend who lives in Maine and he switched states, putting in Vermont.

Today I got this from Evelyn Richer:

The poem on the blog that also appears in the JPA cookbook, was with the material given to me from Elsie Fitts. It was my understanding that she wrote it since her name was at the end of it, but later, (and before going to press) I wanted to double check with Homer; he said he could not be sure that she was the author. So I changed my original credits in the cookbook, at the end of the poem, to read ‘submitted by…” rather than ‘written by…” Unfortunately, I was not at the point of selecting this poem or making this inquiry until after Elsie had passed away… we may never know… but it sure fits her humor and love of Joe’s Pond!! Thanks… ER (and thank you Elsie!)

Evelyn is absolutely right about Elsie's sense of humor and love of of Joe's Pond. She was a dedicated worker for JPA for many years. We're happy to have the poem, whoever wrote it. I noticed there's a comment, too, apparently inspired by the poem, posted after yesterday's blog. Thanks for that, Matt! We don't know if Abigail Elizabeth McIntyre is living, or even if there is/was such a person, but it's too cold to care. I like her style . . .

Evelyn sent another e-mail message today that was a real joy to receive:

Just received this wonderful newsflash from Steph Porter (Zach’s mom)

“Zach’s final bone marrow test, (the cytogenetics), came back 100% NORMAL!!!!!!! No funky translocations of chromosomes....no weird this or that....ALL NORMAL STUFF!!!!! He is all 46XY NORMAL!!! THANK YOU GOD!!!!”

They are back home in St. Jay, with visiting family celebrating I suspect. Thought you might like to share this good news. Thank you ....Evelyn.

I can only imagine the relief the whole Porter family and all their friends are feeling. Zach has been a real trooper through all of this.

Liz Randall sent pictures taken while they were at Joe's Pond last week. They watched a flock of turkeys on the lower side of their property. They didn't seem to mind the bitter cold - but even a gobbler's gotta eat . . . so they were on the move.
During the time the Randall family was here, they also watched a snowmobile race near Burke Mountain. Here's what Liz wrote: Thought I'd share the N.E.K. Drag Racing photos I took on Saturday, Hosted by Lyndon SnoCruisers. Located Rt. 114 North, Lyndonville, VT ...A fun filled day of snowmobile drag racing for racers and spectators of all ages. They have Prize Money and Trophies, Hot Dogs, Burgers, Chili, Goodies, Hot and Cold Drinks....The dates are Jan 17th * Jan 31st* Feb 14* Feb 28th * March 7th....for more information go to: Lyndon SnoCruisers

Liz didn't say for sure, but I think she may have taken a picture of their outside thermometer every day they were here - it was really cold during that time. I've made a slide show of their photos:
Randall's January vacation

Thanks, Liz, for sending the photos.

Also, Liz said she believes the poem sent by Bev and Steve Allen that I posted here this morning was originally written by Elsie Fitts. Homer, if you're reading this, can you let us know if this is Elsie's?

You may not know this, but there are other Joe's Pond poets. Sim Whittier, who built and lived on what is now Pearl's Island, was a poet. Elsie DeForge, author of "Turn of the Century Joe's Pond" wrote poetry, and Don Walker is well known for his poems. I'm sure there are others, published and unpublished.

I have a couple things for you this morning, then I'm going to watch the Inauguration Ceremony. This was circulated as a "forward" a few years ago and I may have linked to it for you then, but I'm going to do it again because I really like this story. I checked it on snopes.com, here it is: Whale Rescue

Then, this came to me from Steve and Bev Allen - they didn't tell me who wrote it . . .

Ode To Vermont

It's winter in Vermont

and the gentle breezes blow

Seventy miles an hour

at twenty-five below.

Oh, how I love Vermont

when the snow's up to your butt

You take a breath of winter

and your nose gets frozen shut.

Yes, the weather here is wonderful

so I guess I'll hang around

I could never leave Vermont

'cause I'm frozen to the ground!!

A few days ago I posted a warning about the virus carried in an e-mail supposedly Obama's inauguration speech, and tonight I rec'd this from Walter Ruf in Florida:
You may have been warned about some worms etc., in connection with Obama's inauguration.DO NOT OPEN ANYTHING THAT COMES THRU TO YOU. I JUST READ A GERMAN NEWSPAPER OVER THE INTERNET AND THEY WARNED EVERYBODY TO BE CAREFUL,there are criminals out there!

Thank you, Walter - I hope people see this and realize the danger. I haven't seen anything in our newspapers about this, but I checked on snopes.com and it is real.

Our weather moderated today. I think our temperature was only in the low 20's, and it snowed most of the day, but it felt like spring after the way-below-zero weather of the past week. Tonight we have a reading of 10 above - not bad at all.

Our friend, Louise, slid off the road on Rt. 15, just north of West Danville today. She wasn't hurt and her car was fine. She said it was a soft landing against a snowbank that kept her car from rolling completely over. There was traffic behind her and four cars stopped to help. They pulled her out of her car, a woman put her into her car and took her home, called the wrecker for her, and generally looked after her. Louise is 90-ish and very agile of mind and body, and looked at it philosophically. She had her seat belt on and told me "it could have been worse, but the snowbank kept my car from going over completely and the belt kept me from going over completely, so it was alright." She told me several times how nice everyone was to her and how grateful she was that so many people stopped to help. Tomorrow she's heading out again. I asked her if she wanted Fred or me to take her wherever she needs to go, but she said no, she would be fine. She's not going to leave as early tomorrow, she said, so the roads will be better. Good idea.

That's one good thing about having plenty of snow and high banks along the roads - if you do slide off the road, there's something reasonably soft to catch you. Sometimes. I think it's great she isn't nervous about driving again. She's a very good driver and cautious - this is her first experience going off the road and she's been driving all times of the year since she and her late husband moved here 30 or more years ago. Most of us have had at least one unexpected slide on ice while driving our winter highways, often with at least a dent in a fender or a piece of trim ripped off the car. I suspect she wasn't going very fast - she usually doesn't - so she may not have hit the snowbank too hard.

Enjoy the inauguration ceremonies tomorrow.

Things are becoming more normal around here. The weather has moderated, it's snowing (that's normal!), the ice fishing huts have sprung up on the pond, snow mobiles are using the rail-trail and zooming along on the pond, town budgets are being whittled (we hope) and soon it'll be Town Meeting Day, March 3rd. That effectively shortens the winter to a manageable period. After town meeting comes maple sugar season and then Ice-Out and naturally mud season is in there someplace - and finally people will feel it's ok to return from their winter retreats, tan and eager for summer at Joe's.

In the meantime, Fred took some pictures of the folks out on the ice fishing on Saturday. Bill and Diane Rossi skied at Burke this morning, but Diane said it could have been better. They had six or eight inches of new snow and it was still snowing. I think it must have been fairly cold on the mountain, too. The temperature didn't get very high here all day.

We've spent a quiet day. Fred was out a couple of times to clear the snow, and this afternoon we watched the pre-inauguration ceremonies in Washington, DC. It looked mighty cold there, too. Of course, we've also been following the news on the plane that ditched in the Hudson River. Quite remarkable that everyone came out of it ok. It was snowing in NYC today and the reporters looked cold. I had an e-mail from someone in Georgia today and they've had snow there, too, and a cousin in Beverly Hills, Florida, said it's been unusually cold there, as well. This was a good year for us to have all that winterization stuff done on the house . . . !

Some folks have asked how Dave Parker is doing recovering from an injury suffered while refereeing a basketball game. I contacted Dave today and here's what he says:

Well the recovery is slow but going relatively well. I had my plaster cast removed on the 8th and have a "Ski Boot" type cast which I will have for the 90 days from that visit. I have 60 days left on crutches before I can attenpt to put weight on the ankle. Ive read an amazing amount about this injury on the internet and several people have documented step by step protocol on recovery online as well.
Michelle has been super and has done a lot to help. That's all I have for now.

Thanks,
Dave

I'm really glad you're making good progress, Dave.

Notice of Public Meeting

Presentation of Development Alternatives

for the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail

The Vermont Association of Snow Travelers, Inc. and the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail Committee cordially invite the public to attend a series of three Public Meetings, where the available and preferred alternatives for the development of the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail (LVRT) will be presented and discussed. Public participation and comments are solicited and encouraged.

The meetings will take place at the following locations:

Tuesday, January 20, 2009 – 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM

Danville School Cafeteria, Peacham Road, Danville, Vermont

Wednesday, January 21, 2009 – 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM

Swanton Village Municipal Center, Elm St., Swanton, Vermont

Thursday, January 22, 2009 – 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM

River Arts Center, Pleasant St., Morrisville, Vermont

Additional directions to these sites can be obtained on the LVRT website: www.lvrt.org

********

I may have given you this before, but it's probably worth repeating:

This is a BIG HEADS-UP! THERE IS AN EMAIL WITH SUBJECT LINE OBAMA ACCEPTANCE SPEECH FLOATING AROUND WITH A TROJAN HORSE ATTACHMENT.

DO NOT OPEN FOR ANY REASON. DELETE IMMEDIATELY. THE TROJAN STEALS ALL PASSWORDS AND USER IDs. SPREAD THE WORD. Do not open "Obama Acceptance Speech". It places a virus on your computer!

Click below for the warning from Snopes.

http://www.snopes.com/computer/virus/obamaspeech.asp

Another cool day at Joe's Pond. The coldest reading we had was a minus 18 degrees sometime during the night when Fred checked the thermometer and the fire. He said that reading came from the warm side of the house, the front, and the back side thermometer outside my office window probably was lower. It always is. Right now it's reading zero, but hasn't moved in a couple hours, so may be frozen. On the front we presently have five above.

Diane sent a quick note this morning:

I see a couple of tip-ups out on the ice this am, and an auger over by Homer's, but no person. I hope he's in a shanty. It's -25 this am, and I can't imagine anyone wanting to be ice fishing....

She also mentioned that Joyce and Phil Rogers had called from Florida yesterday. They say the weather is quite cool there, 66 degrees, but it's fine for gardening and such. They had been moving a palm tree on their property . . . like Diane says, they'll probably get tired of weather like that.

Our new Epson WorkForce 30 printer installed very easily yesterday. There's still a small glitch in that every time we turn off the computer, there's a new copy of the printer installed. It seems that after it has installed the copy, it doesn't do it again like the HP did, so we have only two choices when we want to find out which copy is active. The HP seemed to reinstall every time we turned the computer on so there were multiple choices. I'm hoping someone can get to the bottom of why it does that, but if not, I can work with it. The printer is compact and very quick. The biggest problem is that it makes a lot of noise and always wakes Woody up when it starts to print. I think we'll get used to it, but right now we both jump when it crashes into action. Spits out perfect copies in record time, though.

Fred is working with Bill Rossi on some computer project this morning - we'll tell you more about that as things progress. Now I have my printer back, I have to dig into the historical society stuff again. It's also time to think about the spring edition of the Joe's Pond Association newsletter . . . we always publish right after the Ice-Out Contest is announced, but I like to start getting articles, information and ads together well ahead of time. So it's back to work for me this morning. I need to clear out some of the historical stuff to be ready for the newsletter stuff . . .

NOTE: This is a corrected Agenda for the Cabot School Board Meeting:

CABOT SCHOOL BOARD MEETING

Monday, January 19, 2009

Information Center - 6:00 p.m.

AGENDA

1. Call to Order: Chris Tormey, Chair

2. Approval of Minutes

a. December 1, 2008

b. December 15, 2008

c. December 22, 2008

d. January 5, 2009

3. Public Comment

As Needed.

4. Student Report: Lillian Alexander & Jese Feltus

As Needed.

5. Principal's Report: Regina Quinn

                As Needed.                        

6.             Superintendent's Report:  George Burlison                                                                         

a. Principal’s Report/Directors’ Report

b. Other

7. Board Discussion

a. WNE Board Meeting Update

b. FY2010 Budget

c. Other

8. Board Action

a. FY2010 Budget

b. Driver’s Education Teacher

9. Executive Session

As Needed.

10. Adjournment

FUTURE MEETINGS:

1. Next "Regular" Cabot Board meetings will be on Monday, February 2, 2009 & Monday, February 16, 2009 at Cabot School in the Information Center at 6:00 p.m.

2. Laura Soares, VSBA, will meet with the Cabot School Board on Monday, February 2, 2009, at 6:30 p.m.

3. Next Superintendent Position/Governance Search Committee meeting be on Wednesday, February 18, 2009 at 7 p.m. at the Cabot School Information Center.

Here's the official low from Joe's Pond as of this morning. We were warm compared to Island Pond. There was an unofficial reading of 44 below there this morning. I'm not surprised. After it goes below minus 25 degrees, it's pretty much the same - darned cold and good weather to stay inside if one can.

Here's what Diane wrote when she sent the photo: It was -36 when we got up at 6:30, and went down a little by 7 before it started going up again. Last night when we got home we decided not to try to exercise this am, since it just takes too long for that Rennai heater to warm up the upstairs of the garage in this temp. I think our cars used to keep the garage a little warmer, but now that we don't use them much, the engines never really get warm! Maybe we'll get on the eliptical later today....

Bill and Diane braved the cold to join us for dinner last night. It was pretty cold, but if you're out every day in it I guess you just get used to it. I haven't been out much for a couple days, and with any luck won't be until it warms up later this weekend. We always enjoy getting together with Bill and Diane.

We are going to try installing the new Epson printer this afternoon. I can't wait to see if this one will work. If it doesn't, then I guess we'll need to explore other options like replacing the computer - not something I really look forward to doing.

I need to go put some wood on the fire and get some lunch started. Fred has gone with our friend, Louise, to have one of her cats euthanized. Poor kitty has been very sick and the vet said it would be best. It's very hard to lose a pet, we know. Louise is practical, though, and while it is hard for her, she understands. She has other kitties to love, and I'm sure that helps.

Our day is warming up nicely - it's just zero outside my office window!

Yes, it IS cold here today - and was very cold last night. Diane Rossi sent a picture of their indoor-outdoor thermometer this morning. You can see it was nearly 26 degrees below outside. That inside number would be a bit cold for me, though. But I know keeping the house low at night conserves energy in a big way. Fred feeds the stove once or twice throughout the night, so it's always toasty in the morning. I think we're supposed to have colder temperatures tonight, and then a slight warmup.


Fred was out early taking pictures and blowing away the skimming of snow that fell overnight. You can see how pretty it was without feeling the nose-pinching cold. I think it was still 15 below or so when these pictures were taken. That's our house, top left, and on the right, looking down across W. Shore Rd. at Liz and John Randall's. Liz and John arrived yesterday after dropping Lauren and Matt at their respective schools. We were happy to gain a couple of Joe's Ponders since the Sherwoods left Wed. and so did Pat and George Parizo. They sent e-mails wishing us warmth and good health, saying they'd see us in the spring. After mud season!! Pat assured me they weren't leaving because of the cold, but it's highly suspicious that they should leave just as we embark on the coldest weather this season. Both couples will be spending time in Florida. We wish them well, though, and hope they enjoy the warmth of the south as we bask in the sun of the frozen north country.

In the next row of photos above on the left is our lower lawn with the sun filtering through the cedars, and on the right you can see Fred's shadow as he took the picture from in front of our mailbox looking west past Henretta's driveway. On the right is looking east from our drive, looking down W. Shore Drive towards the Randall's driveway. That haze is frost in the air.

There is a comment on yesterday's blog about the photos. It's nice that some of you use photos posted here for your desktop backgrounds. I appreciate the great shots you have been sending. They are really very nice and I change my desktop frequently, too. I had our cat Woody's picture on for a while, but his eyes seemed to be following me every time I logged on, and that made me a little uncomfortable. He watches me enough in real life, I don't need him on my computer screen, too. He's here beside me now, curled up and snoring just a little because his tail is covering his nose. He'll shift position soon and sleep quietly. I hope some of you who have fled our cold region will send some photos from where you are keeping warm. Even though we don't choose to leave, we're always interested in seeing where our friends are and what they're up to after the leave here.

We are anticipating the arrival of the new Epson printer today. Fred has been tracking it since it left Indiana a few days ago, and it's now on a truck headed from Burlington to here. I'm also expecting a book order. I ordered several hard cover editions of the Blodgett book for a friend and the order was on the truck last night but when it didn't come I tracked it and found delivery had been attempted but wasn't successful due to the weather! Well, gee. Perhaps it'll come today, but since today may be colder than yesterday . . .oh, well. Both are to be delivered by FedEx, so we'll see if everything comes on the same truck or if we get nothing until the weather warms up. I almost dread getting into the saga of installing another new printer - this will be our fifth try for one that works.

It's only 7 below on my office thermometer, so things are warming up nicely. The sun is beautiful and there's hardly a cloud in the sky. A lovely day at Joe's Pond.