Today I went to Cabot, as planned. By the Plains Cemetery I met Dave Pike winging back the snowbanks along the Cabot Plains Road with the big grader. The picture on the right was just above the Burtt farm and shows how winging the snow back widens the road so there is room for the next big storm and leaves a smooth ledge. When I was a kid we used to like to walk on the flat "sidewalk" if it was packed hard enough to hold us. You can see in the picture that the bank on the right hadn't been done yet.

I always like to see the cattle at Keith Burtt's farm, and today they were chomping on hay near the trees by the road. At first I didn't see the three turkeys that were waiting nearby to scratch through the chaff, but they were spooked when I stopped the car to take a picture of the cattle, and I got a shot of one big guy trying to run through the deep snow. They didn't want to fly. I'm told for a turkey to get airborne uses up an enormous amount of energy and this time of year they have a hard enough time finding food to keep them going without using any extra to fuel flight. I left quickly so they could settle back to eating. The cattle don't pay any attention to them, and the turkeys are apparently just happy to be able to pick over the leftover hay for seeds.

I mailed the books and DVD at the post office and then stopped at the town clerk's office. Our town clerk, Tara Rogerson was there, also assistant clerk, Velma White and lister/zoning administrator Carlton Domey. Velma had been reading the blog so knew about my struggling with the wedding cake. It is always fun to stop at the TCO. Since I resigned as an auditor I don't see them very often and I miss that.

Upstairs at the library, Connie seemed happy to have the Rev. Fred Blodgett book. She had lent me a copy of his original manuscript last fall so I could scan it for the historical society. When Mary Fearon gave us another of her Uncle Fred's manuscripts, I combined them to make the book, and Connie was very pleased to now have both. Turns out she gave up a job as a graphic designer to become our librarian about 12 years ago, so she was particularly interested in the process I'd used to create the book.

The library is very pleasant these days. It was originally confined to one room at the front of the Willey Memorial Building, but recently one of the rooms that the Women's Club used for their meetings before they disbanded has been incorporated as part of the library. There is a fine selection of books available there as well as computer access and a comfortable room to read or quietly study.

As I came along W. Shore Road towards home, I met Dave in the grader again. You can see it in the photo, at the top of the hill not far from our mailbox. Fred was shoveling away the snow the grader had left across the driveways. He likes to do it right away so the snow doesn't have a chance to harden up and get more difficult to shovel. We had just a sifting of snow this afternoon, but according to the forecast we can expect more in the next few days.

The wind was blowing today, even in the village, and it felt really cold even though it was 25 degrees or so. When I mentioned to Sandy, the postmistress, I was waiting for a January thaw, she quipped, "We're getting that today." She may be right - this could be as warm as it's going to get this January. Somehow a "February thaw" doesn't have the same appeal; so I'll still hold out for my January thaw.