I have quite a few things for you tonight. First of all, we were very sorry to learn that Janet Wakefield, of Danville, passed away last night. Janet has been a life-long resident of Danville and worked tirelessly in the community. She was sporty in her yellow convertible, witty, generous, caring and great fun to know. She'll be missed by many, many people.

I want to remind people of the garden tour next week in Cabot. Here's a poster with details. Click to make larger to read.

The following came to me by e-mail today. I put together a slide show I think you'll find amusing. Here's the thing:

Australia had a record heat wave during January and February, with devastating fires as a result. Koalas are not social and don't come out of trees or down to the suburbs very often. Also, they don't actually drink water normally at any time. Their food and water source is provided from the eucalyptus leaves that they eat. They sleep about 22 hours a day because the calorie and liquid intake is not enough to keep them awake long, but they consume enormous amounts of leaves in the short time they are awake.

This slide show tells you how some of them coped with the searing heat - and hopefully survived. Koalas

Evelyn Richer sent this very important announcement:

HI! I’m the newest member of the loon family on Joe’s Pond! I broke loose from my shell at approximately 3:15 am on Monday June 15^th, (as predicted by Ray), I am here waiting to see if my brother or sister will show up… I have been waiting now for about 32 hours for him/her to come out and play… but I don’t know if he or she will or not… My mom and dad are tending to me and my baby brother or sister even though we may decide sometime today to go out to the main pond without him or her if he doesn’t come out of that shell pretty soon!!

Just so you know… I can’t see Ray from here! (But my mom and dad told me someone’s over there in that ‘blind’ on the shoreline…) He’s hidden and he’s using something called a long lens to peek at me… anyway… I’m here to tell all of you that I will be riding on my parent’s back soon… coming to say hi to everyone… but mom and dad are very busy caring for me and ask that you please don’t distract them by coming too close to us… okay?? If you see us and stop your boat motors or stop paddling your kayak or canoe we may come closer to you… but if we don’t please don’t try to chase us… bring your binoculars for a peek at a distance…

Thanks… see you all soon… hopefully we will come with my baby brother or sister… but if not… well… it will be a fun summer anyway…

Signed… baby loon #14 from Joe’s Pond…. (Since 1998)