Yesterday, Fall Foliage Day in Cabot, was a lovely fall day with more sunshine than we'd dared expect and no rain until late afternoon. By then the tours were over and people were settled in Cabot School's new Performing Arts Building to hear Isaac James, a young concert pianist.

I have to admit I was very impressed with the PA building. It seems to have everything needed and probably more. Also impressive was the demeanor of the students who were operating the equipment and overseeing the performance. As we entered the building a very pretty and pleasant teenage girl welcomed us and gave us a program. Other young people were adjusting video cameras, taping down cables so nobody would trip, gathering extra chairs as the auditorium began to fill up, and all in a very professional manner without horseplay or unnecessary noise. The auditorium filled quickly until there was standing room only.

The program started right on time, the lighting and sound very good, Mr. James's performance was stirring. Several visitors mentioned how fortunate the small town of Cabot is to have such a presentation - and the perfect venue for it.

Isaac James resides in Syracuse, New York and began learning piano at age 13, and three years later placed third against international contestants at the International Chopin Competition. He has performed on both piano and organ as a soloist and as an accompanist. He is also a piano technician and has serviced piano for artists such as Drt. Robert Auler, Billy Joel, Tony Bennett, John Spradling and others. He is the executive director of the New England Piano Competition and plans to bring pianists from throughout the world to Barre Vermont.

The program yesterday included Chopin's Fantasie Impromptu op.66; Prelude in G Minor op.23 #5 by Rachmaninoff; selections by Debussy, Schubert, and closed with George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue.

Overall, the whole day was a success. Early in the morning I found a fairly large group of people looking bewildered outside our Historical Society building. I found they were a group of about 17 who had come from San Diego, California. They belonged to Walkabout International, a non-profit organization promoting walking. There are planned events such as day trips, guided hiking tours, annual get togethers and even cruises. They were going to spend the day in Cabot and needed directions as to what events we had planned, so I walked with them to the gym where we gave them the information they needed - directions, maps and lots of advice - to make their day interesting and fulfill their dedication to hiking. In the afternoon they hiked to Nichol's Ledge, and I happened to be on hand when they arrived back from there, so got this photo of some of the group.

Today it was back to the reality of an unusually cold snap - unusual for September, at least. We've had temps only in the mid 40's most of the day and sprinkles of rain. The forecast is for snow, possibly as much as one inch. Fred and I picked the rest of the tomatoes and a few other things in the garden, left stuff like carrots and beets, and pretty much put the garden to bed for this year. I'll wait for a warmer day, and I'm sure we'll have some, to cover up the few ornamental shrubs we have so they stand a better chance of surviving the cold and snow this winter. I'll mulch with leaves again this year and tie up and stake the lilac bushes and young maples so they won't get broken down too much by the heavy snow. Every year we have one or two casualties, no matter how carefully we plan protection for them.

Even Woody, our cat, is showing signs of giving in to the coming winter living. He is usually anxious to go outside as soon as it gets dark, but the last couple of nights he's come in early and settled quickly in front of the fire or in my arm chair, content to stay where it's warm and cozy.

There must be some sort of inner voice that moves animals and sometimes humans to begin a hibernation process. Fred began getting in his supply of fire wood earlier than usual - it's all tucked into the garage now - and I don't think I've ever had the deck furniture put away and my tender plants inside this early. The boats at camp were out of the water earlier than usual, and for the most part, we're all ready to settle in for the winter. I'm just hoping we'll be fooled and there will be a stretch of warm weather following this cold spell. It would be especially nice to be able to enjoy it without having to do all that work we've already accomplished. We can take long walks in the woods, or maybe take the kayak out, take road trips - and not a minute of guilt because there's work left to do "before snow flies."

Today Fred and Bill Rossi went to deliver some of our Joe's Pond Association directories to members who had ordered them, and they went down North Shore Road to see what is being done at Smith's. There are two Smith cottages, and one is being moved and will then be remodeled. (See picture.) Mark Smith married Rosie Chaloux this summer, and apparently they will be spending more time here at Joe's Pond.

We're wondering where Homer and his new bride, Margaret, are. We haven't seen much activity at camp and some Barre people report they haven't spotted the newlyweds in Barre, either. I suggested they are enjoying a honeymoon someplace sunny and warm . . .

To those of you who either had reservations or went to the turkey dinner for the 6:30 p.m. setting last night and found they had run out of turkey - I apologize. I don't know what happened, but it seemed to me when I left a little after 5 o'clock it wasn't too crowded and I never imagined they would run out of turkey. I have let our Fall Foliage chair person know and I'm sure she'll do what she can to be sure the people who work on that dinner do better another time. It must have just been poor planning. I know there were a number of Joe's Pond folks who had reservations for the late setting, plus others whom I didn't know but who may have gone to the dinner after reading about it here on my blog, and to all of you, all I can say is that I'm very sorry and I'm letting the Foliage Committee know so they can take steps to prevent that from happening again. It shouldn't have happened.