The snow has stopped and the thermometer is headed downward. It's 16 degrees outside my window right now. We got lots of errands done this morning, and found many other folks were stocking up, getting ready for the impending storm. We aren't that concerned about the storm, but we're trying to catch up after Thanksgiving and I like to begin planning ahead for Christmas Eve, when the family will be here - except for Bill and Monika. They will celebrate Christmas with Monika's family in Namibia, Africa. Fred and I are taking them to Burlington tomorrow where they'll spend the night and fly out Thursday morning. It's very exciting for them, but the rest of us will miss them during the holidays.

There isn't as much snow in St. Johnsbury as there is here, but they do have enough to make the streets sloppy and at the same time give a nice air of the upcoming holidays. We stopped by R&J Meat Market to make our order for Christmas Eve, and I picked up more LED Christmas lights at St. Jay Hardware. We bought a string a couple weeks ago just to try, and liked them so much we decided to get more. I have many strands of the regular small lights, but the LED's are cool to the touch and are supposed to be more energy efficient and last longer.

We stopped to pick up the mail and found George Anderson there. They are leaving tomorrow, storm or no storm, so I picked up the JPA checkbook so we can continue to function until George gets back, probably in April.

There were two large checks in the mail in payment for Ice-Out tickets. We have several "regulars" who order lots of tickets to include in their Christmas cards and maybe use as stocking stuffers. Maybe I'll have Bill and Monika take some to distribute in Africa . . . ! Son Bob gives them to some of his clients, and last year a couple of business people gave them to their employees. It's all fun, and we never know who may be a big winner.

We took pictures along the way this morning, and I've made a slide show so you can see how the lake is beginning to close in. As usual, we begin and end our show on West Shore Road, a bit blustery when we left, but calmer (and colder) by the time we got back. Slides

A few minutes ago Fred brought me this photo, taken up the road by Jamie's house, just above us. Perhaps this guy has been living at the head of the pond and got confused in the snow storm last night - or maybe he's just waiting for a good wind to get him out of the snowdrift and aloft to head south with some of his pals.

I didn't see or hear much at all about yesterday, December 7, being remembered. I saw a cartoon implying that because there are so few WWII veterans left, folks don't think much about Pearl Harbor Day. I guess things important to history slip into a less prominent place over time as other events take place, but I'm sure there are still lots of men and women who paused to remember yesterday. I remembered. Those were important, frightening, belt-tightening, years in which huge sacrifices were made, not only by those brave souls fighting in two major theaters of war, but here on the home front, as well. It was going to be the war to end all wars. The struggle involved nearly every country in the world, pitting the Allies against the Axis, and then in 1941, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor brought the United States directly into the conflict. The war changed the world in many ways, but sadly it did not end all wars.