This is what we look like this morning. I checked for ice fishermen, but they haven't shown up yet. We'll see someone out there any day now, I'm sure. It's sunny and
bright this morning. Chilly, true, but the thermometer is moving up from a low of around 12 degrees when Fred looked at around 6 a.m. to 18 and still rising. There is still a wind, but not as gusty and troublesome as it's been for the past three days. Speaking of wind, should you want to figure the wind chill, there's a handy chart you might like to copy. Windchill Chart

I keep a copy at my desk. I have a hand-held wind gauge that I'll try out one of these days to see if I come up with anything remotely similar to what the weather stations are reporting. Its stuff like this that keep this retired senior amused. It's in my genes.

When I was growing up on the farm, weather was a hugely important factor in our daily lives. Our livelihood depended on it. Work was scheduled according to it, but in spite of all efforts, it could, in a matter of minutes, ruin a crop, take down a forest or destroy everything a farmer had worked a lifetime for; or it could simply kill. People, livestock, crops . . . Neighbors would rush to save what they could, but often the stricken family just packed up whatever was left and moved away.

At one time, there were dozens of small farms dotting the countryside here in Vermont. Now there are few farms left, and those that are are generally large. While there used to be mainly dairy farms, now you'll find small farms with sheep, goats, llamas, emus, horses, etc., where the owners have other jobs and don't depend only on the farm's income. It makes for an interesting mix in our communities.

I'm waiting for Will Walters to call this morning. He's doing a story on the reading book that was recently donated to the Cabot Historical Society. I've been doing some research on it, so promised to share some of my findings with him. It's the 1888 Harper's Fourth Reader in Two Parts, and was used by Thelma Whalen when she went to school in Lower Cabot in about 1922. The book is in remarkably good condition and has stories, poems, word lists, instructions for the teachers, and what struck me was the amount of information it contains. Students got not only literature by the great authors, but learned history, geography, civics, ethics, mythology - there's a huge amount of information is contained in those 420 pages. I'm going to read it before I turn it over to the Historical Society in the spring.