2010 has started off well with steady snowfall right from the beginning. Yesterday I measured 1.5 in. of new snow, today I measured 2.5 in. of new snow. Coming at this rate, it's easy to keep up with it, and another plus is that there isn't much wind. I see a sifting of snow coming off our roof from time to time, but when I was out this morning to measure the snow, it was very nice - about 24 degrees right now.

Fred will be going out to dust the snow off the driveways in a little while. We just had a call from Bill Rossi that their snow blower has a problem, but cousin Larry is coming in a little while to take a look at it. If he can't help, they'll call Fred's buddy, Harry, up in Walden. It's not a good day to have your snow blower on the fritz, for sure.

I've had the scanner on for a while this morning and there seems to be no problem on the roads. Either everyone is behaving or there isn't much traffic. The crews have been busy and are taking good care of things, but often people who aren't used to driving on slippery roads go too fast and get into trouble. There is only so much the road crews can do to keep the roads safe - it's up to drivers to use good sense.

I'm sharing this view from my living room window again. I put a little zoom on it so you don't see a lot of the foreground that I see, but you can see how pretty it is out there today. the trees are laden with snow, but it's fairly light and will blow off easily or just slide off when the branches bend down enough. It's not the sort of day you want to be in the woods, though, because every branch you touch will dump a load of snow on you.

We've had a couple of e-mails this week from our sister-in-law in Colorado. She tells us the ski resort where they are, Beaver Creek, doesn't have much snow and some of the trails are pretty well worn. In the valley, they don't have much most of the winter, but I guess it's unusual for there not to be a good depth in the mountains by this time.

We had a lovely time yesterday with our neighbor, Elizabeth. She is a wonderful cook and invited us and some other people for a New Year's Day dinner, as she did last year. We've decided it should be a tradition. Nothing like inviting yourself back a year in advance! Elizabeth was born in Switzerland and spent many years in Alaska before buying a house in Vermont when her husband retired. Unfortunately, her husband died before they could move here, but she came anyway and loves it here. I think she's been here at least 25 years now. A friend, Ruth, also Swiss and a more recent widow, was also a guest yesterday, and mutual friends from Cabot, Jan and Janet Westervelt. We don't see each other often, and this yearly gathering is always very enjoyable. We catch up on family news and discuss happenings in town, all the while enjoying wonderful food and wine. It's a great way to begin a new year.

A cousin of mine, a nurse in Colorado, sent us a rather long "forward" message about recognizing the signs of a stroke. I picked out the the really important, possibly life-saving instructions to present here:

We know it's very important for a stroke victim to have medical attention as soon as possible, and all too often people don't realize a victim is having a stroke until it's too late and severe damage is done. A bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions using the first three letters of the word, STRoke:

S *Ask the individual to SMILE.

T *Ask the person to TALK and SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE (Coherently)

R *Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS.

If he or she has trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks, call 9-1-1 emergency number immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.

We sincerely hope you never need to use the S-T-R test because a friend or loved one seems to be having difficulties with balance, speaking or has a sudden vision problem or severe headache, but it's a good thing to know, just in case, and could save a life.