A pretty nice day today. We had a few breaks of sunshine, but it was mostly cloudy and not very cold - in the 30's. Tonight it's about at the freezing mark. I measured two inches of new snow on our deck this morning, and 24.5 inches at the back yard stake.

We've watched the Olympics some - the hockey game this afternoon was a good one. I like hockey. Although I can't always keep track of the puck and don't know the rules much at all, I think I understand it better than football and certainly like it better. Now the Olympic games are over, we have the Oscar presentations to look forward to. I enjoy watching the parade of beautiful people, the entertainers, and wait for a surprise non-scripted goof or unexpected tirade or interruption. Sometimes it's difficult for those beautiful people to behave themselves, I think. And then there are those with a "cause" to promote, or a burr under their saddle who use the Oscars as their soap box. The dresses are nice sometimes though; or silly; or flat out outrageous. I do sudoku puzzles or knit while I watch so it isn't entirely time wasted.

I watched "Flight of the Phoenix" this afternoon, before the Olympics. I've seen it two or three times before, but still enjoyed it. Fred came in to watch about the last hour. I think he'd been working on taxes or something. He'd seen it, too, but we'd both forgotten some of the details that make it so interesting, and also it is always nice to see some favorite actors like Stewart, Borgnine, and Attenborugh. I guess I should have mentioned we watched the original version, not the more recent one with Dennis Quaid, etc. Perhaps we should watch that now and compare. Some other Sunday.

An old friend from Cabot passed away last Wednesday. Ruth Burbank, who I'm sure some of you will remember, died at age 102. I interviewed her a long time ago - perhaps for the Cabot oral history book, or maybe something else I was writing. She was living in a senior housing facility in Morrisville, and I remember all the knitting and handiwork she showed me, plus lots of family photographs. More recently, Bill Wheeler brought me a stack of photos of the Wheeler family, including this one of Ruth and her husband, Jack Burbank. They lived in Walden for many years and once owned the little gas station just up Rt. 15 out of W. Danville. Jack liked to hunt and fish, and you can tell just by looking this picture he was a character. Dashing, I'd guess, for the time.

There is a large extended family, and we extend sincere sympathy to them. Ruth will be missed.

This is Ruth's obituary:

GREENSBORO – Ruth Adeline Burbank, 102, of Greensboro formerly of Morrisville and Hardwick died Wednesday Feb. 24, 2010, at the Greensboro Nursing Home.

She was born May 13, 1907, in Cabot, the daughter of the late Hubert and Bertha (Pike) Wheeler. She attended Cabot public schools. On June 30, 1925, she married Jack Burbank in Craftsbury. She enjoyed crocheting and knitting blankets and hats for babies and sick children at Copley Hospital. She was affiliated with the United Methodist Church in Walden. She lived in Hardwick before moving to Morrisville and later to the Greensboro Nursing Home.

Survivors include a foster daughter, G. Linda Premo of Wolcott; a foster son, George Twine of Jefferson, Tenn.; a sister, Frances Wheeler of Barre; 14 grandchildren; 14 great-grandchildren; many great-great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews and cousins.

She was predeceased by her husband in 1964; a daughter, Hope Dean; two sons, Charles Burbank and Roy Burbank; six siblings, Helen Wilde, Hazel Witzel, Arlene Lawrence, Grace Rollins, Cleora Benjamin and Maurice Wheeler.

A graveside service will be held during the summer in the Walden Heights Cemetery in Walden.

Northern Vermont Funeral Service, Hardwick is in charge of arrangements.

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Cabot voters, remember the school meeting is being held tomorrow night, Monday, March 1, beginning at 6:00 P.M. We will be voting for two school directors (by Australian ballot) and the budget for the year beginning July 1, 2010, in the amount of $3,471,315, by either voice vote or paper ballot. The regular town meeting will be at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, March 2.