We didn't have a frost last night. At least, not in my garden. I'm glad I covered things, otherwise I would have spent a restless night wondering if I'd find everything crispy in the morning. I heard that Mt. Washington had some snow last night, though. No surprise there. Some of the weather statistics there are interesting - here's their web site: Mt. Washington Observatory

We were in St. Johnsbury today. Things seemed quiet there. On the way home we stopped to see Marge Greaves. Marge was a long-time town clerk in Danville and before that lived and went to school in Cabot. She also has had a cottage here at the pond for many years. Marge just sold her house on Hill Street in Danville and moved to a lovely, spacious apartment at her son's house. Her daughter-in-law has a very nice nursery - the Red Barn Nursery, I think it's called. They actually live on Red Barn Road that is almost at the foot of Dole Hill. The Charter building is on that road, too. It's well marked for the nursery, and she has lovely mums and other plants and a nice big greenhouse. It's a beautiful setting and Marge told us she really enjoys the view with the belted cattle roaming just beyond her lawn. We had a nice chat and then continued on our way.

We dropped by the building site on Sandy Beach Road. It is moving ahead very rapidly. The foundation seems to be pretty well finished, but we could smell the cement as we drove by, that unmistakable 'wet cement' smell. In this weather it may take a few days to cure, but I think that may be a good thing.

There wasn't a big crew there today and we didn't stop to talk with the workers as it was almost noon and not much seemed to be going on. Besides, we were both hungry. I expect things will begin to hum again on Monday morning.

Fred was going out this afternoon to work on the wood, but just as he was changing his clothes we noticed it had begun to rain. It's only about 53 degrees, and not the kind of weather you want to be working outside in unless you have to.
It's more the kind of afternoon you want to have a lazy fire going and settle down with a good book. In Fred's case, I think he's settled in with the newspaper.

We've been very interested in the mystery disappearance of Pat O'Hagan of Sheffield. Mrs. O'Hagan, 78, has been missing for nearly a week and the authorities believe she was abducted. Fred has posted the story on home page. It's really hard for many of us to understand how or why this would happen. We generally feel secure in the rural neighborhoods of the Northeast Kingdom, but more and more there are things happening around us that are unusual and now frightening. The ugly truth is that, like it or not, we must learn to be suspicious, wary and alert to anything or anyone unfamiliar or unusual. You lock your car and your home and you don't open the door to strangers. This is not the nature of folks in rural Vermont, but we are finding we'd better adapt to the changing times.

Fred and I were talking on our way into St. Johnsbury today about how strange this case is, but then we began remembering other people in our area who have come up missing, like Russ Bovit in Walden and Audrey Groat of Middlesex who disappeared when we were working in Montpelier, and more recently, Brianna Maitland from the Jay Peak area. It does happen, even here, sadly. Vt. State Police Missing Persons

We have one lone humming bird that has been frequenting our feeder the last couple of days. Usually they are gone by now; every year the last we see is around the 12th of September, but we've noticed this apparently young bird sometimes just sitting idle on the perch of the feeder. Yesterday it was back and forth to the feeder while I was covering my plants on the deck, but today it's been just sitting. I hope it is just cold and conserving energy by perching next to the food source and not sick. We'll keep watching for it. and hope when the sun warms things a bit and perhaps the wind is just right, it will finally leave.

I learned this morning of the death of Veronica "Ronnie" Colombo, who spent much time at Joe's Pond with her parents, Ellis and Elizabeth Henry, and other family members in the 1940's. I got to know Joe Colombo, Ronnie's son, about three years ago when I was doing a story on the nuns who drowned here in 1961. Joe was a teenager then, spending vacation time with his aunt and uncle. He and Pam Buttura, now Pam Hebert) and actually participated in rescuing the nuns who survived. Joe shared not only his memories of that terrible tragedy, but also memories of the wonderful times he enjoyed with his family here at the pond as a teenager. I'm sure others on the pond may remember Mrs. Colombo. Here is her obituary: Veronica Colombo