We awoke to snow this morning, as expected. It's been a mild day and we lost most of the snow - except on every bush and tree I wanted to wrap up for the winter today. For whatever reason, the snow hadn't melted from them and when I went out this afternoon to put the winter coverings on, I had to shake off the snow first or get a snow bath trying to tie up branches, etc. They are all snug now, and we're expecting a stretch of not very nice weather, so I'm glad I went ahead and didn't wait for one more nice day to do the fall work I should have done in October.

We've had a good bit of precipitation in the last two days - .30 in. yesterday and .82 in. today. Today's measurement included a little over half an inch of snow, which isn't much for December. Forecasters who dare go out on a limb are saying there will be an "average" snowfall this winter. I haven't heard if they think it will be mild or deeply cold.

Yesterday's storm left many people without electricity. In the afternoon I heard reports on the scanner about trees down on roadways, including some on Rt. 2 that had traffic backed up with power lines down. Nobody got hurt, but it made for some really long commutes, and dangerous work for the emergency crews.

Fred got some pictures at the dam in West Danville this morning. Lots of water again. I didn't go down to measure the water level today - I know it had to be high with all the water coming into the pond. The warmer weather and rain took care of most of the ice, though, and this afternoon I could hear geese honking down on the water - probably glad to have a place to rest on their trip south. They wouldn't have had a good flying day yesterday with the very strong wind out of the southeast, but today what wind there was seemed to be coming from the north, and if it picks up enough, I expect they will take advantage and ride the currents south.

Some of you may have seen the story that two Vermont Price Chopper stores, one in Derby and the one in St. Johnsbury, have been fined for over charging customers. The St. Johnsbury store was fined $13,000, not that that will help the customers who were cheated. It's a good idea to keep an eye out when they are scanning your groceries to be sure you're paying the right price; and that goes for anywhere you're shopping, not just at Price Chopper.

Here's a reminder about the North Country Chorus programs that are starting tomorrow through Sunday. Click to make it larger. There are lots of nice programs going on this time of year, in fact, Fred and Bill Rossi were at the Passumpsic Bank this morning to pick up tickets for the Swingin' Holiday Concert at Fuller Hall next week. We went last year and enjoyed it very much.

There's Bill coming out of Larrabee's. They made several stops, including Marty's and Diamond Hill Store. Then they picked up the mail at West Danville. Ice Out tickets are coming in steadily, thanks to so many of our JPA members who are using their 10 tickets and asking for more! Plus we've had several "regulars" who have bought large quantities of tickets for several years, and I mean 25, 75 or 100 tickets! Don Walker picked up 500 the other day, but you all know he and Homer are really good at selling tickets and literally sell hundreds for us each year. More people than ever before are telling me they're putting them in their greeting cards this year. Tucking a paid ticket in a card is a fun and inexpensive way to surprise friends and family and I bet it makes them smile - most folks need something to cheer them up during the hectic holiday season.

I'm making progress with the Cabot Historical Society web site. I have to say, it has been a struggle to master the process, but recently I've been able to change things so it's looking better, I think, and gradually getting more material on it. It's one of those things that is frustrating as can be one minute and then all of a sudden the light comes on and something works!

Which reminds me, Homer Fitts gave me some more Ice-Out pictures. I say "more" because he left a big box of material, including pictures, with me some time ago and I haven't had a chance to go through them yet, but I'll try to post some of them so you can see it. I'll have everything in albums eventually and will have them at some of our meetings or social gatherings. The library of Joe's Pond Association memorabilia is growing steadily, and the history of the Association is well worth preserving, including the Ice-Out Contest stories.