We've got some pretty good wind going on here today. There isn't much rain - yet. In a few hours it's going to probably turn to snow, but right now the temperature is in the 46 degree range and the rain is light - and horizontal. The road crews are planning to head to their posts soon, ready for possibly nasty weather about the time commuters are on the roads. It seems to me the wind may be calming a bit. I measured .30 in. this morning and we haven't had a lot more during the day, but it's raining harder right now. The road crews expect it to turn to snow .

We took a quick walk along our usual route, to check the water level (high with waves coming will over the top of Walter's short wall and splashing onto the lawn.) The wind is out of the south/southeast, coming up the pond. Most of the ice is gone except behind the islands where it has piled up a bit into slush furrows.










On Sandy Beach Road, both LaGue's and Gagne's houses seem relatively well closed in, and nobody was working outside, but they were all there. The big hole at the well between Gagne's and Bouchard's has been filled and looks good. Pat and George Parizo have their house nicely decorated for the holidays.

I had a message in answer to the comment I made on yesterday's blog that the fracas about Cabot's parking problem might need a "Board of Civil Authority," given that they seem to be unable to agree and yell at each other a lot. I had said I didn't think Cabot has a BCA, but of course they do. Here's what my friend, Peter Dannenberg sent to clarify, and I thank him:

The parking debate may lack civility, but Cabot has a Board of Civil Authority. It consists of the selectboard members, the Town Clerk, and the justices of the peace. Blanche Lamore is the chair. Its quasi-judicial functions are limited by state law. Most activities relate to elections and tax appeals:

a. Elections. Justices of the peace are members of the board of civil authority (BCA). Members of the BCA serve as election officials at town elections by Australian ballot and statewide elections. Justices also are responsible for delivering absentee ballots to voters at election time.
b. Tax Abatement and Appeals. Justices of the peace sit as members of the town board for abatement of taxes to determine whether a taxpayer's tax obligation should be forgiven under certain circumstances. Justices of the peace also serve an important role in the town's tax appeal process. As a member of the board of civil authority, justices sit to hear and decide appeals when citizens do not agree with the final decision of the listers.

Since the select board is part of the BCA, I guess we'll have to depend on the justices of the peace to keep things peaceful . . .

I've had the scanner on this afternoon and just heard there is a tree across Rt. 2 in the area of Marshfield Dam (Molly's Falls Dam), apparently bringing down some power lines and traffic cannot get through. The crews are heading there now. Could be an unpleasant night.