It often amazes me the people I hear from who have come across this blog and something I've written about has jogged their memory back a few decades. Some get in touch, some write an anonymous comment, or some, like Joe's Ponder Patti Powell Nichols yesterday or Ann St. Pierre in Rhode Island today, write a nice note and sign it.

Ann St. Pierre responded today to something I'd written some time ago about barn dances at Frye's barn. Here's what she said:

I remember Frye's Barn very well. My husband used to play there on Saturday nights with a band called Bushwhack. We had some great times there. The family who owned the place were great.

Now, isn't that really nice? I bet there are a bunch of folks who probably heard that band and maybe even remember Ann and her husband. Ann, if you're reading this, thank you for getting in touch.

Then there's a fellow blogger my middle son, Bob, sent me a link for today. I'm sure you'll enjoy his stories, and probably lots of you know Gary Schoolcraft in Peacham. He and Bob are friends, and from reading his stories, I can tell Gary's mom and I had a lot in common. Just the name of his blog pretty much tells it all: When Kids Were Allowed to be Kids

Today has been a busy one for us. We did errands in St. Johnsbury this morning, starting off by delivering Joe's Pond directories to a couple of members who don't get out and about like they used to. First we visited Peggy Brickett Hosmer on Otis Drive here at the pond. I don't see Peggy often, but we chat on the phone from time to time. She had told me about her bear, and this morning I got to see it - it's HUGE! and it sits contentedly on her sofa, keeping her company at camp. It's stuffed, of course, but looks very real. Not your usual kind of teddy-bear. Peggy said her grandchildren mostly love it . . . but I can see how it would be pretty scary for some folks who didn't realize it is a stuffed toy.

Later in the morning, we dropped in on Rosalie Harris in St. Johnsbury. Rosalie is another lovely lady I don't see often, but with whom I chat on the phone sometimes. She was chipper this morning, as always, and introduced me to another Joe's Ponder, Alice "Lucille" Towle, who with her husband, owns of one of the Point Comfort condos.

We ran short of time and had to rush home so I could get to the historical society museum in Cabot where Bonnie, our president, was trying to get things in order ready to be open on the Fourth. I had two boxes of material to take there, which was just a small part of what I hope to have ready sometime next week. But I'll need to go back next week because I could only work a short time today since we'd made plans to celebrate our anniversary, which is actually tomorrow, with Bill and Diane Rossi.

We headed for Juniper's at the Wildflower Inn in Lyndonville on schedule, but we were held up in Danville - not once, but three times - and thought we might be late for our reservation. However, the total time lost wasn't much and we got there with time to spare.












We took a short side trip up to the chapel - the view and flowers are exceptional. (See pictures above.) At right is the interior. It's such a lovely spot, but the wind was whipping on that very exposed hilltop, and without sunshine to warm us, we didn't linger, and got to the restaurant right on time.












As we were leaving Juniper's, there were a couple of goats and a couple of donkeys in the barnyard. They were all used to being petted and put on a bit of a show for us, complete with sound effects.

We all enjoyed our meal and the view; it was a lovely evening, and we were happy to celebrate with good friends. Diane snapped this picture.

Fred mentioned something about my getting through "another year with Chesley," which doesn't mean much to most people, but it came from a skit Billy DeWolfe used to do as "Mrs. Murgatroyd" in which he dressed in drag and complained about having spent "twelve long years with Chesley," the imaginary husband. I know some of you will remember Billy DeWolfe and his "busy, busy, busy" routine. He died in 1974 (I looked it up on wikipedia.org), but every now and then he pops up in some old movie. Anyway, I've spent 28 years with my "Chesley" and I must admit, it hasn't seemed long at all.