Today has been pretty nice, in spite of some snow still on the ground. Our overnight low was not too bad - 25.3. Today it got up to almost 50 degrees, but only for a short time and it's on the way down again now.

We had a very nice red fox walk across our front lawn this morning. I happened to be looking out the big window, but there wasn't time to get the camera. He looked very healthy and seemed to be in no particular hurry. Our cat, Woody, spied him right away and watched carefully until the fox was out of sight in the woods on the lower side of our property. We know foxes will take a cat if they can, and worry when Woody is outside, but it appears Woody recognizes the danger, too. We haven't seen many foxes around in the past few years.

I had been looking with the binoculars at the marsh by Bill Hamilton's this morning. There was some "cat ice" showing there, and seemed to be a long finger of ice stretching down that far shore. It did get pretty cold just before we got the snow, so no surprise that some of the shallower coves had some ice.

Here's an interesting bit - Pam Hebert ran in the half-marathon and won first place in her category, women age 61-69. Congratulations, Pam! This was the fourth annual Kingdom Challenge Road Race that takes place between Lyndonville and St. Johnsbury. A half-marathon is 13.1 mi. A long run, in my estimation, but for Pam it was probably an easy workout. We often see her trotting through West Danville on the rail trail. I think Joe does some running, too, and may have been in the men's division Saturday.

I haven't heard anything about the stray kitten Joyce Rogers contacted us about last evening. Sure hope she found the owner or someone who will take good care of her. Poor little thing. Joyce said she was trying hard to get in their front door, so she was apparently pretty desperate to get in out of the wet and cold last night.

We heard from Fred's brother, Tom, in Laconia, NH yesterday. They got 18 inches of snow. In a few weeks Tom and Ella will be heading for Colorado for the winter. Tom is a ski instructor at a resort out there. I believe this storm dumped a lot more than 18 inches in Colorado before it got here, so there should be a pretty good base for skiing by the time Tom and Ella arrive.

The south facing hills around the pond are nearly bare again, but we still have quite a bit on the ground on our side of the pond. Fred went to recycle in Wolcott today and got this picture out in Walden where they usually get a little more snow than we do here. Look at that sky, though. Hardly a cloud, but as the day has progressed, more clouds formed and right now the sun is completely obscured. I don't think we're going to get more snow, but with the cloud cover, the temperature probably won't go quite as low.

This picture isn't what you might think at first glance. The cheerful guy behind bars is actually Postmaster Garey Larrabee, and the post office is in one end of Hastings Store, owned by Garey and his family. Besides taking good care of our mail, Garey also knows his way around the bakery at the back of the store. He is up early in the morning whipping up doughnuts, muffins, cookies, cakes and pies to sell in the store - then he heads into the little post office cubicle to sort mail, usually with a cup of hot coffee and a warm just-out-of-the-oven muffin. I'm betting he has lots of company these cold, snowy mornings. Coffee and a muffin are just the ticket for the commute to work. Breakfast on the go. Great way to start the day.

Joyce Rogers just contacted us about a stray kitty that showed up today at their house on West Shore Road. Here's what Joyce wrote:










Hope we can find this kitty's home or someone that will care for her.

She is not a year old and very loving. Tricolored long hair female. It was hard to take a good photo, as she didn't stop moving.

Joyce

563-2264

If you recognize this little lady, give Joyce a call. These nights are not for kittens to be outside in the snow. We don't know if she strayed away from home or if she was dropped off by someone hoping a kind soul like Joyce would take her in. She's safely inside and happy to be there tonight, but Joyce already has an adult cat so won't be able to keep this kitten, even though she sure is a cutie.

We got snow last night, as predicted. We were at Bill and Diane Rossi's for dinner and there was a light covering of snow on the grass when we came out to head home around 9:30. The car had an inch or more of snow on the windshield and it seemed pretty "normal" to be brushing it off and then shivering in a cold car all the way home. We completely forgot we have seat warmers, but for the short distance from their house to ours, it was no big problem. This morning, I measured 4 inches of snow on our deck - I'd forgotten to put out the "official" snow board, which is white and therefore stays cooler to get a more accurate measurement than on the wood of the deck or the ground, but there is a white metal table still on our deck, and that served perfectly.

I took this picture a few minutes ago. It's still snowing lightly although the sun also breaks through the clouds from time to time, and the thermometer is rising pretty steadily. Our overnight low was 29.0 and it's 36.7 (by the new min/max thermometer).

A pretty day with snow-covered trees - more like Christmas than Halloween, although snow for Halloween here at Joe's Pond is not that unusual. We are more fortunate than some of our neighbors in New Hampshire and southern Vermont who got really socked with anywhere from foot to 18 inches or more.

While we were enjoying a delicious meal of baked-in-a-bag chicken and some of Walter Ruf's beets and potatoes, Andre LaPrade called from Florida to find out how much snow was at Joe's Pond. At the time he called, we were unaware if it was snowing, so Diane may have given him wrong information when she told him we didn't have any yet.

I was at the Cabot Historical Society building yesterday afternoon to help close up the building and put away Apple Pie Festival stuff. Enough people showed up to get the work done quickly so Bonnie decided not to start a fire in the big old pot-bellied stove. We counted paper plates and plastic forks and spoons, getting the job done in record time and were out of there in less than an hour. It's always good to have everything put away for another year. Once cold weather comes, it's hard to get the door of the building open, and way too cold in there to work; even if we built a fire, it would take too long to warm the place to a comfortable level. We'll tackle other projects at home this winter and start fresh in the spring.

I can hardly ever drive by the Cabot Plain Cemetery without stopping to take a picture of the mountains. Yesterday was no exception. It was quiet there, nothing moving on the road or in the fields, and the wind was coming straight and chilled from Canada. This is looking north to Jay Peak and Canada beyond. That's the famous "Foster Covered Bridge" and the little white Walbridge School House. The cemetery is across the road, behind where I was standing. I should have taken a picture of the cemetery with the White Mountains beyond, but I was already cold from working at the historical society building and that wind was biting. No wonder the first settlers in Cabot who had built log cabins there in the 1790's gradually moved off the pinnacle after a few years. Later, there would be others who chose to farm on the highest hills in town - the Stone, Cate, Cross, Goodale, Barnett, Springer, Morse and Bolton families. But today, they are all gone except two. The Stone farm is now owned by Richard Spaulding who doesn't keep any animals, but he sugars and hays every year; the other is the Bolton farm where I grew up, which is sometimes in use with a few cattle or horses on the place, depending on who is renting it.

Even my parents moved off the hill to build this house when my dad was no longer working on the farm. They loved this spot, as we do. The view of the pond was grander forty years ago, and the trees around the house not quite as big as they are now, but there's a lot about the place that's the same - comfortable and tucked under the hill, out of the wind - most of the time.

HUNTER’S BREAKFAST

SPONSORED BY THE CABOT CUB SCOUTS

PACK #746

ALL YOU CAN EAT!!

Eggs, bacon, pancakes, sausage and coffee

Cabot School Cafeteria

Date: November 12, 2011

Time: 4:30am – 10:00am

Price: $5.00 per person

$15.00 family of 4

$20.00 family of 5 or more

Any questions:

Jim Lubas- 456-1361

Rita Durgin – 563-2826

Rebecca Nally – 563-3503

We had a little snow last night. It really didn't stick to much, but the temperature hasn't gone up much all day, either, in spite of the bright sunshine. Mostly it's been in the 30's. I reported a trace of snow, and I guess we're going to have more on Saturday night.

We're making all kinds of progress here at "Jane's Weather Station." When we were in St. Johnsbury yesterday, I picked up a 10' piece of PVC for my snow depth post. There were a couple of guys behind the counter while I was being helped by a very nice female clerk - she and I zipped out to the storage building across from the main store and found just what I needed and she found a cap for it - and it took no time at all. The guys had overheard me telling her I would be cutting about 4' off the 10' piece, and I guess they thought I'd be using the 4' piece to measure the snow. When I said I would be using the 6' piece, they kind of snickered and I'm sure thought I was out of my mind. One said he sure hoped we didn't get that much snow, and I heartily agreed with him, but having had experience with a 4' stake buried out of sight, I want to be sure I have something in place I'm not going to have to jimmy-rig because it doesn't do the job. I checked the ones for sale on a website and they are only 30"! They wouldn't be much use here most winters, I'd have to say.

Before I got lazy, we used to put up an outdoor clothesline every spring. Fred dug a hole and made me a nice cement receptical for the old folding clothesline my mother always had out when my parents lived here. I used to look forward to hanging the laundry outside, but I never do it now - seems like I have too much to do to spend time pinning clothes to the lines and then rushing to get them in before it rains or the dew falls on them. So the hole in the ground was a little hard to find - I'd covered it neatly with a flat stone and in the three or four years (probably way more) that it hasn't been used, grass had neatly covered the stone and we had to probe for it.

Fred cut the PVC to size for me and I marked off 5' 10 ". With any luck, we won't come close to burying it this winter. It's away from any really large trees, in about the only spot we could find that doesn't drift much and is still close enough to the house so I can check it with the binoculars. I will take core samples from time to time, but now I can at least report snow depth on a regular basis - without wading through snow or using snowshoes.

Then, happily, my new thermometer with minimum and maximum readings came in the mail today. That is now attached to a window in the kitchen that won't get much sun. Now if I had a proper wind gauge . . .

The neighbor's dog put Woody up a tree this morning. Cassie, Henretta's dog, has just been diagnosed with diabetes, and has been feeling poorly, but when she arrived home with Henretta in the car and found Woody ambling across her lawn, she sprang into action and gave chase. I think it gave her a whole new lease on life. Woody normally doesn't run from dogs, but apparently Cassie obviously surprised him, so he didn't stop to find out if she meant business, he just flew into the nearest tree.

Fred and I were just coming down Jamie's hill on our noon-time run/walk when we heard the commotion. Otto was with us, but he was more interested in Cassie than he was Woody, so he trotted right over to see what all the fuss was about. I think Cassie was a little timid about Otto's presence, so she scrambled back to Henretta. Cassie is normally full of barks but prefers to be on "the other side of the door" when she's confronted with another dog. Smart girl.

Henretta was able to collar Cassie and the neighborhood settled down. Fred went on with his run back up the hill with Otto, I gave a whistle for Woody, but I could see he was still crouched on a limb at least 20 feet up a big maple on the far side of Henretta's lawn, and I didn't expect him to come down right away. However, a few minutes later, I saw Otto racing up our driveway and into the garage - obviously looking for Woody, so I guessed Woody was home. He hung out in the woodpile until Fred was back, and then he came in and made it only to the middle of the kitchen where he sprawled in the middle of the floor, exhausted. He's asleep by the fire now - happy to be in a safe place and able to get in some nap time before the evening hunt. I expect that's more exercise than he's had for a while.

Work Update

Danville Route 2 Project

Project: Danville FEGC 028-3(32)

WEEK OF 10/31/11

NIGHT WORK:

No night work is planned for next week.

DAY WORK:

WATER LINE SERVICES- work on water services will continue along Route 2 between Mountainview Drive and the Danville School throughout the week.

DUCT BANK - Crews will work on installing duct banks in and around the Village Green.

STORM DRAIN – Crews will work on storm drain in and around the Village Green.

ROAD WORK – In anticipation of paving Route 2, crews will be grading the roadway between Park Street and the Danville School. Crews will also be adjusting the height of catch basins so they will match the height of the new pavement.

Contact Francine Perkins, Public Relations Officer, FRP Enterprises, LLC with any questions or concerns with regard to this project at 802-479-6994 or for a more up to date schedule visit www.roadworkupdates.com.

IMPORTANT NOTICE!
This came from Jenn Persons this morning:
Just an FYI for everyone a Rabid Skunk was found and killed in Walden, VT. It was going after the residents' animals so they shot and killed it, and it was later tested and found to have rabies. So I was asked to pass this info along in case some one sees anything looking suspicious. Please keep all household pets current with their Rabies Vaccines. If you have any questions or concern you can contact me: Jenn Persons 563-2058.

Come to a Halloween Party!

Stories, Crafts and Party with a Pot Luck Supper

Old Schoolhouse Common in Marshfield

Friday, October 28 starting at 6 PM

We will start with sharing a meal together- Potluck Style.

Then move onto stories and crafts with our librarian.

We will decorate cookies and cupcakes to share, play a few games and have a costume parade with goodies for all.

All Ages Are Welcome!!!

Contact Laurie Martin 454-8441 or Susan Green 426-3581

On Monday I got very ambitious, what with the nice weather and forecast of colder weather later in the week, so I decided to do some fall chores I'd been putting off. Nobody really enjoys washing windows, right? But I was inspired - especially by the dust and fly specks that had collected on my office window even though I've washed it frequently over the summer. Being a southern exposed window, it collects all sorts of critters this time of year looking for their last warmup.

I can't reach the top of the window in front of my desk without a step-stool, so I grabbed our short one in the kitchen - a miserable piece of equipment that is known to have an appetite for fingers - and before I could stop myself, opened it from the wrong side and it caught the tip of my finger even as I was trying to snatch it away. I don't remember what I said, but I bet it wasn't pretty. Nobody was around to hear - Fred had gone to work on the pontoon boat at camp.

Long story short, I plunged the finger into icy water, muttering at the stabbing pain and decided to just bandage it to stop the bleeding and get on with the windows. It worked out pretty well since the damaged finger was left hand ring finger, but it's surprising how many times a sore digit can be accidentally bumped. I got the windows done, and when Fred got home, he did the outsides of the ones I couldn't get from inside, and now we're finished.

Doing the windows started me back on the window quilt project, partly because I know time is getting short, but mostly because I couldn't type with my sore finger. I got quite a lot done, and will work on them again today. The finger is much better, but I expect I'll lose the nail. No big deal, but I was amused that I'd worked for weeks moving heavy stones around for my garden patio and walkway and fully expected to crush fingers at least a couple times, but finished unscathed, only to get pinched by a kitchen step-stool I'd opened thousands of times without incident, having learned the hard way years ago. Such is the nature of household accidents, I guess - they happen when you least expect, and often by carelessness or rushing.

When Fred got home from working on the pontoon boat, I asked him how it went - expecting the usual just fine response, but instead I got - if it wasn't for bad luck I'd have had no luck at all. So of course I couldn't very well launch into how I'd pinched my finger in a careless moment, could I? He said he jacked up the boat trailer to try to drain the pontoons of some water he could hear sloshing - something that happens over time and he's gone through the procedure any number of times over the years without mishap; but when he tried to lower the thing, it locked up and wouldn't budge. No big deal except that's not the way you want to leave the thing for the winter.









Yesterday he went back and worked on it with Jamie and Will (who lives at camp) and after unloading the boat and working with lubricants to free the seized mechanism, they were successful and the boat and trailer are set for winter.

Today is partly sunny - lots of clouds, but every now and then the sun breaks through. The temperature isn't moving up much, though. I'm not sure if we had a light frost last night or not, but when I reported precipitation (.04) at 9 a.m., the thermometer was at 39 degrees. Now, two hours later, it's only at 42. I've ordered a new thermometer that will record the high and low temperatures, so once that is in place, and I figure out how to work it, I will have a better handle on just how cold or hot we are around here. I am also going to set up a measuring stick for snow depth this year. I used to have one - a yard stick I could read from the window with binoculars - but all too often it got buried, so I haven't used it for a long time. I think I'll use a piece of PVC pipe and paint the numbers on it. I'm sure I have scraps of it that will be tall enough. I need to get going, though. We're expecting "a trace to 2 inches" later this week. I don't expect the ground will be frozen too hard to dig to set the post, but it will be better working conditions if I get it done soon.

Kids Halloween Party at the Cabot Gym

Monday, October 31st from 6:00 to 8:00 P.M.

There will be games to play, a haunted maze and prizes for best costumes.

Sponsored by the Cabot PTO

Questions? Please call Wendy Barnett at 563-9907.

+++++

CABOT CUB SCOUTS PACK #746
3^RD ANNUAL CHRISTMAS WREATH SALE

If you are interested in purchasing a Christmas wreath or swag please contact your local Cub Scouts.

**Sales are to begin October 24^th and delivery will be the week of November 20^th.

We will be decorating the wreaths at the Cabot Fire Station on November 20^th for last minute purchases.

Double-sided decorated 20in wreaths- $20

Decorated swags - $10

Any questions please contact:

James Lubas- 456-1361

Rebecca Nally- 563-3503

Rita Durgin – 563-2826

The Cub Scouts would like to thank you for your continued support!!

This came from Jack LaGue this morning:

We took our last boat ride of the season yesterday and found a bright orange 55 gallon plastic barrel floating in the middle of the pond. I towed it over to my Mom's place and the owner can pick it up there or call me at 476 4505. I don't have a picture of the barrel.

However, I do have an interesting picture of the sunrise this morning and thought the reflection of the sun in the mirror-like water and the condensation rising from the pond made an interesting combination. Unfortunately, it didn't last long though .

That's a tease, Jack, for all those people who have left the pond for the winter and are missing these great sunrises/sunsets. Thanks for sending it - nice shot. This is just the beginning for Jack and Sue who will be spending their first winter at Joe's Pond. There will be lots of great photo-ops, I'm sure, and I hope you continue to share.

Of course, this all works in reverse, too. Those of you basking in the mild temperatures of your winter "escapes" in Florida, Arizona, California, and every spot in between, are welcome to send photos of your "warm scenery" and activities to taunt us as we brave the elements here at Joe's Pond.

We had a light frost here last night - not our first; we had a couple frosty nights a few weeks back. We are expecting the temperatures to continue a downward trend now, and frosts will be a nightly event. While there have been a few snowflakes reported in the hills of Walden and on Cabot Plain, we haven't seen any here. However, the forecast last night was for "accumulating" snow later in the week. Maybe. The forecasts are not always right on.

We're ready, though. We've got the snow blower tuned up and waiting for its first run whenever needed. We were at son Jamie's yesterday and saw his latest acquisition - a small second-hand walk-behind John Deere snow blower he picked up to use on their deck. It's a perfect size and will be so much easier than shoveling. Even our small deck is a chore to keep clear - enough so I've said if I had it to do over, I would not build an exposed deck. I'd go with covered, screened porches with steep-pitched roofs. One day, when I gather enough courage, I think we will enclose our deck. Even though it isn't huge, like Jamie's, it's hard to keep clear of snow, and if we didn't shovel it, the snow would soon block the front door, and that wouldn't be safe. I want plenty of escape routes, just in case. However there are certain disadvantages. I keep my CoCoRaHS rain gauge on the deck this time of year so I don't have to put on boots to get to it, and if we enclosed the deck I'd need to find another nearby location. Complications of positioning in the snow, away from the snow blower area, etc., make it really difficult.

The thermometer has climbed from 39 degrees at 9 a.m. to 42 now, at nearly 10 a.m., so it's going to be a nice day worth getting outside to enjoy.

Our day started off cool and bright - about 40 degrees, but bright sunshine. Now it's about 48 degrees and clouded over. So far we haven't had any rain, but I wouldn't want to bet against it.

I think it's about the same temperature as yesterday, but we got a little rain then. We went to the soccer game between Walden and Waterford schools, at Walden, and standing on the sidelines it was pretty chilly, even with our winter parkas on. It was mainly feet and hands that suffered, but for the hour and a half or so we were there, it wasn't too bad, and it didn't rain enough for us to open our umbrellas. Theresa and Marie came - Bob and Jamie couldn't make it - and of course Bill, Monika and baby Tangeni were there. Tangeni seemed to want to be where the action was, but her Mommy was concerned about the cold weather, so most of the time Tangeni was in the warm car while her big sister was on the playing field.








At 3 1/2 months, Tangeni is already very good at letting folks know when she is displeased with what's happening - especially when it's happening to her. She apparently had an aversion to the harness her mom tried to strap her into so they could both be outside watching the game. It obviously didn't work for Tangeni and she protested loudly every time Monika tried to hitch her into it. I thought maybe she wasn't happy having to face towards her mom and away from the action, but each try in that sling met with her strong disapproval.

It was fun watching the youngsters play. They were all seventh and eighth grade students, and because both schools are small, boys and girls played together. Also, both teams colors are green, so Waterford wore yellow and orange vests. The Waterford team lost to Walden, 3-1. That's Jo-Ann in this picture, and although she doesn't look cold here, she was eager to get her hands under warm water as soon as she got to our house. Everyone came back here for some hot lunch, happy to be where it was "Fred degrees" by the wood stove.









While we were waiting for the corn bread to finish baking, we got to catch up with everyone a little bit. Even though we're all in close proximity, we really don't all get together often, and we've all be busy this fall. The picture above is (left to right) me, Theresa and Monika. We were giggling about Jamie dropping in to see his nieces, but he was too busy to stay for lunch. Not having time to eat is unusual for Jamie, but he hadn't seen either Jo-Ann or Tangeni for a while and this was too good an opportunity to miss. We'll be getting together again if a few weeks for Thanksgiving at Bill and Monika's.

By the way, something about the way blogger.com now displays photos has changed. If you click on a picture to enlarge it, you can see all the other photos posted in that particular entry. The thing to remember is to click on the "x" at the upper right corner of the picture screen to get back to the blog, otherwise, you may end up on home page of the website and have to go into the blog all over again to finish reading. These things get changed by blogger.com from time to time without notice and I have no choice in the matter. I liked it better when the pictures were presented as a separate page, but I like the way the pictures look on the screen now better than the old way. Again, it's a trade off, but one over which I have no control.

Right now I need to try to get a new page up on the Cabot Historical Society website, www.cabothistory.com A while back Kate Chatot asked me some questions regarding Cabot's history, with the intent of incorporating that information into the town plan that is nearing completion. I was able to give her the information, but in the process of finding it, I started taking notes and eventually found myself with a long list of "happenings" from the past. I really like information to be ordered, preferably chronologically. It makes more sense to me than searching in several books or manuscripts, finding meaningful dates which I seldom remember, and having to refer back and forth trying to grasp the facts. So I assembled my penciled notes and spent some time putting them into a document that I was later able to arrange chronologically. I realize my list is going to go on and on and probably will require corrections along the way, but it's a start, and might be of use to someone, somewhere, if it's available on the website. It's definitely a case of "way more information than originally asked for" and I didn't burden Kate with all of it; but for me it was interesting journey, and I now have a clearer understanding of Cabot's early years.

What’s Next?

A Community Discussion on Vermont’s Health Care Future

Hardwick Town House
Tuesday, October 25th 6:30-8:00pm

Hosted by Representatives Lucy Leriche, Linda Martin, & Sam Young

Representatives Lucy Leriche, Linda Martin, and Sam Young will host a community discussion on the vision, timeline and potential impact of Vermont’s health care reform efforts. We’ll use your questions, concerns, and ideas as a jumping off point to a lively and informative discussion. The event is a chance to consider all viewpoints, share your thoughts, and ask questions. Family friendly, light refreshments served.

Panelists include:

• Senator Claire Ayer, Chair, Senate Health & Welfare Committee

• Representative Mike Fisher, Vice-Chair, House Health Care Committee

• Commissioner Steve Kimbell, State of Vermont, Banking, Insurance, Securities and Health Care Administration

Questions?: Contact Lucy Leriche, lleriche@leg.state.vt.us

Sponsored by Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility, Vermont Public Interest Research Group, Vermont Health Care for All.

Work Update

Danville Route 2 Project

Project: Danville FEGC 028-3(32)

WEEK OF 10/24/11

NIGHT WORK:

Sunday through Thursday nights this week, crews will be working on installing water line and storm drain during overnight hours (6:30pm to 5:30 am) between Peacham Road and the Danville School/Walden Hill area.

If a night shift(s) is cancelled due to inclement weather, crews will make up the night shift Friday night or a night the following week.

DAY WORK:

WATER LINE SERVICES- work on water services will continue along Route 2 between the Village Green and the Danville School throughout the week.

DUCT BANK - Crews will work on installing duct banks in and around the Village Green.

STORM DRAIN – Crews will work on storm drain from Marty’s to Mountainview Drive.

BLASTING – No blasting will take place. Blasting operations are complete, however, if unexpected ledge is encountered, blasting crews may return to remove the ledge.

Contact Francine Perkins, Public Relations Officer, FRP Enterprises, LLC with any questions or concerns with regard to this project at 802-479-6994 or for a more up to date schedule visit www.roadworkupdates.com.

This came from Jack LaGue on Sandy Beach Road this morning:

Good morning Jane,

The stiff wind from the south that we had last night and this morning deposited two items on Mom's beach.

The first is an O'Brien Super Bouncer and the second is a piece of wood dock, about 7' long and 4' wide. See pictures of each below.

Can you please post these on the blog and ask that their owners call me at 476 4505? I still have my boat in the water so I could tow the bouncer to where it belongs if I just knew where that is. The dock would easily fit in a pickup truck.

Jack

We are so glad Jack and Sue are keeping a sharp eye on the water and shoreline. Things keep getting moved around - it doesn't seem to register with folks that nothing can be left to chance on their waterfronts. The wind and rising water can and will remove items that are not secured.

We are getting a strong east wind this morning. The leaves that were not stripped by the north and west winds and rain of the past couple of days are being taken down today. We've had a little sunshine struggling through the clouds, and more is promised for later today, but for now it's a dreary day. The good news is that the temperature is hovering right around 60 degrees. Fred had a nice fire in the wood stove this morning, but we're letting it go out for the rest of the day. We may need another this evening, but for now the house is very comfortable.

We're both trying to catch up after being away almost all of yesterday. I need to get back to the window curtain project, but with the mild weather, I'm not very motivated. I've been experiencing some symptoms of some kind of allergy this past week. It started a while back when I was tearing down vines and cutting back the flowers around the house. At first I thought it was a cold, but since it has persisted and never really developed into what seems to be a real cold, I'm accepting that it's some kind of allergic reaction. It's probably household dust, or wood smoke . . . or maybe Woody dander . . . which means I'll probably just do the best I can and endure the symptoms. I'm certainly not going to get rid of the cat, and while I may try to control the dust and wood smoke, for the next few months both are probably going to be a reality and I'll just have to deal with it.

Word around the pond is that there's a nice new sea wall at the Jacobs' cottage on Clubhouse Circle. We haven't seen it yet, but those who have say it's very nicely done.

CABOT

RECREATION

If you would like to have a rink on the common this winter please call Libby Hale 563-3226 libbyhale1@gmail.com or Susie Socks 563-2073 cabotfarm@gmail.com and let us know how you are able to help

If we don’t have reliable and dedicated maintenance assistance to keep the ice good it’s not worth putting up the rink. Keeping the ice properly is more of a job than just a few can take on. Please sign on to help so we can have a rink this year!

FAITH IN ACTION’S COMMUNITY HANDWORK SOCIALS – STARTING AGAIN!

Dear Neighbors and Caregivers,

Faith in Action invites you to a FUN, FREE event on November 3rd, 10 AM – 1 PM. We are starting up the Handwork Socials just in time for the Holidays! Come join us at Faith in Action in the Masonic Hall on Main Street, Cabot for a morning of creativity led by Sandy Atkins ending with a delicious lunch.

In the past, members have created wooden crafts, knit or crocheted hats for needy children and pre-mature infants, painted artwork, in addition to other unique craft projects.

During our November 3^rd Social, Sandy will lead us in the making of Japanese Kimekomi (fabric handballs to be used as a decoration or an ornament!). Don’t worry about your skill level. We have all the tools and materials; the fabric will be pre-cut for you and we should all be able to leave the Social with a completed craft to keep or give away!

We will also be asking you what crafts you are interested in creating at future Handwork Socials! And if you have a special talent that you would like to share, please let us know! We want this to be a fun, social and productive time.

Please RSVP to 563-3322 or fiancp@vtlink.net so we make sure we have enough crafts and food!

We hope to see you there!

TRAFFIC ALERT

Danville Route 2 Project

Project: Danville FEGC 028-3(32)

HILL STREET CLOSURE – OVERNIGHT 10/18-19

Issued: October 18, 2011 @ 12:30 pm

Access to Hill Street from Route 2 will be closed starting at 6:00 pm tonight and will continue throughout the night so crews can work on storm drain installation. Motorists are encouraged to use Highland Ave as an alternate route to access Hill Street and Route 2.

Thank you for your patience!!!!

Contact Francine Perkins, Public Relations Officer, FRP Enterprises, LLC with any questions or concerns with regard to this project at 802-479-6994 or for a more up to date schedule visit www.roadworkupdates.com.

*****

TEAM UP “FOR FLOOD RELIEF” AT THE WAYSIDE RESTAURANT, sponsored by UPS and KEATING CONSTRUCTION    TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25   Food Drive: Between Noon and 5PM. See the UPS Flame Car and drop off a non-perishable food item for local food shelves.  Dinner Benefit: From 5– 9PM, twenty-five percent (25%) of dinner proceeds will be donated to Green Mountain United Way for local flood relief needs. If you are unable to attend, you can still donate by sending your donation to: Relief Needs, Green Mountain United Way, 963 Paine Turnpike N#2, Montpelier, VT 05602 or online at www.gmunitedway.org

*****

Sue Rousse-LaGue posted a comment:

Hey Joe's Ponders, we are finally a single home owner as of today. We sold our house in Barre Town and will have our first whole winter here. We'll see how long we can hold out - got 3 cord of wood and a truck with four wheel drive so that should do us. For folks that need to reach us, we kept our Barre # so its 476-4505 and we don't have a Cabot number. Stop by sometime. We are still moving in so don't mind the boxes. Sue LaGue

Thanks for letting folks know you are officially "year 'rounders" now, Sue. We're very glad you and Jack made the decision to make Joe's Pond your all-time home, at least for now. I'm sure you'll love watching from your cozy new home as the pond freezes over and you'll be excited to cross-country ski or snowshoe or snowmobile on the pond or in the woods whenever you want. Last year about this time we were watching as the workers took down most of your former cottage and began building your new house. We took this picture on October 19, 2010!
Congratulations! and Welcome to the Neighborhood!

Work Update

Danville Route 2 Project

Project: Danville FEGC 028-3(32)

WATER INTERRUPTION UPDATE

October 17, 2011 – 11:40 am

The water main break has been repaired and water services have been restored to those along Route 2 between Smith Street and Marty’s, including Mountainview Drive.

Thank you for your patience!!!!

Contact Francine Perkins, Public Relations Officer, FRP Enterprises, LLC with any questions

Work Update

Danville Route 2 Project

Project: Danville FEGC 028-3(32)

WATER INTERRUPTION

October 17, 2011 – 10:00 am

Due to a water main break, water services are currently interrupted along Route 2 from Smith Street to Marty’s, and including Mountainview Drive. Crews are working as quickly as possible to repair the break and restore water services.

Contact Francine Perkins, Public Relations Officer, FRP Enterprises, LLC with any questions or concerns with regard to this project at 802-479-6994 or for a more up to date schedule visit www.roadworkupdates.com.

This just in from Henretta Splain -

Hi Fred and Jane,

Evidently Dave's dog came home. Just wanted to let you all know. Some good news!

That is good news. Apparently "Reuger" is a smart dog and knew how to make his way home. Hopefully he wasn't hurt too badly.

These rainy days our cat, Woody, gets a little frustrated. He usually goes out pretty early in the morning and on good days, we may not see him for several hours. On rainy days, he doesn't stay out very long, and when he comes in from outdoors he asks to go into the garage - like the weather will be better if he goes out that door, or goes to the back door and after peering out at the rain for a long moment, he gives it up and decides not to go out. It always takes him a while - like two or three minutes - to figure out it's raining at all the exits. His next decision is where to take a nap. For a while he was always in my chair in the living room. Then I fixed a bench in front of the window for him where he could look outdoors and (hopefully) realize it was raining, or he could watch birds or whatever; then for a while he favored the bed in the guest room, but now he takes his day-long naps on our bed. As soon as it begins to get dark, the routine begins again, and we are busy letting him out and answering his insistent knocks until he's figured out his best option is probably the litter box in the basement.

While Woody napped, Fred and I went for a walk between showers. I wasn't up for a long walk, but once outside, it was actually pretty nice. There are a lot of leaves on the ground - wet and mostly brown or pale yellow - and the air smelled fresh with a tinge of wood smoke (probably ours). There were not many people out and about, but we saw our neighbor, Barbara Pupino - she and Mike live down the road across from the Encarnacions, and we complimented her on how nice their house looks. They've recently painted it and replaced the roof, and it looks very nice. She said the red was getting pretty dull and after a great deal of deliberation, they chose a pretty blue - Barbara called it "Cape Cod blue." We like it a lot.

Further down the road, we noticed Helen Morrison has had some trees cut between her place on the hill and the road. I expect that improves her view of the pond. As we were going by, a nice fat partridge took flight from among the tree stumps.

After the wind and rain today, there aren't many leaves left around the pond. Even the tamaracks aren't as lush as they usually are. They are normally our second foliage season, showing bright yellow against the dark hillsides after all the maples and birches have dropped their leaves. This year the tamaracks near our place seem to have already dropped their needles. We'll know for sure once the sun comes out and things dry out a bit.

Where the brook goes under the road through the big culvert in the dip near Keenan's (used to be the Smith cottage), there was a washout from the storm we had at the end of May. It took a while for the town to fix it. The holes are filled now but we were surprised today at how high the road is above the brook, especially on the lower side towards the pond. We're hoping the town puts up some guard rails there before winter. The road is steep on both sides of the brook, and it's not unusual to find it slippery there, so if a car happened to skid there's nothing there now to keep it from careening over the banks. Towards Keenan's, it would be quite a drop into the brook. The upper side isn't quite as bad, but either way it could be dangerous. It seemed to us it was a bigger drop now than before the road washed out.

We found there was some nice color in individual trees, and got this picture of a young maple near Gardner's. Even with no sun, it was still pretty.

I guess everyone knows about Pete, the Moose who won the hearts of many of us a couple years ago. Here's that story: Pete's Story

Sadly, Pete's story doesn't have a happy ending. Somebody goofed badly - actually, it seems as if there may have been a number of "goofs," all handled badly. Lots of people are saddened by the whole thing, especially his benefactor from the beginning, David Lawrence. Here's a link to the end of the story: Pete the Moose is Dead

A quick recap of precipitation reports from Joe's Pond, using "Water Year" beginning Oct. 1 and ending Sept. 30, 2010 and 2011:

Total precipitation: 50.78" in 2010; 71.15" in 2011.
Total snowfall: 138.5" in 2010; 190.2" in 2011.

We are just beginning a new "Water Year" as of October 1.

Don't forget to check out the Apple Pie Festival in Cabot today. It's at the gym and there will be great food, fun, crafts, silent auction, games, something for everyone - and PIES! Be there in the morning for the contests to see which bakers win in their categories. There is an adult contest and one for youngsters. Lots of fun all day.

I've been catching up on newspapers that accumulated during the few days we were away, and finally got to this week's Hardwick Gazette last night. Just about everyone here in Vermont felt the effects of tropical storm Irene. There was way too much water coming at us in a short period of time and, of course, water levels in all our lakes and ponds rose to new heights - again. Locally we were surprised and then relieved when we heard that the Molly's Falls Dam just west of us on Rt. 2 in Cabot, was in danger of failing and the power company (Green Mountain Power) officials were scurrying to do whatever they could to prevent a huge disaster. Imagine what would happen to the homes downstream of the dam and Marshfield and Plainfield villages, and beyond if that dam broke.

The Gazette ran a story this week about GMP's meeting with local officials to discuss ways emergency notification can be handled better. That's fine, and I'm glad they are doing that, but it was a couple of paragraphs later that caught my eye. Here's some of that article:

GMP dam operator Dave Tetreault said the water level rose 15 feet in 90 minutes during tropical storm Irene. He alerted the control center at Colchester [Vermont], which passed it to senior management.

Tetreault said the Agency of Natural Resources would not let GMP open the dam at Peacham Pond and release water a couple of days before the storm. The dam could have been closed during Irene and held back water from Molly's Falls Pond, giving it some relief.

. . . [Jason] Lisai said 5,500 cfs is what would be released if the spillways were fully opened. This is the maximum amount of water GMP could manage, he said. Select Board member John Warshow asked "what does 5,500 cfs look like in Marshfield and Plainfield."

If the dam breached it would release 80,000 cfs at full height, said Lisai. He said a dam breach analysis was done by the company before Irene came through.

The article didn't say what the answer was to Warshow's question, but it did describe the events that night. Ken Couture, engineering and control center manager of GMP said at 5:45 p.m. he was informed by Tetreault about the rising water. At 7:56 p.m. an e-mail was sent to alert state police an evacuation was necessary. The emergency operations center for GMP called the Marshfield fire station at 7:25 p.m., but Deputy Chief Tim Morris said they had no idea how much water there was or what homes or businesses should be evacuated. People were getting information from WDEV radio or from second or third hand. Fortunately, the dam held and excessive water was not released.

The recent meeting of GMP with select board and fire department members in Cabot, Plainfield, and Marshfield, Central Vermont Regional Planning Commission and Vermont Emergency Management, may prevent confusion in the future, but one wonders if anyone at ANR is aware of just how close a call it was that night. ANR people should have been at that meeting, too, so they might gain some understanding of how they can assist instead of hinder the efforts of GMP in managing expected heavy rainfall. The ANR mindset of how they are protecting the ecosystem is way out of whack and they need to get real.

This just came from Kelli Merrill, courtesy of Henretta Splain:

Please watch out for a german shepard dog last seen by Goodfellas Restaurant on Rt. 2 east of Danville Village around dusk last night after being hit by a car on Route 2. He responds to a dog whistle and the name Ruger. He is a little over a year old. His owner is Dave Caplan (of Caplan's Army Store in St. Johnsbury) and can be reached at 802-684-9663. If found in bad shape and unable to get in touch with Dave, he can be brought to the Danville Vet located on Route 2 just east of Marty’s Mobile station in Danville.

*****

Work Update

Danville Route 2 Project

Project: Danville FEGC 028-3(32)

WEEK OF 10/17/11

NIGHT WORK:

As a result of a special Danville Selectboard meeting Wednesday Night, ten (10) overnight work shifts have been approved in an effort to complete the water line and storm drain work before freezing weather arrives.

Sunday through Friday nights this week, crews will be working on installing water line and storm drain during overnight hours (6:30pm to 5:30 am) between Highland Ave and the Danville School/Walden Hill area.

DAY WORK:

WATER LINE SERVICES- work on water services will continue along Route 2 between Peacham Road and Walden Hill Road throughout the week.

DUCT BANK - Crews will work on installing duct banks in and around the Village Green.

BLASTING – Blasting and ledge removal will continue on Route 2 near the school throughout the week.

Blasting Schedule (Tentative): Each day between the hours of 6:30 am and 6:30 pm crews plan to blast 4-5 times per day. Exact blasting times within the hours of 6:30 am and 6:30 pm are variable and may change each day.

Blasting Signals: Crews will sound a horn as follows:

Pre-Blast - 3 consecutive signals – 5 minute warning

2 consecutive signals – 1 minute warning

Post Blast - 1 signal – all clear to enter the blast zone

Blasting Traffic Control - Traffic within the blasting area will be held for 5 minutes before the actual blast and then continue to be held post blast until the roadway is cleared of debris and rebuilt for safe passage. Each blast will bring different results so the wait time after blasting is unknown at this time. Traffic delays will likely exceed 10 minutes.

Contact Francine Perkins, Public Relations Officer, FRP Enterprises, LLC with any questions or concerns with regard to this project at 802-479-6994 or for a more up to date schedule visit www.roadworkupdates.com.