We've had another beautiful day, but the temperatures both at night and in the daytime are gradually shifting downward. When I looked across the pond early this morning, there was a layer of smoke, from a single chimney I could see far up towards Walden on Rt. 15. We had a small fire first thing to take off the chill, but let it go out during the day. I'd been working outside most of the afternoon and was very warm when I came in, but by supper time I'd cooled down and again, a slow fire in the wood stove felt good. Besides, the fire lends ambiance to even a very ordinary meal.

We took Woody to see his veterinary this morning. He got all his shots and Dr. Hoppe pronounced him healthy. He remarked at how long Woody is - just his body is about 22 inches long, and today he weighed in at 14.9 lbs. He behaved very well at the doctor's, but he definitely doesn't like to ride in the car. We keep him in his carrier, and he's pretty good when we're heading down West Shore Road, but as soon as we get on Route 2 and pick up speed, he begins to complain - long and loudly. We find if we ignore him and keep our voices low, he seems to quiet down. Perhaps he's concentrating on listening to see if we're still in the car. When we got home, he had his lunch and went out onto the new stone patio to rest in the sunshine. I took this picture of him from the living room window.

Here's the just finished walkway leading from the patio - I finished the patio a couple weeks ago. This all evolved when I realized the flower beds were no longer flowers, but mostly a tangle of weeds. I have stockpiled stones forever, and move them around as the spirit moves to "redo" the outdoor space. We have lots of stones on the place. Every time I dig in the garden I unearth more. They sort of grow out of the earth - working their way to the surface where you least expect to find them. To finish the walkway yesterday, I went down into our cedar woods and found enough to finish the job among roots of the cedars, mostly clasped tightly in the roots, some on edge, having been tipped up by the growth of the trees. When I released one, there were others, mostly flat, underneath. I remembered that when we cut some of the big spruce trees on our lot, the logger knew I liked flat rocks, so when he piled them up on stumps for me. It's a little work to get them back to the house in the wheelbarrow, but Fred is a willing assistant. I noticed that after he'd brought up a couple loads for me he took the wheelbarrow to have the tire inflated more. With a load of stones, it was running pretty flat, and as anyone knows who's been on the business end of a wheelbarrow, it helps to have a well-inflated tire to roll on.

We stopped in West Danville on our way home to pick up the mail, and Fred took this picture. The foliage doesn't seem to be quite as bright as usual around here. We heard today that it's better in the Burlington area. We had some very nice early color, but most of those leaves have been whipped off the trees by the wind. There are a few Mountain Ash trees around our place. One of them, very small, toppled sometime during the time we were away last week. I noticed another one near our driveway that is kind of pretty, but the maple right beside it that had lots of color a couple weeks ago is bare now.

I moved my rain gauge onto the deck today. It's getting cold enough so dashing onto the back lawn in my bare feet every morning is no longer something I plan to do. Once cold weather comes, I move the gauge to the deck where I can just step outside to get the measurement. Once snow comes, the snow shovel is next to the door so I can shovel my way to the gauge. I have to say, it's a great way to greet the day every morning - and so far I haven't once said "to heck with it" and skipped because of the weather. I'll admit to not taking regular snow measurements once we get 3-4 feet of snow on the ground and the snow banks are higher than my head. The CoCoRaHS folks like to keep track of how deep the snow gets, but if I get that for them about once a month, I figure that's all they need. I measure the accumulation on my snow board every morning, and that's enough. It won't be long before there will be some to measure, I suppose, but I'm not in any hurry for that time to come. Oh, yes, here's a picture of the walkway I just finished. Now I can concentrate on putting a few plants along the edges . . . and the cycle begins all over again.

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For those of you who like to sing, here's a really nice way to get to know some of your neighbors --

"ALL YE WHO LOVE MUSIC"

Do you like to sing? Are you looking for a bit of fun?

Then come join the Cabot Chorus as we practice for the Annual Holiday Concert to be held December 3.

We meet every Thursday at 6:30pm at the United Cabot Church.

Come stretch your voice (and yourself!) by joining your neighbors for a weekly sing-along that's sure to cheer you any day!

Call Lynn McKinney, Chorus Director, at 274-7084 for details - or just join us at the church.

We'd love to have you! Help us make this year's concert the best ever yet!

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MEETING REMINDER:

Do you care about what Cabot looks like in 10 years? Are you concerned about property taxes? Do you have ideas for organizing,

planning or visioning for our community and its development?

Your input is valueable and important. Come join in the conversations and see what projects have already been started.

Everyone welcome.

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Community and Economic Development Meeting

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 13th, 7:00 p.m.

Cabot Mason hall

Coffee and dessert will be served.

Agenda will include formalizing group, purpose and mission.

~ Everyone invited to join in the continued conversation and actions concerning

Cabot's Community and Economic Development ~