It's been very cold and windy here today. We've had snowflakes in the air most of the day, mostly whipping by horizontally. Yesterday's rain and freezing rain caused a lot of fender-benders, and crews have been sanding and salting today to cure icy spots. Our road is crunchy but pretty good. Our deck has a sturdy coating of ice and I was glad I had my creepers on when I went out to check the rain/snow gauge this morning. I also had to free the wind gauge that had frozen in place. The spoons were turning, but the direction finder was pointing southwest, almost directly opposite where the wind was coming from. It's a short walk off the end of our drive to reach the wind gauge, and with only a few inches of snow, no trouble at all to go there; after a few snow storms, I may forget freeing it if it gets frozen up. I can pretty well tell which direction the wind is coming from by the direction the snow is blowing by our windows.

Diane and Bill went to Burke Mountain today intending to ski, but it was too windy and the lifts weren't operating. I expect many of the trails were pretty icy, too. With so little snow, it must be difficult to groom them, and any snow they made would be blown away today. I noticed in today's paper snowmobile trails in Vermont and New Hampshire have opened, and that's good news for lots of folks.

We did our noon-time hike/run up Jamie and Marie's driveway today. At the foot of our drive, the wind was ferocious coming straight down West Shore Road out of the north/northwest, but once we got behind the trees, it was pretty nice and at about that time the sun broke through for a few minutes. I had checked before we left the house, and the wind chill factor was -15 degrees. We're about 5 above zero and the wind is ranging about 6 or 7 mph, so the wind chill is down to -7 to -9 range. Still cold enough so it's a good night to be inside. The scanner is quiet, so I guess the road crews are winding down for the day.

I laughed today when I read a letter written in 1862 by a Civil War soldier from Cabot. His name wasn't on the letter, but he was writing home about conditions in their camp (it was November) and that he was doing cooking for several officers. He said he was getting very good at it and wouldn't ever need a woman to cook for him, but then he added that he still might need one because "they are warm in winter." I didn't take much time trying to read more of his letter - it was badly damaged and faded - so I just scanned it and will try to transcribe it later. Some of these old letters make pretty good reading.

I also came across a 1824 document stating that one Mary Coburn was accused of taking grain that didn't belong to her from the H. Walbridge's gristmill. The court found in favor of Walbridge and Mary had to pay $5 for the grain and another $4.34 for court costs. The judges were Thomas Osgood, Matthew Stone, and Joseph Fisher. These disputes were settled quickly, and apparently there was no appeal process. Court was held in those early times at the home of one of the "judges" or sometimes those involved had to travel to the county seat in Danville and appear before a circuit judge. Then the sheriff had to locate the culprit and have him there on the appointed day. The sheriff was paid accordingly, of course.