It was cold last night.  The thermometer outside my office window registered zero at about 6:30 this morning, and is still only 8 above.

When I first awoke around 5:30, there was a very bright moon shining in our bedroom window.  It was west of our house, and when I first saw it there were four short cloud fingers above it.  By the time I got the camera to get a picture, the clouds were gone, but I took this picture anyway.  Then I went into the living room to watch the sun come up.  The sky was beautiful, but you can see there's a dark cloud lurking just above the horizon.  The sky changes so quickly, it's hard to catch the colors before it's completely different.

If you looked at Rossi's web cams this morning, you know there is still open water in front of their house.  That was a surprise.  Diane told me there was a loon there early this morning.  I hope he takes off pretty soon, otherwise there won't be enough open water for takeoff.  I say "he" because I think the females have better sense than to stay so long and it's probably a young male that's still hanging out, waiting for some buddies to fky to the coast with him. 

Fred has been out to clear the driveways, and I shoveled off the deck to get to my CoCoRaHS apparatus.  There was weak sunshine when we were out, but now a cloud cover has moved in so there's hazy sun.  West Shore Road has been nicely plowed and sanded.  It seems our winter routine may have begun.

I measured 5.5 in. of new snow, and it was especially dry.  We have a total of about 8 in. on the ground at my backyard stake. There is a warming trend in the forecast, but it may not have much affect here.  Burlington area, where that report originated, had some rain yesterday while we had snow flurries and squalls all day.

I thought my wind gauge must be frozen in place as I haven't seen it operating any time I looked out recently, but this morning Fred tested it and it's fine.  It's affixed to the top of our flag pole, which is fine in the summer if we need to lower it for any reason, but now the pole is well frozen into the ground, so we were concerned the gauge might not be operational for a while.  He used several sections of the chimney cleaning rod to reach up there.  I'm glad it's free to turn - it's fun to see how much wind we have in some of these recent storms.

Don't forget the concert at the Cabot church tomorrow night - it's a good way to start off your Christmas season.

By the way.  If you live in Cabot and haven't joined Front Porch Forum, you may want to consider joining so you can follow what locals are saying about the most recent debate of whether to close Cabot High School.  There's a petition circulating in town to close it by July 1, 2013, I believe.  There are lots of thoughtful comments on Front Porch Forum presenting both sides.  

I had lunch this week with a high school friend, and she remembered debating the same question all those years ago.  The question comes up in Cabot every few years - more often recently than it did back then, but with many of the same pros and cons.  I remember debating it in high school because I had to argue for closing the school, and I'm pretty sure it was not a popular stand to take among our student body then, any more that it probably is today.  However, somebody had to be on the opposite side or there'd be no contest, and I think I may have been a bit of a rebel back then anyway, so I was elected.  My friend said she argued against closing the school, and won the debate.  I don't recall the outcome or even if she was on the team we debated.  I believe the whole high school had to engage in debates and winning teams debated other schools in the region.  I suppose students still have that experience - I hope they do.  I remember liking that I had to take the unpopular side of the question.  I often have a problem making decisions because I can usually find as many reasons for as against an issue.  Comes from being a Libra, I guess.

So the question comes up again:  Should voters close the high school and pay tuition so students have choices that may better suit their educational needs?  The elementary school would remain.  There have been many changes in education and at the Cabot campus, but after some 60 years, the core question obviously remains.