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A VERY 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

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We wish you all good health, happiness and prosperity in the New Year. 

I've just been tracking Monika's mom's flight to Johannesburg - she left Burlington early this morning for New York's JFK airport and her flight to Johannesburg left at 10:40 a.m.  I thought she would be going to Washington DC, but this was a different flight than she took last time she was here and it actually seems to be about 3 hours shorter in flight time.  The online tracker shows the plane is about half way across the ocean.  Monika called on their way home and said they were up at 3 a.m. in order to get her to the airport for her flight out of Burlington this morning; after she left, they all went back to the Holiday Inn and crashed for a few more hours.  They are already missing Floriana.

Bill called after they got home and said they spent some time at the mall shopping before they headed home today.  He and Tangeni were waiting for Jo-Ann and Monika to finish shopping when he bumped into Joe's Ponders, Fella and Nancy Buttura.  Bill got a kick out of seeing them, and said Tangeni has a play date set up for this summer when the Buttura's granddaughter visits.  I'm not certain, but I think that must be Emma May, who was born about three years ago. 

I checked the temperature again a few minutes ago and it's leveled off.  I think it's supposed to warm up a tad during the night.  Someone asked the other day how our cat, Woody, likes the snow and cold weather.  The short answer is, he doesn't.  He generally makes a short test run in the morning into the garage, but it only takes a couple of minutes before we hear him knock to come back in.  Sometimes he will follow one of us out, like if Fred goes for the mail, but he's back inside before Fred even gets back.  Once in a while he will try going out the front door onto the deck, like he hopes the weather is better at that door.  But as soon as the cold air hits his face, his ears fold back and he usually turns around without stepping outside at all.  On warmer days, he does like to go out and sit on the deck to watch the squirrels and birds, but he doesn't venture into the snow like he did when he was younger.  He used to go into the woods with Fred when he was cutting wood, and sometimes hitch a ride on the pile of wood on the sled when Fred brought it down.  This picture was taken in March of 2007, and it was probably a lot warmer than it's been the last few days.

If there's something you need to do that needs a date of 2012 on it, you've got one more day to do it.  Time goes by so quickly, it will be sugaring time before we know it and we'll be going to town meeting and waiting for the ice to go out.  In the meantime, make the most of 2012 while it's still here.  

This is a really cold, blustery day here at Joe's Pond.  The thermometer never got out of the teens and now is slipping down very close to zero with a strong, blustery wind right out of the north.  There are 13.5 inches of snow at my stake today and there has been snow in the air all day but it is hard to tell if it's falling or just traveling horizontally in the wind.  With this wind, the wind chill is well below zero, so a tough night to be outside.

I had a note from Kathy and Stan at Butters Restaurant today.  They aren't open for New Year's Eve, but on January 5th they are having a Butter's Jam night.  This poster came from Gwen Halsmith, Director of the Dept. of Community Planning and Development in Montpelier, who is working with the Cabot Development Committee. 

Anyone can join in the fun of jamming with friends and neighbors, and if you don't play an instrument, you're welcome to come come by and have a drink and maybe something to eat and listen to the music.  It's reminiscent of the "kitchen junkets" neighbors used to have not too many years ago.  Who knows, maybe this will be a regular event.  Your presence can make it happen, so grab your fiddle, washboard or harmonica and head into town on the 5th.

Over at our end of town, the ice shanties are out on Joe's Pond.  A few fishermen set up shop this weekend, so the winter fun has begun on the ice.  Along with that, there were some snow machines at West Danville when we came through on Friday afternoon.  Some trails are packed in and around Cabot, Danville and Hardwick, but there are warnings on the VAST website that ponds and lakes are not yet safe for snowmobile travel, and there are wet spots in some areas so that extreme caution should be used.  Some land owners have not yet opened their gates, but there are trails that are groomed and ready.  Best to check for last-minute information before heading out. 

By the way, Butters Restaurant is right on the snowmobile trail in Cabot, and riders are welcome.

Here's the schedule from Jaquith Library in Marshfield:

Wednesdays from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Story Time and Playgroup. Join Sylvia Smith for story time, and follow up with Melissa Seifert for playgroup. For children birth to age six, and their grown-ups. We follow the Twinfield Union School calendar and do not hold the program the weeks Twinfield is closed.

First Wednesdays at 7:00 p.m. Classic Film Night with Rick Winston and Tom Blachly. Our film viewing experience will be greatly enriched by Rick’s presentation of each film followed by a lively discussion after the viewing.

Fourth Mondays at 7 p.m. Monthly Book Group for Adults. Join us for the Jaquith book group. For copies of the book, please stop by the library. New members are always welcome, and it’s only one hour a month! The January book is Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner.

Wednesday, January 9, from 3 to 5 p.m.: Herbal Class with Sage Zelkowitz. How to make calendula cream for dry, irritated, cracked winter skin.  Calendula is used for bruises, burns, and is a soothing aid in the relief of pain, itching and irritation. Each person will get to take home some calendula cream made by the workshop participants. We will also sample a condiment containing seaweed, as this too is healing to the skin.

Wednesday, January 16, at 6:45 p.m. Song Circle.  Community Sing-A-Long with Rich and Laura Atkinson. No experience is necessary and song books will be provided. Singers of all ages and abilities are welcome.   

Saturday, January 19 from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.  Friends Annual Book Sale. Start out the New Year by cleaning out those bookshelves and getting some new reads. There will be bargain books on all subjects from cooking to biographies to history and novels.  All books are $2 or less, with children’s books as little as 25 cents.  Prices will be further discounted toward the end of the day.  Everything is a bargain, and your purchases help support the library. In the gym of the Old Schoolhouse Common. If you have books to donate, they can be dropped off one week ahead of the sale, starting on Saturday, January 19.  Please no moldy or musty books, no encyclopedias, textbooks, magazines, or Reader’s Digest Condensed books.

 Friday, January 25, at 6 p.m. Art and Author Night with the Grist Mill Guys. Join us for an art opening of Michael Schumacher’s art work followed by a reading at 7 p.m. with local author Vince Feeney reading from his short story The Peddler and the Priest  based on a true incident that happened a hundred years ago in Fairfield, Vermont, when a Jewish peddler and a Catholic priest met purely by chance and the impact of that meeting led to an unusual religious twist forty years later. The story was a finalist for the Ralph Nading Hill Prize sponsored by Green Mountain Power and Vermont Life magazine. Refreshments will be served.

Friday, February 8 at 7 p.m. Contra Dance with Susannah Blachly and Friends. Come and dance in Vivien and Mike Fritz’s barn in Marshfield. This should be a great time for all. George White on guitar and Susannah Blachly and Susan Reid on fiddle. This is a fundraiser for the library for adults and children 10 years and up.  There will be child care provided at the library for a small fee but people must call in advance to reserve a place for their child. The home and barn of Vivien and Mike Fritz is located at 693 McCrillis Road in Marshfield. For directions call 426-3190.

 For further information on any of the above, contact: 
Jaquith Public Library at 122 School St. in Marshfield. Call 802-426-3581 or e-mail: jaquithpubliclibrary@gmail.com or visit our website at: Marshfield.lib.vt.us

We now have 13 inches of snow at the stake in our back yard.  The trees are trimmed with mounds of snow and at about 18 degrees, it was really very nice when we walked/ran Jamie and Marie's hill earlier this morning.  I say walked/ran because I walk it, Fred runs.  This morning he did it four times, walking down to catch his breath each time; I do it once and congratulate myself that I made it at all.  We used to do that routine every other day, but now we do it every day, although Fred runs it only twice on alternate days.    It's really a pull up that hill and gets the heart pumping pretty good.

The view above is from our living room window that faces northeast; the next one is the view facing southeast.  That corner with the two big windows is a wonderful place to sit and read or just watch the landscape.  It does change - sometimes within minutes when there's a storm coming down the valley from Walden or when the sun is rising over West Danville.

Fred's brother, Tom, sent this picture of the walking trail near where they live in Colorado.  They plow the trail and he says as far as he knows, snow machines are not allowed - only walkers and bikers.  It is along the Eagle River, and is six or seven miles long, running between Avon and Edwards, Colorado.  It looks like they have about the same amount of snow as we have here right now, but of course on the mountains there is much more.  

I Googled for snowmobile trails in that area and found there are trails connecting Avon, Vail and Beaver Creek, where Tom works.

Now we are expecting another storm in the northeast that is probably going to dump a fair amount of snow along the coast from Providence north to Boston.  All the cities that really don't need another hit of winter on top of the flooding, wind and snow they've already had.  We could get another six inches or so over several days.  Or not.  It's hard to tell where the snow is going to pile up.  Usually the mountains get most, but in our last storm, some higher areas were "shadowed" and didn't get as much as expected.  Mt. Mansfield is reporting 43 inches at their stake now, a bit higher than average for this time of year.

We're hoping air travel will not be disrupted this weekend.  Floriana, Monika's mother, will be leaving us on Sunday to return to Namibia.  She will fly to Washington DC on the first leg of her flight.  I believe she will then go from Washington to Johannesburg, which takes about 17 hours, and the third leg will be from Johannesburg to Windhoek, in Namibia, about a two hour flight.  Family will meet her there and then take her to Oshakati, where her home is, a grueling eight or nine hour trip by auto.  That is a long and difficult trip, and we are hoping she gets to DC and on her way without being impacted by the weather.  We will all miss her, but she will be reunited with her family, including her elderly mother, after having been away for six months, so I know there will be lots of happiness at her arrival.

Some of you may be thinking about New Year's Resolutions, but if you're like me, you won't waste time on something you know you aren't going to follow through on.  I resolved after Christmas Eve dinner to get back to our "regular" diet - immediately - no waiting until the new year, I got down to business starting with breakfast Christmas Morning, and that's not difficult because we generally eat much less and healthier than we did during the holidays, Thanksgiving included.  However, my thoughts as 2012 comes to a close are mainly about all the disasters that have happened this year and the violence that has shocked and unnerved our whole nation.  I heard a report on WCAX recently about Vermont's crimes from 2006 to 2010, showing unexpected information as to who is committing those crimes.  I then went to another site to get more recent information about crime statistics in Vermont.  Over all, Vermont is a pretty darned safe place to live, and probably that's why we are so shocked when it happens here.

We can't do much to control or avoid the weather, but I think the exceptional coverage by the media, bringing sordid details into our homes quickly, candidly and immediately saturates us with too much information sometimes, and we begin to believe there are murderers, robbers and rapists and even Mother Nature out to get us.  Perhaps, in a way, that is good because we become more aware of our surroundings, more suspicious and perhaps better prepared to fend off the perpetrators and prepare for natural disasters.  

My wish for the coming year is that somehow we get to the root, the cause, at least of what makes some people go berserk and try to find ways to help and control them so they don't harm others.  I know people much smarter than I are working on these problems, and that gives me hope.  Perhaps 2013 will be a calmer, more-love-than-hate year, and that's what I'll be wishing for instead of making hollow resolutions.

By the way, Diane Rossi wrote that one night this week when the sky was clear, there was a beautiful shot of the rising moon at about 5 o'clock on the webcam.  I didn't happen to see it, but perhaps some of you did.  Because there isn't much happening on the ice right now, you need to time your visits to the webcam to early morning sunrises and early evening moon rises.  Later on, daytime visits may reveal ice fishermen, snowmobilers, cross-country skiers, and of course almost any day, blowing snow.  You'll find a link to the web cam on home page, but be sure you are using the Internet Explorer browser.

JOB OPPORTUNITY

From: Tom Gilbert <tom@highfieldscomposting.org>
Date: Thu, Dec 27, 2012 at 6:29 AM
Subject: Highfields seeks new Executive Director - Leadership Opportunity

Hi all
As you know Highfields is going through a leadership transition and we are hiring for an Executive Director right now.  Below is the job and organizational description.  We are looking for a uniquely talented leader with a lot of dynamic energy and the capacity to execute.  Highfields is at an exciting juncture as an organization and the organization has good traction with which the new ED can help grow the organization to the next level.  We have a great tribe of staff and Board to support this new Director and continue to execute great program work, and I will work in active partnership with them to execute a fluid and effective transition.  I am hoping you all can help us by sharing this opening far and wide within your circles.  This is an awesome opportunity for the right person.  Competitive wages and health insurance.
Thanks!
tom

Executive Director, Highfields Center for Composting, Hardwick, Vermont

Highfields Center for Composting’s mission is to Close the Loop on community-based, sustainable food and agricultural systems, thus addressing soil health, water quality, solid waste, farm viability, and climate change. We research, educate and provide technical services for composting and comprehensive food waste recycling programs.

Executive Director reports to the Chair of the Board and is accountable for the following;

Ø  Work with Board to interpret mission, set strategic direction and priorities, and ensure financial health,

Ø  Delineate strategy that is both leading edge and responsive to stakeholder feedback,

Ø  Support and lead staff to assemble relationships, systems, practices and funding necessary to achieve strategic outcomes,

Ø  Oversee planning, budgeting, staffing and partnerships to efficiently execute strategy and achieve results as outlined in plans within associated budgets , and

Ø  Avoid or solve unacceptable conditions within the organization.

We seek a candidate who possesses many of the following talents and experiences.

• Track record of operational excellence , bring a sophisticated understanding of how to develop organizational capacity and operationalize the strategic vision by executing plans and tracking progress, identifying gaps and reorganizing to fill them, balancing best practices with attention and dedication to mission, establishing and consistently communicating organizational priorities, and assuring alignment and cross-cutting integration of work.
• A savvy manager with sophisticated financial acumen.
• Relationally talented with successful history attracting and maintaining donor/investor interest.
• Strong spokesperson able to articulate why we do what we do and how that ties to our mission.
• Track record of successful work tapping subject matter experts to vet ideas, upgrade strategy, achieve innovative problem solving and creating coherence amidst complex program execution;
• Capacity to recognize and capitalize on mission aligned opportunities to expand impact; develop new revenue possibilities; and identify, nurture and strengthen strategic relationships;
• Demonstrated leader who has successfully orchestrated complex distributed work, maximizing partnerships, engage stakeholders and coalitions via strong systems, practices and processes.

Due to the pace of this search, candidates are strongly encouraged to apply as soon as possible. Applications including a cover letter describing your interest and qualifications, your resume (in Word format), salary history, references and where you learned of the position should be sent via:  https://highfields.recruiterbox.com/

Highifields Center for Composting is an Equal Opportunity Employer.  (12/21/2012)

Tom Gilbert, Executive Director
Highfields Center for Composting
PO Box 503
Hardwick, VT  05843
(802)472-5138 ext 205
http://www.highfieldscomposting.org/

David Snedeker
Planning Director
Northeastern VT Development Association
(802) 748-5181 ext. 15

(802) 748-1223 fax
dsnedeker@nvda.net

It sure looks like winter is here!  We got a little over 3 inches of snow overnight Wednesday into this morning, and another 4 or so today, I suppose, although I haven't measured it and I forgot to look at the snow stake out back before darkness fell.  I can see there's quite a bit on our front deck, but I won't be measuring again until about 9 a.m. tomorrow.  Fred was out early this morning to snow blow, but decided to wait until morning before going again.  When he checked late this afternoon he said there wasn't that much additional.  I guess much of it was blowing and maybe landed someplace else.

The ski areas are very happy to have so much natural snow on top of all that man-made base, and people can't wait to fire up their snowmobiles and get out on the trails.  There has been a plea for them to wait until the trails are groomed - probably most will be done by tomorrow.  I heard on the scanner today that in Moretown someone on a snowmobile ran into a 500 gal. propane gas tank, causing it to leak.  All sorts of fire equipment was sent.  I'm guessing that could be pretty serious, depending on where the tank was located.  Apparently nobody was hurt.

I took this picture from our sleet-covered window this morning.  It was snowing quite hard and had been blowing against the window.  I found a small opening and got this picture that seems to be in black and white, but that's just because our world was shades of gray all day.

I mentioned on last Sunday's blog that Mary Encarnacion, our next door neighbor, passed away.  Her obituary was in today's Caledonian Record.

Here are a couple pictures we took on Christmas Eve at our family get-together.  Tangeni, known mostly by her nickname, "Boo-Boo," was in high spirits.  At 17 months, she has endless energy and enthusiasm.  Here she is, decked out in a furry pink backpack, Elmo in one hand and a soft "Meow" pillow in the other.  I think her favorite was a rubber squeeze toy she found that belonged to her Uncle Bob and Aunt Theresa's dog, Casey.  Bob said Casey never liked it.  When Tangeni squeezed it, it made a raspy imitation of a pig's grunt, and that seemed to charm her.

In the next picture, big sister Jo-Ann, or "Jo-Jo"as her dad calls her, displays her really big Justin Bieber fleece throw.  Typically, her dad can't understand why she and most of her friends like Justin so much, but that's probably because he's forgotten what it was like when he was a teenager.  I remember.  There were long years of rock music, the Beatles, Monkeys,  Eagles, Led Zeppelin and lots of others, all played at thunderous decibels and I had to shout "turn it down!" more times than I could count.  One Christmas someone gave them a drum set, and from then on it was bedlam in the basement and eventually we had a full fledged "garage band" at our house.  But that's another story.

Before I call it a day, here is an interesting "happening" some of you may want to join.  It sounds like fun, and I can't wait to see the results!

From  Lars Hasselblad-Torres, a member of Cabot's Planning Commission:

Popup Snow Sculpture Festival & Lighting On The Common

Let's transform Cabot Common into a winter wonderland! Join friends and neighbors for an afternoon of snow sculpture-making followed by an evening candle lighting. Here's what you need to do:
- Join us Saturday, 12/29 on the Cabot Common at 2PM for sculpture-making; at 5PM for the candle-lighting of the sculptures
- Plan to bring everything you need to create - shovel(s), snow shaping tools, gloves, etc
- Bring candles to light your work, including any vessel needed to hold it

We need:
- Warm drinks to share for our custom out-door snow bar!
- A steel drum for a central fire barrel (call Lars if you have one you can loan)
- Unpainted scrap wood to burn (small pieces, clean burning please)

Other tips:
- Freeze water in buckets ahead of time to create glassy candle holders (don't let the centers freeze for a lantern effect!)
- Bring a spraying water bottle to help harden the surface of your sculpture (and any insulation required to keep it from freezing)
- Large families, work together or in teams
- Have fun!

Questions? Email lhtorres@gmail.com or ring 802-595-0605

Hope to see you there!

Lars Hasselblad Torres
Janet Van Fleet

 

We are expecting a substantial storm to hit us tonight - the latest I've heard is from 6-12 inches of snow in our immediate area, more in the higher elevations and some other parts of Vermont.  In case you want to watch the progress of the storm, take a look at this Doppler weather map.  If it isn't active, click on "play" at the top of the map.  One thing we should be aware of is that there's going to be quite a bit of wind along with the snow, so driving will probably be particularly hazardous.  Here's the forecast for West Danville.

We began to lose the sunshine a little after noon today, and it remained pretty cold most of the day.  One of the drivers for Cabot's plow crew is ill so there will be only two plows tomorrow to keep roads in town open.  This may mean there will be more snow in the roads than usual as it will take longer for them to reach every road in town.  They ask that we all have patience and plan ahead.  We are used to having our roads kept pretty much free of snow even during a storm these days, but it wasn't always like that.  There was a time when there was only one plow, a crawler tractor with a big "V" plow and separate wings on either side operated by two men standing on a little platform at the back of the tractor.   The picture above was taken in the mid to late 1940's on the road to our farm.  At that time, the road was in a slightly different place, but you can see the Maynard farm in the upper left corner of the picture.  At the upper right is what is now called Brickett's Crossing Road, going to Walden Depot.

I made good headway organizing my office space today, and got some work done on the computer as well.  I even sent some greeting cards . . . I know, it's after Christmas, but I don't send many cards by regular mail these days anyway - lots of friends and family have e-mail, which I use to send greetings.  There are a few people who either don't have computers or for whom I don't have a working e-mail address, so i send cards theirs by regular mail.  

I made a short slide show today of our family Christmas Eve party to send to relatives who are away.  I also filed a lot of papers and put things away so now I actually have desk space.  Woody hasn't discovered his perch at my desk is available again.  It was piled with books and papers so he finally gave up trying to find space to stretch out.  It might take him a day or two to figure it out, but I'm sure he'll be in to keep me company soon.

Enjoy the snow if you can tomorrow, and if you must shovel, don't over do it, and drive safely if you have to travel. 

IMPORTANT NOTICE!

 

RE:  CABOT SNOW PLOWING

Message for Cabot Residents from Ted Domey, Road Commissioner:

 

The town is down a plow truck driver (medical issue) and with the impending snow storm, plowing will get done, but it will take more time with just two plows working.

 

From the sounds of talking with Rusty and Dave this morning, it most likely will be a two person crew plowing from tonight until Friday.  Things may be a bit messy and people may have to drive through some snow tomorrow and Friday. Priorities will be set, which means some roads may not see a truck for some time.

 

Thank you all for your patience and understanding.

Good morning!  We had a cold night last night.  Our thermometer shows an overnight low of 3.4, but it's 7.9 now.  The sun is bright and there's hardly a cloud in the sky, so it's starting off to be a glorious day, but unfortunately, there's a winter storm warning beginning at 7 p.m.  If you need to go anywhere, better do it sooner rather than later because tomorrow is going to be a bad weather day, if the forecast is correct.

Here's something you may want to take care of if you live in Cabot -
Trash collection at the recycling center, Saw Mill Road in Lower Cabot, will be available Wednesday from 1 to 5 p.m. to help people remove holiday accumulations.
The Recycling center will not be open.
Trash and recycling will be conducted on Saturday as usual.

We hope everyone had a lovely Christmas.  We have been pretty much on the go in the last few days and welcome a "time out" while we reorganize (my office) and get back on schedule (mainly tone down our eating habits).  Try as we might, the temptations from Thanksgiving through Christmas are just too great.  Between holiday meals and making holiday sweets we normally don't indulge in, being tired after shopping trips and taking home "something easy" in order to not make a meal, the inhibitions were gone and now we both have to pay up.  Starting today, we're back to "normal" - no sweets, no fast foods, smaller portions of EVERYTHING, and above all MORE EXERCISE.  Even the cold shouldn't stop us from getting out there and working off some of these extra calories.  Our New Year's resolutions start now.  With luck and will power, we expect to fit our clothes better in about a week.  And no, there won't be another pig-out to celebrate New Year's Day.  

I'll get some extra exercise just straightening out my office.  This little space is my catch-all, where I put mail, extra bits of whatever I'm too rushed to put away, clippings I'm too busy to file, reference books I thought I'd use again but didn't, boxes that I thought I'd need during the holidays and didn't, packaging, extra containers, a few spare decorations, and miscellaneous tools I was in too much of a hurry to put away.  It won't take long to set things straight once I get started.  That is, if I don't find something in one of the piles of papers that needs immediate attention so again I'm interrupted. 

Let's see.  First we walk.  Next we'll have breakfast and watch the news.  THEN I'll start organizing the office.  See?  I'm getting organized already . . . !

 

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Here is our Christmas card of holiday scenes, 

past and present, 

from Joe's Pond and neighboring villages.

Begin!

  

  FRED & JANE

We've enjoyed (some of us) a fairly wintery day with about 7 inches of very light and fluffy snow to deal with and much lower temperatures than during the past few days.  There was plenty of sunshine most of the day, and that was very welcome.  I took this picture just before the sun came up this morning.  The sky was beautiful, and the temperature was 7 above.

We will be watching WCAX-TV tonight at 11 o'clock to learn more about the big fire in St. Johnsbury today in the building where Artistic Gardens is on Railroad Street.  It is a very old building, dating back to 1879.  A fire any time is hard on a town, but St. Johnsbury has had a lot of bad luck, including some major fires in the past, and this will be a huge blow to the already struggling town.

The following came in from Cabot this evening:
 Trash collection at the recycling center, Saw Mill Road in Lower Cabot, will be available Wednesday from 1 to 5 p.m. to help people remove holiday accumulations.

The Recycling center will not be open.

Trash and recycling will be conducted on Saturday as usual.


I also learned today that our good friend and neighbor, Mary Encarnacion of West Shore Road passed away last evening.  Mary has been seriously ill for some time, so this was not unexpected, but we will all miss her very much.  Don said there will be more information in the papers, and  there will be no services at this time.  Plans are to have a memorial service in the spring.  Friends who wish to send condolences may do so to:  Donald Encarnacion, 898 W Shore Rd., West Danville VT 05873.

This has been a blustery, wintery day here at Joe's Pond, but I went to Waterford this morning (to make Christmas cookies with granddaughter Jo-Ann) and as I left West Danville the weather began to improve and by the time I got to St. Johnsbury it was a totally different world.  No snow, no wind, no winter look at all.  Waterford had a sifting of snow on the ground, but nothing much.  I measured 4 inches on the ground at my back yard stake this morning, and it was snowing lightly as I left.  By 1 o'clock, there were snow squalls in Waterford, so I cut my visit short and headed home, expecting much worse weather as I proceeded west.  Even in St. Johnsbury, the wind and snow was whipping through the streets and people were having to hold onto their hats.  Portland Street bridge (top) was wind swept, and there were snow squalls.  
 
Approaching Danville, Route 2 began to show more snow on the ground and on the road, but it was well salted and traffic was keeping it clear. As I expected, there was noticeably more snow on the highway West Danville.  It seems as though West Danville always looks and feels colder than any other place around.  The wind was whistling around the buildings there and there were no people outside at all.  I stopped for the mail and to pick up Ice Out tickets, and didn't see a soul other than Mary at the store.   There seemed to be only one other car in town, and that was at the Joe's Pond Country Store.  Everyone else seemed to be just passing through.

Where the road runs close by the pond before getting to Point Comfort, it's often slippery, especially if there is open water.  Today the pond was frozen solidly except for under the bridge, and although there was some snow in the road, I don't believe it was at all slippery - but I didn't put it to a test.

West Shore Road (last photo) was better than it has been for a few days.  The town had plowed away the slush and sanded so when the temperature dropped and everything froze, we had a nice smooth road instead of slushy ruts. I expect there was plenty of ice under the snow - we found it pretty slippery even with our creepers on when we walked this morning - but there wasn't much traffic this afternoon, and I didn't feel the car slip at all.  

I was glad to get home, and this afternoon watched the snow sifting off the roof and clouds of it being whipped down the road by gusts of wind out of the northeast.  Temperature dropped from mid 30's to low 20's in a matter of a few hours, and it's going to be a really cold weekend from here on.  I'm finishing this up at 9 o'clock, and the temperature is 16 degrees on the front side of the house, and 12 on the back side.  The one on the front side is attached to the window pane, while the one on the back side is several inches away from the house and my window.

Last night we lost our electricity for about four hours.  I guess there was a tree on the line somewhere.  We never did find out.  It was kind of nice, though.  We lighted the oil lamps and Fred started a nice fire in the wood stove.  Then we settled on the sofa to eat sandwiches and in just a few minutes there was hot water for tea.  The power had gone off at about 5:30 p.m., and by 9 o'clock we were so sleepy from watching the fire and being so relaxed (no computers!), we blew out the lamps, banked the fire and went to bed.  The power came back on around 10 p.m. but we have kept the fire going.  It's so nice to watch when the wind is howling outside.  Woody and I particularly enjoy having a wood fire going, and I noticed Fred brought in a really large load of wood after supper tonight, so I guess we'll be keeping the fire going for a little while.  We've been using the boiler to heat the house this year, and turns out we all seem to miss having the wood stove going more than we thought we would.  Maybe it's the holiday spirit - snow outside, cat lazing by a cozy fire - that sort of thing.

We were fortunate we didn't get the strong winds that western Vermont got from this last storm.  Mt. Mansfield reported winds of 125 mph, and at Bolton over 70 mph.  I didn't get a reading last night because my wind gauge had frozen.  Fred got it going again this morning, but he also put new batteries in the weather gauge and it has to be reprogrammed.  We'll do that tomorrow.

I had a wonderful morning baking with granddaughter Jo-Ann.  We made Christmas cookies and cupcakes for the family gathering on Christmas Eve.  Everything came out very nice, even though we had some "almost" disasters, like when I misread the recipe and told her to put two teaspoons of salt in the cookies.  But she knows her stuff and questioned the amount, luckily.  Later I nearly forgot to put the spices in the gingerbread cookies.  She found a gingerbread man cookie cutter in with lots of others, and I brought some different shapes, so we had a nice variety of sizes and shapes.  The kitchen got a good workout with plenty of flour and confectioners' sugar (and a little molasses stickiness) throughout, but we got it all put right and Jo-Ann and her Grandma Floriana finished decorating the cookies after I left.  Tangeni didn't get into the cookie making, but she was our tester and approved everything we offered her. 

We've had a little of just about every kind of weather you can imagine last night and today.  We've had snow, rain and plenty of wind - even a hint of sun just after noon.  Now it's bleak again, and it's raining fairly hard.  The temperature is supposed to fall into the pits tonight just to let us know it's the first day of winter, I guess.  The good news is, now the sun will begin moving higher in the sky and each day will be a few minutes longer. 

I'm guessing lots of folks are busy with last-minute Christmas preparations as my email in box has been unusually quiet this week.  There were a few meetings scheduled, but nothing coming in lately.  I had an email from Diane Rossi this week with a photo of an animal they have been watching at their house.  At first glance, it looked like a bird poking its head out of the water, but it's actually the rear end of the animal, and the tail.  His/her head is under water.  It looks like a muskrat to me, but seeing just that much of it, it's hard to tell for sure.  Diane said that's what they think it is, too.  If someone has another idea, post a comment.



 

We got a little more snow during last night, but it only amounted to less than two inches.  I got the CoCoRaHS  newsletter today from Nolan Doesken who is affiliated with the Universtiy of Colorado.  He said they have been getting snow finally, so the skiers are very happy.  He actually has a farm in what I guess would be called the "foothills"and apparently they don't usually get a lot of snow there, but here's what he wrote:

After a slow start, one storm after another has been marching across the country 
lately.  Arizona and New Mexico finally got a good soaker (valley rains and mountain snows) over the weekend.   There were some storm totals of more than 2" of moisture in parts of AZ. One of our favorite (infamous)mountain passes in Colorado -- Wolf Creek Pass -- picked up four feet of fresh snow and it's still coming down now.  Cool rains and snow finally moistened the dry soils across the Plains states.   Portland and Seattle both saw a little snow today, and a large storm is moving across the Rockies tonight and will be spreading snow from here to the Great Lakes in the next couple of days.  Our streak of 38 straight days with no measurable precipitation just ended this evening as snow now covers our ground.

 
We know this storm is headed in our direction, but whether it will deliver significant snow to us is another question.  We can only hope we get some - but not four feet!!

Christmas is coming up fast now - seems like only a few days ago I was thinking how nice it was that I had a whole month ahead of me to plan for the holidays.  Now it's time to finalize plans, wrap a couple more packages, and be sure I have everything I'll need in the pantry.  I'm not doing the family meal this year (Bob and Theresa are), but we have a few guests coming for dinner on Christmas Day. 

We had a cute greeting from Pat and George Parizo by way of photos.  I'm sure they won't mind if I share them here.  The grands were making use of our recent wet snow . . .  

I think they did a really good job - but I'm not sure how many builders were involved or if the handiwork took place all the same day. It doesn't matter - we appreciate that George sent the photos.  Looks like the kids had a great time.

You may remember we have been and still are very interested in solar energy, even though right now it isn't quite the fit we're looking for.  But this is an interesting bit of information from SunCommon, who we contacted a while back:

Solar now employs more people than coal. New studies show that 119,000 Americans (including me) work in solar, while just

86,000 work for coal companies. And that gap’s only going to grow.

Want to talk about job creation? Then let’s talk about solar. Want to revive good paying solid work in local communities? Then let’s talk solar. This is big, and we couldn’t be prouder.

In our little corner of Vermont, SunCommon has created 46 new jobs this year alone.

We can all use such positive news these days.

Things are looking up!

Dan Conant

Solar Community Organizer

This seems like good news to us, too.  Certainly solar is better for the environment, but it takes energy to make the components for a solar installation - either coal or oil, I suppose.  That's something else to consider, I guess.

Not a nice day today.  We started the day with some very wet snow (see photo), but only got an inch or so; then by noon the snow had turned to rain and we watched our pretty white snow wash away.  We're being promised more snow this weekend, but in the meantime, things are soggy wet, slushy, sometimes slippery, and bleak.  

We had a brief message the other day from Ray and Cyndi Rouleau wishing us Merry Christmas and letting us know they are here for the holidays with family.  We've had some lovely cards and messages - more e-messages than paper cards this year, which is fine with me.  I like the idea of conserving paper; however, that said, I enjoy the beautiful cards we get in the mail and have them hung across the fireplace this year since we aren't burning wood.  If we were hosting our family Christmas, we would probably have had a wood fire for ambiance, but while I miss being able to stand in front of the stove to get warmed up, I really like that I have heat in my corner office when we're using the boiler.  The heat didn't get to my little room from the wood stove very well.

We've both had dental appointments today.  Fred went early this morning and I went right after lunch.  I meant to ask them to please schedule us together for our regular checkups, but forgot when I was there.  It would have been much more convenient, especially since the roads were not great, especially this morning.  Then this afternoon when I was coming home, West Shore Road was about eight inches of heavy slush.  Not pretty at all.

Here's a surprise - Diane Rossi told me there was an ice fisherman out on the pond near the fishing access on Sunday.  This seems to happen every year - somebody is out there before the pond has been frozen over more than a few days.  One year we saw some fishing on the ice up near Flint's Point where there was still open water down past Smith's.  But so far, fortunately, we've had no accident, so I guess these guys know what they're doing.  Maybe they go by the number of days temperatures have been below freezing or something.   Our weather has been so off and on lately, I would think any old "rules" would not be trustworthy.

While I was in St. Johnsbury, I scoured the stores for a gingerbread man cookie cutter.  I was embarrassed to be asking for one - you'd think all grandmothers would certainly have one, and this one did, but I have hunted high and low and can't find it.  I ended up getting a set with two pretty small gingerbread men cutters and one Christmas stocking shape.  Not the nice big one I know I have somewhere, but it'll do if I don't turn up my big one that was my mother's and I used when my kids were growing up.  That's the real McCoy, if I can just find the darned thing.

We finally have some snow - but it's doomed to melt starting sometime tomorrow, if the weather forecasters are right.  In the meantime, we have a lovely coating of white, slushy roads this morning when Fred went to St. J., and I can honestly say it's getting to look a lot more like Christmas than it has.  And this shows you what the traveling was like early this morning.

Remember last week we went over to Narrows Drive to see how the Keach's new home is progressing.  Actually, all we saw was the foundation, but never mind, the house will be coming soon.  Bo just sent me a short slide show of when they razed the house back in the fall.  It's both exciting and sad to see a house torn down, and I imagine they felt a bit of both.  Perhaps Bo will send pictures of setting the house in place.   That's exciting!

I've had several blog readers weigh in on the Sandy Hook School shootings.  Here are some of the thoughts they've expressed:

". . . We are heart-broken for the loss of the children in Connecticut.  Working at the hospital I see more and more homicide/suicide young adults and children 11 and 12 years old.  They tell me they don't want to be here anymore...It scares me to think that this is our future. Their parents are not parenting; the video game electronic technology is ruining them.. Face-book, social media, cell phone, gaming...I think it's all a part of the DISCONNECT....We have a whole generation of lost souls . . . "

" . . . I saw you comments about the shooting at Shady Hook Elementary School.  How incredibly difficult!  And it raises so many questions about our society, as you say.  I watched the Interfaith Memorial Service last night.  It was simply beautiful...Christian ministers of all sorts of denominations, a rabbi (who sang/chanted a haunting and gorgeous memorial prayer in Hebrew, which he then translated), a muslim cleric who read a prayer from the Koran about the love of God.  Both the CT governor and our President were wonderful.  If you didn't hear the Presidents words, here they are: Click here.

" . . . I signed a petition to The United States House of Representatives, The United States Senate, and President Barack Obama which says:  'Our second amendment rights are long overdue a reevaluation. How many more senseless and entirely PREVENTABLE shootings have to occur before we do something about Gun Control.  As a citizen and constituent of this great country, I am asking that you take a firm stand and make a positive change by restricting access to guns and saving lives.  I don't have a gun.  I don't want a gun.  I don't need a gun.  But somehow the guns always wind up in the hands of people crazy enough to use them irresponsibly and dangerously.  This HAS TO BE STOPPED.  Thank you for your action!!'  Will you sign this petition? Click here."

It's up to you whether you sign petitions or write to your representatives or whatever you choose to do or not do.  I'm just the messenger.  I think people simply want to do something, anything, to prevent more children being killed.
 

I heard a gentleman on CBS This Morning who said that in today's society, the average 12-year old child has already seen as much violence as the average 1970s adult did in a whole lifetime.  Isn't that sad?  I remember when there were watchdogs protesting violence in films, and that resulted in the present day alpha ratings designed to warn parents if the film has violence, sex or "adult language," leaving the decision up to the parents whether their child sees it or not.  That might work in a perfect world, but all too often, parents are too busy trying to earn a living and put food on the table to filter out all the bad stuff or spend much time with their children in order to explain or teach; and even if they are very careful what their kids see and do, just watching the previews in a movie theater or the promos on television can give a kid an overdose of all the above, usually in something less than a minute.  There are the games, their friends, and more pressures than we could have imagined even 20 years ago.  I've noticed some pretty raunchy shows have crept into early evening television which used to be safe for families to watch together.  Not so much anymore.  Even the special shows designed for young children sometimes have more violence than I think is good for young children, and parents really need to be there to explain some of the stuff they're seeing.  And don't even think about letting kids watch the news.  That's enough to unnerve adults, let alone youngsters.
  

Another expert this morning suggested better and more accessible mental health providers are needed.  He didn't mention how to get people to make use of such facilities, or who is going to pay for them.  

Surely the easy access to guns is part of the problem, but like an invasive weed, the seeds of violence spread easily, the roots are already deeply imbedded in our society - and being well fed.  It may take a whole lot more than just better gun control and psychiatric counseling to help kids grow up with values that will keep them and future generations safe.

It's too big a problem for me to solve, but I sure hope someone comes up with some solutions.  Soon.

I expect many of you, like me, find yourselves going back to the television for more details about the horrible shootings in Newtown, Connecticut yesterday.  As hard as it is to watch and listen to, I am wanting answers, and my mind races wondering why this happened, how could anyone be so damaged to take young lives, or any life, for that matter; and what can possibly be done to stop the awful killings all over the country.  We are seeing so much violence, even here in Vermont, and it seems nowhere is safe, nobody is exempt, it's "open season" and bad things keep happening to good people who happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time when some demented person runs amok.  Somewhere, somehow, something must have gone terribly wrong that humanity has so many flawed souls.

Our hearts ache for those parents who have lost their children and for the children who have lost their friends and teachers.  All are forever scarred, but most will cope, some better than others, and life will go on.  Those of us watching will pull our loved ones - whatever their age - closer, be more vigilant, more suspicious, extra careful and pray nothing like this ever happens again.  But we know it will. 

So I force myself away from TV and back to my computer.  I will shift my attention to other things, but the sadness will not go away.


My e-mail had this notice when I checked a few minutes ago:

SCHOOL CHOICE

MEETING

 

January 8, 2013

6:00 pm

Masonic Hall in Cabot

 
There will be a School Choice informational meeting on Tuesday – January 8, 2013 at 6pm at the Masonic Hall in Cabot , Vermont .
The purpose of this meeting is to discuss the process for shutting down the High School in order to offer High School Choice to our students in grades 9-12.
A member of the North Bennington School district will be in attendance to discuss North Bennington ’s experiences to date related to closing their school and to answer any related questions.
All residents interested at any level in offering School Choice in Cabot, or think they might be, are welcome to attend.
Please feel free to forward this onto any interested persons...hope to see you there!

* * * * * 

Here's a bit of news - Marty's First Stop has switched from Mobil to Irving gasoline.  We have noticed the price is more competitive now - likely at least part of the reason they switched.  I haven't heard what company will be coming to Cabot, but we understand it will likely be self-serve; that way they can begin supplying gasoline to the community sooner than if they wait for the store to be remodeled and staffed.  That will be really good for folks in and around Cabot; when you think about it, there aren't many places to buy gas along either Route 2 or Route 15, the highways on either side of the town that Route 215 connects, so Cabot folks have had to travel some distance to get gas.

Fred picked up our fruit at the gym in Cabot this morning - the grapefruit are HUGE, and look delicious. We'll probably split one; we usually have an orange or an apple as a snack during the evening, so tonight we'll have a special treat. Fred got some pictures when he went to Cabot.  Like a lot of people, it's hard for either of us go over the Plain and not take pictures, especially from the cemetery.  Here's a short slide show. 

We've had another very nice day today - sunshine and not too cold temperatures.  We had just a sifting of snow overnight, but it wasn't enough for me to measure this morning.  There is still just a trace of snow on the ground around our house - even today's sunshine didn't melt most places.  The ground is too cold now, I guess, and whatever snow we get is likely to stay put.

From Sam Carpenter at Cabot School:
 Hello all, I'm letting you all know the citrus fruit arrives Friday and is available for pickup Saturday. Come directly to the Cabot School cafeteria for pickup. 8:00 - 12:00. If you need directions let me know. Payment will be expected when you arrive for pickup. If you are unable to come to the school Saturday please let me know and I can arrange to deliver your fruit another time.

If you cannot pick up, let Sam know:  The e-mail address is: cabotfundraiser@yahoo.com

I recently received a message from Ken Hoeppner, who is associated with the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail (LVRT):
Jane, I am looking for a person in Danville who can cooperate with the Town 's  Commerce to identify and obtain funds for collecting them for the LVRT web site.(about $5000) The purpose to is to offer a vacationer an on line guide to amenities in that locale.

The assignment would be to work with the Businesses to create a listing of amenities in Danville such that a visitor could go to the web site and plan a trip from it. How the amenities could be collected for example could be through the Chamber of Commerce, calling a meeting with the Towns Businesses or through the selectboard...whatever works. There will also be funding requested to install the listing on the web site.

Anyone interested should contact Ken at  kenandsue@hoeppner.com

* * * * *

One day this week, we took a short ride up the east shore of the pond just to see how things look.  There are a few changes - the foundation for Bill and Bo Keach's new home on Narrows Drive is finished and awaiting the pre-built home.  It was a very nice day when we were there, so we went on up Old Homestead Road and then back on Route 15.  We took a few pictures, but I had trouble making the slide show, so gave up temporarily.  It should be ok now: Click here.

 Then we took some time in West Danville, it was a nice day. Today was another really nice day - sunny, temps in the 30's or maybe even higher - I didn't check often, I busy with other stuff.  Tonight there seems to be some snow in the air - not unexpected, and fairly welcome being so close to Christmas it would be nice to have some white stuff on the ground for Santa's sleigh.

I've recently had a couple of inquiries about accessing the web cam at Rossi's.  You need to use Internet Explorer as your browser.  One of the easiest ways is to go on our website and click on "Web Cam" at the bottom of the menu on the left of the page. 

Someone today thought the cameras weren't working, but I think it was because the pond is frozen over and there was no movement at all going on.  Even their flag and the wind gauge were still most of the time, and apparently the light wasn't catching the frog spitting water like it sometimes does.  Tonight you can see the lights of traffic on both Route 15 and Route 2, and a few minutes ago there were some snowflakes in front of the cameras.  Some days, after the pond is frozen over, there just isn't much moving.

People will be happy to learn the hardware store in Cabot has finally been sold, this time to a local couple, Bobby and Stephany Searles, who own the general store in Cabot.  They say they hope to have gasoline available as soon as possible, then they will do some work on the interior of the store with an eye to possibly renting space to crafters or other businesses, but they plan to have a full line of hardware items and some household items available, as well.  They say there is someone also interested in re-opening the snack bar.  They are putting up a Christmas tree so folks will know things are happening.   We surely wish them well.