I only recently found out that one of our members, Janet Fortin, passed away back in November.  I have been unable to find an obituary, but for those of you who may have known Janet, she and Richard lived in the house that is very much right on the water on the right as you cross the bridge going out of West Danville on Route 2. Richard has put the house on the market, so there is a For Sale sign there now.  Janet had been quite ill for some time.  If you wish to send a note to Richard, his address is P. O. Box 175, West Danville, VT 05873.  I have sent a note on behalf of JPA members, but I'm sure he'd appreciate hearing from any of you individually.  

It's very hard losing a friend, and especially hard when that best friend is also your mate.  We all know that as we get older, there is more loss of good friends and family, but it's important to focus on the good times of the past and that present friends and family are ever more precious.

We're having a split personality day - this morning we were awakened by a very mild thunderstorm around six o'clock, but by noon there were periods of sunshine and now, at 4 o'clock, it's a gorgeous sunny day, but there are high clouds that may overtake the sunshine any moment.   The thermometer on the sunny side of the house has zoomed up to 80 degrees - but I know better than to think that's what the temperature really is outside.  I need to get out to work in the garden a bit before then next rain comes, which will probably be tonight. 

We are watching the devastation in the mid-west from that awful tornado.  How horrible for those poor people.  I can only imagine how awful it must be to experience something like that over which one has absolutely no control.  I think if I were to live in a strong tornado prone area I'd want to live underground.  Or maybe design a dome-shaped home of some very strong material the wind might not be able to grab onto very easily.  Of course, there would be the problem of debris, but perhaps there is a material strong enough to withstand projectiles driven by 200+ mph wind.  I sure hope people who know about these things are working on designing structures and materials that will hold up against these all-too-frequent disastrous storms.  Even bad wind storms here scare the heck out of me sometimes.  First thing we did when we moved to this house was remove big trees that could potentially blow over on the house.  I missed the "woodsy" feeling, but that's nothing compared to worrying about a tree crashing onto the roof or a limb shattering a window.  I know we can't protect ourselves from every natural disaster that comes along, but I like the feeling I have at least some control.  And the storms do seem to have become stronger and wilder recently.