Minutes from Fall Meeting Posted

Those of you who were not able to attend the Fall Meeting of the Joe's Pond Association may be interested in seeing the minutes of that meeting.  Go to "JP Assn" on home page of the website, www.joespondvermont.com and you'll find "Minutes" on the drop-down menu.

After a cloudy and damp day yesterday, the sun is bright and warm today.  I found a little precipitation in the rain gauge, but on mornings like this it's hard to tell if it's actual rain or just condensation.  The air was very humid last night - but still cool enough to be comfortable sleeping.

We were a little on edge yesterday as it was granddaughter Jo-Ann's first day at St. Johnsbury Academy.   I was thinking about some of the "first day of school" experiences in our family, and realized that actually I dreaded those days for my kids more than they did.  It always seemed to summer was such a great relaxed time it should be difficult for them to get back to a strict schedule - early to bed, up at the crack of dawn and off to classes.  But after the dreaded packing up at camp to move back to town,  the transition was actually fairly painless for my kids.  Not so for me when I was a kid - I hated being cooped up in a classroom looking out at a perfect day, and the feel of too-tight shoes and restricting clothes after sneakers and shorts.  Unlike my kids, those feelings didn't wear off quickly for me, and I apparently still have that underlying dread of the end of summer and start of school.

Jo-Ann, however, has been looking forward to beginning high school, and her enthusiasm was still evident when I spoke with her last night.  She said with only five minutes between classes, there was some confusion, but lots of others were rushing in wrong directions, too, so she had lots of company.  Some friends from Waterford School and also her dance class are starting at the academy, too, so she is excited about the whole process.  I felt much better after talking with her.  I wish I'd had that kind of enthusiasm.

Fall is still kind of a sad time for me, anyway.  It has to do not only with shorter days and cold weather a few months away, but also an approaching birthday.  This is also the time of year I get all my annual checkups with doctors, too.  Not that I expect any surprises, but it is a grim  reminder that another year has passed and I'm another year older.  Time flies by faster as we get older - anyone over 60 will tell you that - which I believe is at least partly because we don't have the energy or flexibility we used to have, so everything we do takes longer.  Even things like writing this blog.  I expect my granddaughter would tell me it's because I spell words the old fashioned way, capitalize and punctuate.  I won't be changing any time soon.  I admit reading some of the abbreviated messages these days takes me additional time, and I frequently have to go on-line to find out what those abbreviations mean.  And I type with all ten fingers, not just my thumbs; these crickety old thumbs would simply not adapt to doing all the work.

Now I need to get ready to hike up the hill before lunch.