Anyone feeling a tinge of fall in the air these days?  It sure felt "fallish" last night - I recorded a low of 45.6 degrees.  Today my shaded thermometer is reading 68.2, and the one in the sun, when there is some, was only 70 a few minutes ago.  No sun out right now, but it's going to get better as the day goes on, according to the weather folks.  The weekend is supposed to be pretty nice.  That's good news for all the events going on -  Danville Fair today and tomorrow and the JPA Cocktail party on Sunday.  The season is moving right along.  Kids will be back in school in a few weeks, Fall Foliage Week in the Kingdom, Autumn on the Green, the Apple Pie Festival in Cabot - you'll find all these with details on home page under "Events."  Then deer hunting, Thanksgiving and Christmas and we're ready to start a New Year!  That's a too-quick trip through the year, but sometimes it seems as if that's how fast the days zoom by.

That reminds me - how about that bridge construction being way ahead of schedule!?  (See Francine's report below.)  I'm impressed.  Must be the stars were aligned just right for that project, and the crew working there must have tended to the job at hand with no fooling around.  It's a little quiet along West Shore Road - I was just getting used to all the unusual traffic when it abruptly stopped last week and now it's downright lonely.  We can all begin to relax a bit without the buzz of traffic and the rattle of big trucks, though, and that's a good thing especially for folks who come to vacation here for just a few weeks in the summer.

My neighbor and I went into town to do some errands and stopped at Riley's Fish Shack on Route 18 in St. Johnsbury last week.   It was busy - especially the outdoor tables.  It's pretty much self-serve, although there was a very accommodating young lady in the dining room who kindly brought our bowls of chowder to us - she probably knew it would be safer than trusting a couple of old timers to get them from the service window safely to the table.  The chowder was excellent, although a little salty for my mostly salt-free taste buds.  I would have liked to try some of their other offerings, but it was a chilly day and the chowder was just right.  I'll try something else next time I'm there - perhaps with just a cup of chowder . . .