It's been a beautiful day here and is cooling down so we should all be able to get a great night's sleep.  I even got outside late this afternoon to do some garden work.  I'm definitely going to downsize my flower gardens - it's been an awful year for me and my flower beds.  Either it's been too hot, too cold or too buggy. Or else I'm too lazy to get out there.  It isn't fun any more, and my old joints don't appreciate being stressed, so I'm going to "re-landscape."

We were commenting that yesterday was the most comfortable meeting of the year at the pavilion.  The spring meeting we were cold, the annual meeting was windy and raw, but yesterday was very pleasant.  It was striking as we entered the pavilion and saw all the new chairs lined up.  Really pretty.  Jaff Baxter and Ray Rouleau built "corals" for them in the storage room, and that seems to work very well.  The bottom picture shows some of our members having coffee and doughnuts before the meeting.  It's always a great time to chat with friends and meet folks we haven't seen for a while or who may be new members.  We had good attendance and even though it was a short meeting, everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. The minutes are posted on the website, in case you'd like to read what was discussed at the meeting.

We went for a boat ride with Jamie and Marie in the afternoon yesterday.   There were lots of people out on the water taking advantage of the nice weather.  We saw just about every type of  vessel imaginable as we went around the pond. Kayaks, paddle boards, inflatables and jet skis - we didn't see a single rowboat, though.  I wonder if there are any of those still around - probably not, except perhaps as planters on someone's lawn.

The beach was busy with lots of kids in the water and families enjoying one of the last weekends before school begins and kids are busy with soccer and other school activities.
I remember how I dreaded the end of summer and going back to school.  After being in shorts and barefoot all summer, getting dressed up for school was nothing short of torture.  And it always seemed to be really hot for the first few weeks of school.   The Plains school was at the edge of a big field that was part of our farm, so I spent a good deal of my time gazing out the window watching whatever was going on outside and wishing I could be part of it instead of being stuck in school.  After a week or so I'd settle down, but starting school each fall was painful for me.  Now I marvel that my granddaughters are excited for school to begin.  

This is a picture of the inside of Cabot Plains School where I went for most of my elementary school years.  It wasn't the most inviting place by today's standards, but I still have some really nice memories of those years.  That's a stage on the right, and beyond the piano, the door to the boys' cloak room and bathroom.  There was a similar cloak room on the opposite side of the stage for the girls, and these served as dressing rooms during our theater productions.  The black boards were across the back of the room, and big windows along the east side of the building on the left of the photo.  Some teachers liked their desk in front of the students, while others preferred to be in back of them.  With 20 or more kids in all eight grades to manage, a teacher didn't spend a lot of time at her desk.  The students were seated according to grade level so it was easier for the teacher to more or less segregate classes.  Everyone heard everyone else reciting or being instructed by the teacher, and sometimes it was more interesting than what we were supposed to be doing in our own studies.  At recess we played games, used the swings or walked on the rail fence by the brook.  Occasionally one of us would fall, but nobody got seriously hurt - only wet if we happened to fall into the brook.  We survived cold weather, mud season, occasional fights on the playground, and the daily walks to and from school - some of the kids walked over a mile each way and in all kinds of weather.  Only rarely would a parent bring their children to school.  I guess that was all part of the learning process.