I hope everyone remembered to set their clocks back one hour - if not, do it now!  Hope you all had a fun and safe Halloween.  We're still suffering through the colds we picked up on our Maine getaway.  So much for coming home refreshed and ready to roar.  We now think our "colds" were more like the "flu."  We had our flu shots well before we went away, but still this was one of the toughest infections I've had in a long time, so if this was a light case due to the shot, I can only shudder at what it might have been like without the shot.  We think we're both on the other side of it, but it may take a few more days for my rib cage to get back to normal after all this deep coughing.  We've been staying away from everyone, and luckily had no pressing engagements this past week.  After tomorrow's rain, when the weather turns warm again, we will air the house and, hopefully, be rid of troublesome germs for the remainder of the winter.  

In addition to attending to your clocks, it's a good idea to check your battery operated smoke or carbon monoxide alarms to be sure the batteries are still good.  Better to change them a couple times a year than run the risk of them not working.

Just a quick weather report - the wind blew some last night and we got 1.24 inches of rain.  I emptied the container at 9 a.m. and since then we've had quite a bit more.  I'll measure again at 9 tomorrow.  The temperature has been unusually warm - I show a high of 62 degrees, but I guess that will change drastically soon.

I heard from Liz Sargent that she got a copy of Elsie DeForge's book on e-bay.  Thanks to a couple of people who suggested looking in book stores on-line.  A few do show up there.

 

I had a message from Liz (Pearl) Sargent saying she would like to find a copy of Elsie DeForge's book, "Turn of the Century Joe's Pond," written in 1995.  If anyone has a copy and would consider either giving it away or selling it, please contact Liz at 802-748-1456, or let me know and I'll contact her.

I've spent some time today considering the benefit vs. hazards of going on vacation.  Granted, most years we have gone to Maine for a few days without anything unusual happening, but this time we both came back with miserable colds.  I know, people who travel on airplanes often come home with sniffles and such, but you'd think all that fresh sea air and sunshine would have kept us healthy. We knew something was going on as we were driving home, but I dismissed my scratchy throat by saying it was from talking so much - a couple of groups of students visited the week before and on the weekend I was at the Apple Pie Festival all day, all of which required lots of talking.  Then, when we are on a road trip, we talk a lot - compared to when we are at home each working on our computers.  However, by the end of the day we knew we'd bumped into some "foreign germ" and were in for a bout of sneezing, coughing and lethargy.  So we've been moping around for the past couple of days, drinking lots of fluids and resting.  I can't speak for Fred, but I feel a little resentful that I went on vacation to rest and relax and get away from everything for a bit, and now work is piling up while I'm just not interested.  I keep telling myself, if I take something for the cold it'll be over in seven days; and if I don't it'll last a week.  I like the old saying, "feed a cold and starve a fever," though, so I guess I'll just put my meager energy into food.  Fortunately, neither of us is seriously ill - just off our game a bit.  

There isn't a lot of news, as far as I know.  The people who were at our last JPA meeting already know that our newly appointed events chairperson, Susan Bouchard, is working to reinstate sailboat racing next season.  A good number of people have expressed interest, but it would be great to see a couple dozen or more boats out there like in the old days!  So dust off your Sunfish, get everything shipshape over the winter and be ready to race next summer.  There will be more about this as plans develop.

In the meantime, don't forget to make plans to attend the concert at the United Church of Cabot next Sunday.  It will be an interesting afternoon, I'm sure.  The concert is at 3 p.m., admission by donation.

Also, we have a new rental option on our website, a tree house at Molly's Falls Dam.  Some of you probably already know about this spot, but for those who don't, take a look.  Click HERE. You will see the business card in the lower right corner of the page.  Click that for more information. 

 

We took a few days off from everything and went to Maine this week.  We lucked out on the weather - it was like summer only with no people around.  I have never seen the ocean so calm.  There was barely a ripple at Short Sands Beach in front of our hotel. Even Long Sands, with an unprotected wide open expanse of just ocean, and further south in the Rye area, there was very little surf action going on. The water looked more like Joe's Pond than the Atlantic Ocean.

I watched one of the old buildings at the beach being torn down.  A whole block, mostly with Shelton's gift shops and perhaps a restaurant, it's hard to remember, and so much of it was already gone, I couldn't really tell what had been there.  I took some pictures, but there were several people, mostly old timers, who had brought their folding chairs and were just sitting across the street watching the big machines systematically knocking down the old landmark.  I was told a new building will replace it and be open for business (I'm not sure what, but it will surely be something for tourists!) by late summer, 2016.

When we got home yesterday, our cat, Woody, paid absolutely no attention to us.  His objective was to get outside to enjoy the fresh air and nice weather.  Later he finally came in briefly, but we know he was thinking he'd rather be on the outside of the door than caged up inside, so it was well into the evening before he came in.  Then he put us through our paces until bed time, going in and out and demanding food.  Fred said he was just making sure all his normal services had been restored.  Today things are back to normal with Woody sleeping peacefully, probably confident we won't be going off and leaving him for any extended period again for a while, at least.  Jamie and Marie look out for him when we are gone, so he's well provided for except for doors opening on demand.

It's going to be another chilly night - quite different than when we were on the coast with daytime temperatures in the high 60s and nights in the 50s.  The foliage along the way was still beautiful in most places, especially along the coast.  In the mountains lots of the leaves at the high levels have been blown off, but in the valleys there was still lots of color.  We took the scenic route going over, through North Conway where we stopped at L. L. Bean's, and then to Fryburg, working our way through small towns along rivers and lakes to Wells, Maine.  It was a lovely drive, but took us longer than usual.  We came home on much more highly traveled roads from Portsmouth, eventually getting on I-93 so we were in St. Johnsbury shortly after noon.  It didn't matter - it's still interesting traveling through the mountains, whichever way you go.  And once there, we enjoyed as much seafood as we could possibly eat, finding all but one of our favorite spots open.  One place we have enjoyed for breakfast is the "Stolen Menu."  It's not far from our hotel and was discovered several years ago by our friend, Elisabeth, when she and another friend, Louise, went with us to York.  We have had breakfast there several times since, but on this trip we found it gone.  There was some sort of bar or pizza place where it used to be.  Another spot we liked last year, I think it's called Nick's, and is right in York Village, was closed this year because of a recent fire.  The York Fire Department is almost across the street from the building it was in, so that probably saved that whole block.  The restaurant was a favorite spot for locals, and was on the lower level of a business block.  It looked as if the other businesses are ok, but the little restaurant needs work.  However, we went to Norma's out on Route 1, and that is always good, so we didn't suffer one bit.  We had lunch at Petey's in Rye one day, and that was especially good.  Way more food than we really needed to consume, but it's so good - I had a clam roll and it was overflowing with clams, and we were able to save some frenchfries to take with us to the Nubble Light where our friend, Louise, loved to feed the gulls.  In her honor, we fed a few of the hundreds of birds waiting there for handouts.  Another highlight was the clam chowder at the pub in our hotel, the Union Bluff.  I always try to have at least one meal there just for their chowder.  And that was a good "mini vacation," but we are very happy to be back home, back in service for Woody. 

There is sad news to report this morning.  We have lost another  long-time Joe's Ponder.  Nicky Silloway, wife of the late Dr. Fred Silloway, and co-founder with him of St. Johnsbury Dental Associates, died yesterday from complications after a recent heart attack.  Nicky has been an active member of the Joe's Pond Association over the years and will be missed by her many friends here.  I will post a link to her obituary as soon as it is published.

Another well-known and respected member of our local community, Alice "Fuzz" McDonald Hafner, of Danville, passed away on October 18.  She was 90.  Alice was the late Catherine Beattie's sister and both were known for their outspoken common sense approach to life.  She will be missed.

Sincere condolences to the families of these two outstanding women. 

There was a reality check this morning when we all awoke to a world of white here at Joe's Pond - except for the pond, of course, which was in a deep gray-blue mood fringed with white along the shoreline and then white edged golds and browns on the hillsides.
I measured a little more than half an inch of snow on my deck this morning, and there was enough on the back lawn so it was white.  Most is gone now, but there are still pockets here and there, and the wind has taken off a lot of the leaves.  It's still pretty, though, especially in the central and northwestern corridor where the foliage is still pretty much intact.  No snow on the ground in the Montpelier or Burlington area, but there were a few snow squalls as we went up I-89 this morning, but nothing sticking.  This afternoon we didn't hit any snow coming back until we got to about Molly's Pond on Route 2 - and then just a few snowflakes in the air.  Right now we're having another pretty impressive snow shower, so I think it will probably be a cold and snowy night.

Our four-year-old granddaughter called us today all excited about having snow at their house in Waterford, and we discussed making a snowman as soon as there's enough snow.  I told her probably after Halloween there might be enough snow, but she insisted it's "already snow season, Grammy!"  

 Here are some very nice photos sent by Jill Marchand, at the Hodgeman camp on Meadow Lane - 'tis the season! Thanks, Jill - looks like the whole family has been busy carving - great job! Pretty scary stuff.  Notice the guy on the right has a "signature" smile.  Jill also sent this shot of the rainbow - I think it must have been yesterday's, although it might have been today, with the frequent snow squalls and rain showers.  It is a lovely shot.

Here is another lovely picture - this one of a long-time Joe's Ponder who still manages to visit occasionally, and is very knowledgeable about Joe's Pond history.  This is Alba Rossi, Bill Rossi's (West Shore Road) mother, who celebrated her 99th birthday this month.  Friends who would like to send her a birthday message should address it to Alba Rossi, 47 Orange Street, Apt. 1, Barre, Vermont 05641.  We hope you had a lovely birthday, Alba!  Congratulations, and we wish you continued good health and happiness for many more years.  You're LOOKIN' GOOD - you must be doing something very right!!

Here is what sounds like a very nice concert that will be held on Sunday, November 1, at the United Church of Cabot.  Admission is by donation.  I found a little information on the performers, Claire Black and Melissa Perley.  I didn't find a page for Claire Black, but perhaps I wasn't looking in the right place.  The Cabot church is an old building but it has been well maintained and updated over the years so it is very pretty and comfortable.  The concert should be a real pleasure.

We had a great time at the Apple Pie Festival yesterday.  I was helping with the Silent Auction, and we were busy all day. There was good attendance and I saw A LOT of folks I knew, most of them consuming a piece of apple pie.  The corn chowder I had for lunch was very good, too.  I was told Larry Gochey retired from making the chowder this year, but he generously gave Joanne Luce his recipe.  As usual, the judges did a great job of rating the pies.  I was chatting with Charlie Bothfeld, one of the judges, over bowls of chowder when he was suddenly called back into service to join the other judges to break a tie in one of the contests.  Here is an article some of you may have missed in the Barre Times Argus.  I'm guessing everyone at the Festival had a wonderful time and most vendors and crafts folks seemed to be doing a good business.  I know the Silent Auction was popular, and Julie Ackermann did a great job, almost single handedly setting it up this year.  Diana Klingler and I, who co-chaired it last year, were called in last minute to help out on Saturday, which we very much enjoyed.  One of the donations that had a lot of interest was an overnight stay at Chip Milne's tree house on Molly's Falls Dam.  Chip generously donated two gift certificates for one night each, and both people were fascinated by the prospect.  I don't know who ended up with the prizes, but I bet they will enjoy the experience.  It looks like a really secluded spot.

Tonight is the benefit turkey pie supper at the Danville Inn - admission by donation.  In fact, they are already serving . . . better hurry!

OOPS!!!

I'm really sorry - I wrote yesterday that the benefit turkey supper is tonight, but that is WRONG!  It's tomorrow, SUNDAY, evening.

Tonight is the Dime-A-Dip Pot Luck Supper in St. Johnsbury.  See posters:  (Click to make larger.)

This has been a raw, rainy, cold day, as predicted.  I've been watching the thermometer drop this afternoon - it's easing out of the 40s into the 30s now, and we have had some rain showers that make it seem really cold.  It's almost snow, and will certainly be snow by nightfall, I think.  Several times the sun has been out as it was raining quite hard and I knew there had to be a rainbow.  It was more than I'd expected.  Stretched from West Danville to Walden, and just beautiful.  I took lots of pictures from our front deck, but I think this one was the best.  I couldn't quite get both ends in to see where the pots of gold might be, but it was close enough.  I was literally chasing rainbows because every time the sun was out and it was raining, I jumped up to try to get a picture.  Unfortunately, in weather like this, they don't last very long.

Looks like it will be a good day to spend some time at the Apple Pie Festival in Cabot and then choose between the benefit turkey pie supper in Danville or the Dime-A-Dip Pot Luck supper in St. Johnsbury.  It will be a full day in many respects!  Here are the details on all that's going on. The Apple Pie Festival is held in the gym, so no worries about the weather there, and of course, both suppers will be warm and cozy, which ever you choose.

Be sure to click on the images to make them large enough to read.

So, with the melody of that old tune running through my mind, "Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow."  Thank you, Mr. Martin - lovely to hear you again!

Speaking of favorite old timers - another of my favorites, Tom Selleck, has a new Jesse Stone movie coming up on the Hallmark Channel on starting on Sunday.  I really like the Jesse Stone series - and I also watch "Blue Bloods" on Friday nights - or tape it and watch later.  Good shows, and I've liked Selleck ever since the "Magnum" series.  I remember when the big island was for sale, before the Lockwoods bought, I think, there was a rumor that Tom Selleck was interested in it.  What a hoot that would have been!

Now I need to get some food on the table and clear the evening so I don't miss "Blue Bloods."  And I have a couple of apple pies waiting to be baked, too.  I'm not sure if both will make it to the Apple Pie Festival tomorrow . . .  I think Fred may have some ideas about hijacking one of them.

The ground was white with frost this morning, but it quickly melted away and except for tender plants, no harm was done.  The weather has been beautiful, but there's a definite chill that's typical of October.

I was reminded this morning of those chilly fall mornings when I was riding my bicycle to school from our home on Cabot Plain.  I remember enjoying the smell of the leaves and even the cold air. I guess as a teenager my hands and feet didn't get cold at the first small draft like they seem to now.  That was before girls wore jeans or even slacks to school, too.  We had to wear dresses or skirts - and one morning as I came down Bond Hill onto the pavement in Cabot Village I was rushing so I wouldn't be late to class and as I stood up to peddle faster, my foot slipped off the peddle and I went down hard onto the pavement, peeling a layer of skin off my leg from my knee to my ankle.  I brushed off the dirt as best I could and made it to school where my home room teacher sent me to the Home Economics room to cleaned up.  There was grit and gravel embedded in my leg, but with a little soap and water, I got it fairly well cleaned and the bleeding stopped.  Then the Home Ec teacher put some kind of salve on it - it might have been Vaseline. All I remember is that the wound began to weep in rivulets, soaking my ankle sock and shoe, and the pain was awful.  I expect the trip home that afternoon was no picnic, either, but I don't recall much about that.  I think I asked to go home but wasn't allowed to.

Today I met the combined Cabot/Plainfield student group again.  They spent more time at the Historical Society building and had certain things they wanted to see again and had some questions.  Someone had read about things school kids did at recess a few years ago and mentioned those activities would not be allowed today.  I'm not sure what they had come across, but when I was in school on the Plain, we always seemed to have some game going.   I remember playing soft ball, kick ball, tag, pump pump pull away, dodge ball, crack the whip and kick the can.  Games went in cycles, and some of them I really didn't enjoy, like being the kid on the end of the line in crack the whip. One of the favorite past times was walking the board fence that enclosed the school grounds on three sides.  The fence slanted downward sharply to cross a small brook in a couple of places and that was a challenge to keep your balance.  Sometimes we fell off and got a little wet, but it never seemed to bother us, and nobody got seriously hurt.  The only playground equipment we had was a set of two rope swings hung from a tall, sturdy wooden frame firmly planted in the ground and well braced.  That got lots of use.  There were wooden seats so we could jump off easily, sometimes making a less than graceful landing - and we had to watch out that the wooden seat didn't clip us in the back of the head when we were down.  I guess that's why swings these days have canvas seats.  They're probably safer, but I can't imagine they are very comfortable.

In high school there would usually be a ball game of some sort going on at recess and noon hour on the common in front of school.  One year I remember Joe Begin and Larry Thompson spent a lot of time boxing in the school yard.  They might have been practicing for a competition of some kind.  During the winter, we could go into the gym, which was the former Methodist church building across the common from the school.  We would practice basketball or play ping pong.  Sometimes one of the teachers would join in. I don't remember that there were strict rules about how we spent our time outside of the classrooms.

Out of curiosity, I searched the internet to find out more about what kids do at recess these days, and I found even recess may not exist in some schools.  Well, darn!  Here is a list of things that are disappearing from schools today. I have to wonder how kids learn to stand up for themselves or for others, settle differences, learn to be a good loser or graceful winner, or have any creativity left.  And how do they burn off all the natural energy growing kids have?  Here's another site I got a laugh out of.  I'm pretty sure our local schools don't go as far as those mentioned, and the kids I met today seem to be just fine.  I'm looking forward to working with them as they continue putting together pod casts of what they are learning about the history of their town.

 

This has been another unusual day - a little bit of everything.  We've had some brief and beautiful periods of sunshine intermingled with rain showers and gloomy cloud cover, but the mix was wonderful for getting great photos, if you happened to be in the right spot at the right time - and quick enough.  Here are two great shots I received from Rena Ellingwood this evening.  She and Mark are on the Route 2 side of the middle pond and got these photos this morning.  The dark sky made a spectacular contrast - and that double rainbow is beautiful.  Thanks to Rena for sharing.

I noticed the contrast as the sun came up briefly this morning, too.  The top picture was from my office window.  Then I raced into the bedroom to get a better shot of the rainbow, but by then it had faded away (next picture).  For just a few minutes the sun filtered through the clouds up towards Walden (third shot down), but that didn't last long, either.  I took a chance shooting towards the pond and even with the sun right in front of me, the leaves were beautiful.  Within a few minutes it was raining.  The whole day has been like that, with showers and sunshine and gradually getting cooler - but not uncomfortable except at the Historical Society building in Cabot where I went this afternoon to meet with two teachers.  The building is like an oven in the summer and like a refrigerator this time of year.  I was sorry for the two young teachers who came dressed like it was summer.  It was much warmer outside than it was in the building, but by the time we left the sun was dropping behind the hills and I'm sure they were both about frozen.  I'm meeting another group tomorrow - teachers and students, but if time allows, Bonnie has volunteered to go to the building at 6 a.m. or so to build a fire in the big old wood stove.  It takes a while for it to warm the space, but by the time I get there at 9, it should be ok.  However, Bonnie has more than enough to do with the Apple Pie Festival coming up on Saturday and I certainly wouldn't blame her if she didn't want to get up at that hour in the morning to build a fire - I think they will all dress warmly this time - it's the same group that came last week and got chilled through.  They'll be staying longer tomorrow - about 2 hours, I think, so I'm betting they'll be better prepared for our frigid historical building. 

I have no idea what the weather will be like tomorrow, but I believe it may be a lot like it's been today, only slightly cooler.  We're edging into late fall/early winter mode.  It's time.

We went out for breakfast at the Danville Inn with friends this morning.  We always enjoy breakfast there, and today was especially nice to be with our friends, Elisabeth and her son, Michael.  After we finished eating, we took a road trip - something Michael, who lives in Alaska, really enjoys.  We took the road past the old Frye Quarry to Oneida Road and then turned onto the Peacham Road.  We left Peacham by way of Ha'penny Road, finally coming out by Injun Joe's Cabins in West Danville.  There were beautiful views everywhere.    The foliage seemed to be just about peak, or a little past on some ridges where the wind had stripped leaves off, but overall, there was nice color and we even had some sunshine along the way. 


Last time Michael was here we took him on Last Road in Cabot - a particularly steep, narrow, almost totally "unimproved" road with only a few homes on opposite ends, and today he said he wanted to take that road again.  But before we did that, he was interested in the "old Route 2" in South Cabot.  We intended to just do the loop along Molly's Falls Pond (top right), but ended up visiting Peacham Pond (bottom right), too, as long as we were so close.  It was lovely there, too.  Just a perfect day with sunny periods and mild temperatures. The water looked good enough to jump into, but I expect it was pretty cold.

When we left there, we went back to Last Road.   Shortly after heading up that road from Route 2 in South Cabot, there's a sign, "Road Not Plowed In Winter Beyond This Point," or something to that effect.  I don't know if there is a similar sign at the other end off the Danville Hill Road, but I expect there is.  It would be impossible for a plow to get either up or down that road in the winter.  It is narrow, besides being steep, and it's cut into the side of the hill so there's really no place to plow the snow to.  I doubt the road was even rolled in winters years ago when there were one or two farms at the top of the hill, and one at the bottom near what is now Route 2, but nothing in between, so there was probably no road connecting between them in the early years.   Danville Hill Road was laid out I believe in about 1828, and until then anyone living on that eastern hillside had to keep their own road or path through the woods to get wherever they needed to go, mostly on foot or horseback or by wagon or sleigh.   The foliage was lovely along this road, and there were a few very nice views through the occasional break in the foliage. This last photo was taken from the Groton State Forest Road of the farm by Molly's Pond - from a slightly different vantage point.


We have just had a shower and the temperature is still in the 60 degrees range.  The foliage is particularly vivid when wet, but I'm expecting that in the next few days most of the leaves will be off the trees and we'll settle into real fall mode, so it was nice to get out one more time to appreciate the color around us.

When we were at the Danville Inn, Steve, the owner, asked that I let people know about the benefit turkey pie supper coming up on Sunday.  Steve is very generous to do this.  We hope you will all turn out for it, eat heartily (the food will be soooooo good!) and then give generously to help preserve this fine old historic church.  It is a struggle for most churches to keep up with just the everyday maintenance costs, so when it is necessary to make major repairs to preserve the iconic old buildings we like to see as part of our Vermont heritage, that can carry a hefty price tag.  We wish them well, and hope you can help.  

Today was no doubt the last of our exceptionally nice weather.  It was even warmer than yesterday and lots of people were out and about enjoying it.  We took a brief ride around the pond this morning, stopping in West Danville where it was busy with tourists, and then we went along Old Homestead Road to check on all the old homesteads getting new looks.

The first one is the Collins cottage - looks like it's being raised so another floor can be installed to make it a two-story dwelling.  Then just up the road a bit the Nicholson home is in place, looking very nice.  (See photo on left.)  We were surprised that it's so large, but since it will be their year around home, it makes sense.  Next door, the Sherwood's parking area looks like there's work going on there, but that isn't the case - the road is narrow and there's hardly any room for the large equipment and all the material being used at the Rustad/Ferreira camp.  We can't tell what the Rustad camp will be like yet, but work is progressing nicely.

We couldn't continue by Rustad's as the road was blocked with the machinery working there, and we didn't want to interrupt, so we turned around and went out the way we'd come in.  We saw Larry Rossi just coming onto Old Homestead as we had stopped to take a picture of his new buildings (photo on left).  Larry said he will be moving all his equipment from Woodbury to this new facility.  It will be much more convenient for him and it will be great to have a builder "on site" at Joe's Pond.  Larry always seems to be busy around the pond - he is still working at Deckers on West Shore Road, but said he should be finished soon.  Click on photos to make them larger.

The rest of our day was spent at the usual stuff, and we got a little more done on the flower beds - but it was really too nice (and too warm!!) to work very hard.  Instead, I puttered around the place and enjoyed the sunshine.  I've spent a fair amount of time today on my computer trying to arrange meetings with two groups of students at the historical society building this week.  We have to work around teachers' schedules as well as our own and we're trying to do it all before we have to close the building for the winter at the end of October.  We'll make it work.  We are just very happy the teachers are interested in the resources we have at the HistSoc.  

Tomorrow I expect we'll have clouds and perhaps some rain most of the day and that will continue until the weekend.  The snow I mentioned in the forecast yesterday is apparently a sure thing, at least in the "mountains" on Friday night.  I'm not sure we qualify as a mountains, but we know Joe's Pond and surrounding hills are pretty likely to get snow if there's any around.  In the meantime, we will feel the temperature heading down a little more each day until it's in the 30s by Friday.  Back to reality and "normal" fall weather, some of the trees have already shed their leaves, so things will be bleak here soon until we get a nice covering of snow.

Here's an interesting video of a little girl, age 6, who may grow up to be president - we can only hope for such wisdom in the future.  Thanks to Louise and Marie for sharing this.
 

We had another pretty day today.  It was cool, but perfect for working outside.  We got some of the flower gardens cut and mulched ready for winter and bit by bit we're getting tucked in ready for cold weather. 

We went down on our "Lower 40" where we have a couple of hybrid hazel nut trees that have been around for 15 years or so and never did much until this year.  One was loaded with nuts a couple of weeks ago, but they were not ripe.  I knew we'd have to be on the ball to get them before the squirrels did, so that was our mission today to see if they were ready to harvest.  Too late.  Not a single nut on either tree.  It's just like our luck with the grape vine on the arbor out back.  The birds get them the minute they are ripe and even though we have watched closely some years, the birds always get them before we do.  We could throw netting over to protect them, but really it's not worth the bother.  I like feeding the critters, and I have no real need for either grapes or nuts; it's just that it would be nice to be able to get a few before the animals do.  Next year we'll keep closer track on the hazel nuts; I've given up on the grapes.  I remember finding lots of wild hazel nuts when I was a kid.  They grew along the road between our house and school, and I used o fill my pockets with them.  We rolled them on a stone to remove the outer prickly husks and then used a smaller stone to crack open the nut. 

Fred got some pictures of the foliage this morning.  Woody went with him, as you can see.  Click on the images to make them larger.  Finally we have some really nice color.  I was afraid we were going to have one of those all brown falls when the leaves just get drab, but those few nights we had freezing temperatures a little while back, and the rain last week helped, and it's really beautiful.

This is the countdown to the Apple Pie Festival on Saturday.  Bonnie and her team have been working hard to have everything ready - the pies, the corn chowder, crafters and silent auction.   I think the weather forecast is for a fairly cool day and perhaps some rain - and yes, I did hear the word snow" in the forecast, too, but I'm hoping that was a mistake.  It doesn't matter for the Festival, though, as the gym is cozy and warm and there's plenty of hot food for lunch, so make an apple pie to enter in the contest, you could win a really great prize and maybe a blue ribbon; or just go for the wonderful apple pies that will be on sale and the fun of it all.  You can plan to spend however much time you want there and then head for the dime-a-dip supper the Kingdom Animal Shelter folks are having in St. Johnsbury.  The Apple Pie Festival is our one big fund-raising event for the Cabot Historical Society, and the Dime-A-Dip Pot-Luck Supper is for the benefit of the kitties at the Kingdom Animal Shelter.  Both worthy causes. 

 

Things have been unusually busy around here this past week.  A few days ago, I think perhaps around the end of last week, one of the teachers at Cabot School got in touch with the Historical Society about having a group of students visit the museum and resource center.  Bonnie, our president, is right out straight with preparations for the Apple Pie Festival coming up on the 17th, so I volunteered to meet with them yesterday.  The group was a combination of students from Cabot and Plainfield, and since none of them had ever been in the building before and neither had their teachers - or if they had, they hadn't spent much time there so I was on my own to figure out what to cover in the hour that we had.  All I knew was that they hoped to uncover some "unusual happenings," a nod to Halloween, I guess.

Cabot has had some unusual things happen over the years, but not much ghostly stuff has been recorded or verified, so I selected a few stories that I hoped would qualify, like Thomas Lyford being struck dumb after he had spent hours recounting the town's history to J. M. Fisher who wrote the history for Abby Maria Hemenway.  The story goes that old Tom "never communicated again," and died a week later.  He was 82.

Then there was Mary Lance, the fiancee of Abel Morrill, Jr., who along with his brother, Edwin, served in the Civil War.  Edward died at Appomattox, and Abel was killed at Wilderness.  After  Abel's death Mary was never seen in public again.

A spinster, A. Fanny Smith, lived on the Plain at the farm where she was born.  Her Father, Harvey, died in 1927; her mother, Mary Jane Walbridge, died in 1910.  May, Fanny's sister also never married, cared for her parents and sickly brother, Erwin.  May died in 1937. There were twin brothers, Ernest and Erwin.  Erwin apparently never married and died in 1934 at age 70.  His twin, Ernest, married first Elsie M. Foster, who died in 1904.  He then married Sophronia, who died in 1941.  Ernest died in 1947 at 83.  This left Fanny all alone on the farm with the cows and chickens, each with carefully chosen names and trained to come when she called them.  After Fanny buried Ernest she swore she would forever remain in mourning and indeed, she never removed the long, black garments she had worn at his funeral.  Fanny died in 1950 at age 78 after falling onto the wood stove.  All that's left of the farm is the stone chimney standing straight and tall against the weeds and bushes.   

I knew A. Fanny, and carried groceries for her on my way to and from school in 1947 and 1948.  She was quite intelligent, a school teacher in her youth, never married, and spent her days writing poetry or sitting on the porch talking to the animals grazing around the place.  They were all named and came to her when called.

I'm not sure these stories, or even my recounting how Clyde Lance dropped dead ringing the church bell at the Methodist Church to call worshipers to the Old Home Week service in 1932.  He was only 62.  Long afterwards townspeople reported hearing the bell clang a single ring, sometimes in the middle of the night or long after worshipers had left the church on a Sunday, and the source of the solitary rings was never discovered.  Eventually I believe the belfry was removed when the Methodist and Congregational churches merged in about 1939.

The students rushed out of the historical building a little before 10 o'clock,  no doubt happy at the prospect of a bright, warm classroom after the damp, cold darkness of our unheated museum.  Although the students did not participate a great deal, the teachers were excited about all that's available in the building, and if it can be arranged, they will come back with their students to spend more time with our artifacts and resources.  We'll start a fire in the big old wood stove to try to warm it if they decide to come again.  I was surprised that nobody, teachers included, knew much of the history of the town, and had no idea of the extent of our collections and resource library.  We hope that will change over time.

I've had a couple "days off" from my computer.  Got up Monday morning with a touch of the "blahs," a little vertigo and just not feeling up to par.  Numerous naps throughout the day yesterday and another one this afternoon seems to have righted things (literally) and I'm back to feeling human again.  I think I need to learn to pace myself better - sometimes I do too much for too long and pay the price.  Consequently, I missed going on the road trip with the others on the West Danville History Committee on Monday.  I haven't heard how productive the venture was, but I was really sorry to have to miss it.  They had a nice day to do it and hopefully covered most of the back roads around town and got some great information.

Sadly, I just learned in the Caledonian Record of the death of Dr. John Gould (60 Narrows Dr.) at his home in Alabama.  We are always sad when we lose a member of our Joe's Pond community.  I didn't know Dr. Gould personally, but I know he had grown up in St. Johnsbury and was very fold on Joe's Pond.  Those of you who may wish to send condolences may send them to Mrs. Gould at 1600 Manchester Ln, Birmingham, AL 35243. Our sincere condolences to his wife, Sheryl and their family. 

There will be another "year 'rounder" at the pond by this time next year.  I talked with Shelly Walker today and she told me the Walker cottage will be torn down this fall and she plans to build a new, year around home on the site.  Her parents, Don and Audrey, have spent summers at Joe's Pond for over 50 years until the last couple of summers when health problems prevented them from spending much time here.  Shelly is excited at the prospect of living here all year and told me this is something she's always wanted to do.  Don had told us some time ago he expected Shelly would come to Joe's Pond to live year around at camp, and I know he and Audrey will be thrilled that Shelly will be carrying on the tradition of being a Joe's Ponder.  We're excited that she is doing this and hope her plans move along smoothly.  Right now she is awaiting permission from the Town of Cabot to remove the existing building.  

I want to remind you about a couple of events coming up - it just happens that both are on Saturday, October 17, but you should be able to take in both!  The Apple Pie Festival in Cabot starts at 9 a.m. with the contest for the best tasting home-made apple pie, an on-going Silent Auction and Craft Fair, lots of good food for your lunch (apple pie by the slice or whole pie!), and then for supper you can drop in at the Dime-A-Dip Pot Luck supper around 5 o-clock at the South Congregational Church in St. Johnsbury for the benefit of Kingdom Animal Shelter.  They are having a pie and cake auction and entertainment.  This should make a fun, full day for you.  That's what fall in Vermont is all about - fun and food!  Of course, the foliage is getting to be pretty spectacular, too, and should be just about at its best by then.  

Bill and Diane Rossi spent the weekend in Kennebunkport, Maine.  Bill was watching for any of the Bush family or other celebs who might be visiting.  I expect the town is quieter these days than when there was a Bush in the White House and there were frequent high-level meetings at the Bush summer home.  Looks like a lovely spot to people-watch or just gaze out at the ocean.  Thanks for the photo, Diane. Click on any image to make it larger. 

Did you ever notice that sometimes good people just can't seem to catch a break?  We found out today that Hastings Store was broken into, I believe last night, and cash and cigarettes were stolen.  It apparently happened between 10 p.m. yesterday and 3 a.m. this morning.  I haven't heard how much damage was done or the total cost of the loss, but just to have it happen is really unthinkable.  Like Garey and Jane (or anyone else, for that matter) needed anything more to worry about.  We'll keep you posted on progress to catch whoever did this.  I guess everyone needs a good alarm system these days.  No telling who is roaming around doing bad things.

We've had plenty of sunshine today, but the thermometer had a hard time getting much above 50 degrees, and the wind has been whipping all day, making it much colder feeling.  The sun is going down and so is our temperature.  I have a reading of 48 degrees now and it seems as if the wind may be calming down, which will mean a hard frost, probably.

Fred and I worked on our woods paths a little bit today.  We are hoping to clear some walking/snowshoeing paths through the remnants of brush left from logging a couple years ago.  The small underbrush and berry bushes are covering the mess, but it's nearly impossible to walk over; and contrary to what a state forester told me during our first "lumbering" adventure nearly 30 years ago, those spruce limbs and logs don't decay and "go back into the soil in a couple of years."  They dry and petrify.  After all this time, lots of it is still rock hard and there is little sign of those branches  disintegrating.  I should have known that - we were battling the fallen logs from the 1938 hurricane for at least two decades.  Anyway, we are being "proactive" this time and clearing the dead stuff off to the sides of the path we want to use.  It makes great havens for small animals and eventually the weeds and moss will envelope it.  In the meantime, we can once again get around in our woods.  Lots of work, though, and I'm bushed (no pun intended) tonight.  It's a good night to stay cozy and watch a movie.  I think we'll have some fish chowder for supper. We had carrot and potato soup (Diane shared some of Walter Ruf's carrots with us this week!) and that was really good on a cold night.  Thank you Diane, and thank you, Walter!