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!