We seem to definitely be on the other side of the colds we've had.  Today I even mustered enough energy to go grocery shopping - not that food really appeals to me much yet, but I'm sure that will change.  It's very unusual for me not to want to eat, but nothing tasted quite right during this bout.

Our lovely weather continues.  Today was even nicer than yesterday, but if the forecast is correct, it will all end tomorrow with wind and rain and cooler temperatures.  As you can see from this photo, our view of the pond is emerging. 

Fred has been taking advantage of the nice weather to clean out some of the brush that has taken over on our lower lawn.  He's looking forward to having an easier time mowing the lawn now he won't have to dodge branches and work around patches of osier.  I took these pictures yesterday as work got under way.  The middle picture is how it looked yesterday and the next one down is how it looked today.  He is doing a great job of pruning and clearing as you can see.  There's still more to do, but he may take a break tomorrow if the weather turns sour.  He was able to clear out around our transparent apple tree today, so we think next year it will do much better and perhaps we will have a really good crop from it.  A few years ago we had a good crop but a bear apparently climbed into it and managed to break off a fairly large limb and all we had left was a badly damaged tree and some bear scat.

Woody has enjoyed these nice days, too.  I watched him today in the garden by our lilac bush - he's not sleeping, he's hunting!  There was some small creature under the leaves and he was patiently waiting for it to surface.  I don't know if it ever did; he may have given up after an hour or so, I didn't wait to find out.  And nearly every evening there has been really beautiful moon rises.  This  picture was about a week ago - just before Halloween.  I didn't see any of the light shows that were supposed to be going on the first of the week, and I haven't heard from anyone in our area who did get a glimpse of the display, but the moon is always nice to see on the horizon.

This is a picture of Ray Peck, our mailman years ago.  This was taken in 1920. He delivered with this car when he could, and with a horse and buggy when the roads were bad. In the winter I remember him bringing the mail up on the Plain with a horse and sleigh.  He had a big fur robe that seemed to cover everything, and if I recall correctly, he smoked a cigar.  

He delivered to the whole town every day, I think, and was on the

job for 40 years - same route.  I was thinking about how different mail delivery is today - and how similar.  Although I doubt any of the rural carriers will be on the job as long as Mr. Peck, the young fellows or women on our rural routes still pretty much know everyone along their route and if something seems amiss, they will check in with a neighbor to be sure everything is ok.  But things have changed in most small post  offices within the past year or so - especially since the cutbacks.  Now the person at the window of our local post office may be from a neighboring town and doesn't have a clue about who lives where, so you better have the exact address on the envelope or it probably won't be delivered.  We've been fortunate to have Garey in West Danville until his retirement, and then Diane - but she has mentioned that she is often asked to fill in at some other office so someone else takes over here - and that's why the "personal touch" we've been used to is rapidly disappearing.  Things don't stay the same, and probably that's a good thing most of the time, but it's also nice to remember "when."  I do a lot of that as I sort through these old photos . . .