We're in for another cold night - and tomorrow night will be REALLY cold, according to the forecast.  Today was best described as "raw."  It's that cold damp that penetrates right to your bones.  I guess it's partly because we're so unprepared after the ultra-warm weather we were having a few days ago.  This is a system shock.
     Other parts of the country are still in fall mode.  Andy Rudin sent these photos and wrote: 

 

Here are three photos of the foliage down here. Its peak here is about one month after that at Joes Pond.   What a difference 424 miles makes!!!

 

    When I first looked at these, I thought they were some Andy had taken before he left Vermont, but I couldn't make them seem quite right, at least not for our immediate area - the pine trees, etc., didn't look like West Danville or Joe's Pond.  Really nice, though, and thanks to Andy for sending them.  

    We were in Burlington yesterday for my eye appointment.  Both eyes are being treated, so each month I get a shot in alternate eyes.  It sounds worse than it really is, although sometimes if the antiseptic used on my eyeball  before the doctor does the injection doesn't get well rinsed out, my eye will sting a lot. Anyway, on the way over, everything was covered with frost here in our area - all the way to about Montpelier.  Plainfield was completely socked in with fog, and the trees looked as if they had been sprayed with fake snow.  Very pretty.  Unfortunately, we didn't have the camera with us.  Some folks never learn.  We used to always take it but didn't use it, but it never fails that if we leave it at home, we see something picture worthy.  Of course, in Burlington it was sunny and mild, I don't think they'd had even a light frost.

     Today we went to St. Johnsbury for haircuts.  We are still sometimes surprised at the difference in temperature between here and St. Jay.  We went bundled up like it was January, and had the seat warmers going all the way into town (that is so nice to have a warm back and butt!!!), and when we got out of the car expecting a really cold blast of air, we were both surprised at how much warmer it was.  Not much wind (St. Johnsbury is in a valley) and really quite nice.  We were able to shed a layer.  However, when we stopped at Hastings on the way home, we were glad to have that extra layer - the wind was whipping down the pond and the water looked dark and menacing.

    Already folks are thinking about Christmas.  Garey told me about someone wanting 75 tickets to give to their employees as at Christmas.  Every year we have one or two employers who do that, and it's very nice.  Usually it's a company outside of our area.  I guess local companies figure their EEs know about the contest and will pick up their own tickets.  It's really amazing how out-of-state folks know about the contest.  When we say we are from Vermont, people say, "Oh, yes, maple syrup.  If we say we're from Cabot, people immediately identify with Cabot cheese, but if we say we are from Joe's Pond, quite often we get, "Oh, where they have that big ice contest!"  I remember years ago when I spent some time in Minnesota, I was quite surprised that some people truly didn't have any idea where Vermont was.  That was before the digital revolution when the world was still big and unfamiliar.  One thing I learned about Minneapolis, though - they have A LOT of snow there!!  I was there in the fall and soon after I arrived I sent home to have my winter clothes sent out to me.  There were days in the winter when the only transportation running reliably was streetcars.  That was in the early 1950s.  The rail system through the twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul was abandoned in 1954, but now city planners are bringing a "light rail" system back.  What is the old saying, "everything old is new again"?  

     I wonder - does that apply to old folks, as well?  Maybe if we manage to "reinvent" ourselves and benefit from our past experience?   Perhaps that's when people look at us and decide we aren't just odd old folks, we might actually "know a thing or two because we've seen a thing or two."  (Thank you, Farmer's Insurance.)  It's worth thinking about!