Gee, it seems as if I've been unusually busy lately. I can't tell you what I've accomplished, but trust me, I haven't been idle. Confused, yes, but not idle. I got up Tuesday morning thinking it was Wednesday. I operated on that premise until around lunch time when I was sputtering at Fred because we didn't have a grocery list ready "to shop tomorrow." To my credit, I remembered we have appointments in St. Johnsbury on Thursday and so shopping was on the to-do list. 
     Fred assured me there was plenty of time since it was only Tuesday. I had to check the calendar before I could wrap my mind around that. So then I suddenly had a whole day extra!! Well, that hasn't worked out to be much benefit, but I was able to do some outside work, wash a couple more windows and put screens in (I'm doing "spring cleaning" piecemeal this year), and edit a couple of pages of the manuscript I'm working on. And I answered a bunch of emails - I wonder why they seem to always come in bunches? I heard from Mary Whitcomb, my friend over in Roxbury. She had been with a group of history buffs last Saturday following parts of the Bayley Hazen Road and was actually on Cabot Plain, at the cemetery where there was a lot of history going in in the 1700s. I have never met Mary - we have only corresponded by email - but she reads the blog and we've found we have a lot in common. So I would have loved to have scooted over to meet her, had I known they were going to be there. Mary said she had no idea that I lived so close or she would have let me know. She put me in touch with the leader of their group who had some questions for me on the old road. Mary sent me this neat video of the area they were looking at. Many Joe's Ponders are very familiar with the Foster Bridge and the surrounding area, having spent evenings there watching the sun set, or visiting the quiet little cemetery and just taking in the gorgeous views.
     Mary also sent me this video of Molly's Falls Dam. I think you'll enjoy this one, too. Lots of people think of it as Marshfield Dam, but it is actually entirely in the town of Cabot and is fed by the brook coming out of Molly's Pond, as well as a couple other small brooks. The area that is now a fairly large pond was actually a thriving farm community that included several homes, a sawmill and a school house. It was called Petersville. The dam was built and finished just before the big flood of 1927. It was so new there was concern it wouldn't hold, and the power company officials had a team of horses positioned to raise the sleuce to release the water at one point, but they held off and fortunately it was the right decision. The dam held, the power plant in the valley below was the only plant in the area that wasn't flooded out and it kept running. The operator, Archie Bullard, was basically marooned at the power plant and stayed on duty, keeping it running, for 154 continuous hours. The power from the plant kept the hospital in Montpelier and other essential services operating during the flood.
Watching this video, you can imagine what would have happened to the homes downstream and Marshfield village, had the dam failed. 
     Mary said both these videos were made this spring. Very nice, and thank you, Mary for sharing those. 
     By the way, we went to granddaughter Tangeni's dance recital a week ago Saturday. I hadn't had a chance to unload the photos I took until today but here are a few.
     In the top one, she is with an older group doing ballet.

     The middle picture is a tap number and in the last one she has her "graduation" certificate in one hand and her medal in the other. She has grown up a lot since her first recital. I think this is her third year taking dance. I think she's going to follow in her big sister's footsteps, literally. She loves to dance, just as Jo-Ann did. We were sorry that Jo-Ann missed her flight so didn't make it to her sister's recital this year.
    Don't forget that tomorrow (Thursday) the winner of this year's Ice-Out Contest will receive his check in a brief ceremony at the State Fishing Access, 10 a.m. Try to take a few minutes to head over there and greet your Ice-Out Committee for 2018 and wish Mr. Cody well as he receives his money and certificate showing he is the 2018 Ice-Out Contest winner!