This very cute video of his family gathering over the Fourth of July was made by Butch Bouchard. For those of you who aren't familiar with family fun on Joe's Pond, let me assure you this is pretty typical of the goings-on here - not just on the Fourth, but at many cottages all summer long. Great times with family and friends is what it's all about. It's a great place for kids to grow up - kids of all ages! Some never do grow up. I have three of those! I hope you enjoy watching as much as I did. Brings back lots of memories of when my own kids were growing up here at the pond. Thanks, Butch, for sharing this glimpse of your family!

Some of you who are away from the pond right now may be interested that we've had a bit of rain today - as predicted - and the temperature has dropped considerable. Even more noticeable is the air quality. At 64.6F, it promises to be a much better night for sleeping. The air is cooler and nowhere near as soggy as it has been for the past several days. The rain we got here didn't seem to be a problem in any way, but I know some parts of the state got hit with more rain coming faster than the ground could absorb it so there has been some flooding. Tomorrow and the rest of the week will be pretty dry and over the next few days it will be heating up again so by Saturday it will be on the uncomfortable side again.

We went to Lyndonville to Juniper's on Darling Hill for breakfast with Cousin Ora and her friend, Kate. These two come from Rhode Island to Newark Pond for a few weeks every summer, and while they are here, they always find the most interesting things to do - it's impressive the miles they put on, the people they meet, the events they attend. They showed up at the West Danville library book sale on Saturday, went the the St. Johnsbury Athanaeum to see the recently restored painting, "The Domes of Yosemite," went to Newport for lunch at the Eastside Restaurant, and plan to spend some time in the St. Albans area visiting family and friends before they head back to Rhode Island. It's always fun catching up on their travels and projects. Both are retired, but both keep very busy. 

Speaking of busy - West Shore Road had lots of activity today. Some of our neighbors were getting some paving done, another is having their garage reinforced. Summer is the time these things have to be done, so crews of all sorts are busy. In Lyndonville, there was something being done to the road in town in the area of the Village Sports Shop. Traffic was running smoothly, but there was a little wait on the way up. Going home we didn't experience any delay at all. It must have been uncomfortable for those people until it rained. But I bet the rain felt really good to them!