We have a nice day going on here today - warmish (72F), muggy, and even some sunshine along with occasional showers. Mellow is the way I would describe it.
     If anyone was driving along West Shore Road Monday afternoon and saw the array of emergency vehicles at Shelly Walker's, you were probably wondering what happened. Here's the story:
     Sometime that afternoon, Shelly noticed something out in the cove in front of her house that looked like an overturned kayak. It was blue, and sticking out of the water as if partially filled. Shelly watched to see if there was anyone with it - a person in the water maybe? But she couldn't see well - the water was pretty choppy. Not knowing if this was an emergency or what, she decided to err on the side of caution and called the state police. She said they kept her on the phone for a long time asking questions, and then she was surprised when emergency vehicles began to appear. The Cabot Fire Department, a game warden, and maybe a couple more. They watched as whatever it was drifted up the pond and apparently decided it was not an emergency. Shelly said she offered her pontoon boat if they wanted to investigate, (Shelly has balance problems right now and said she didn't want to even try to go out on the dock and take the pontoon boat out on such a rough day) but apparently nobody else wanted to, either, as they didn't take her up on that. Finally, everyone left.
     Shelly still doesn't know what it was she saw - she said it drifted out of her sight range - and since nobody seemed to be very concerned, we have to suspect it was something that blew off someone's dock or lawn or something wasn't moored well and the strong south wind dislodged it. If anyone along Barre Avenue is missing something from their waterfront, it is probably up behind the islands by now.
     It is nice to know there are people like Shelly who keep an eye on the pond, especially now that there aren't many people around. I know in years past, people have called us when they saw a boat or part of a dock floating by after high water and/or an unusually strong wind storm. People often don't think to secure their toys on shore, so this happens. Renegade items floating in the water can be a serious hazard to other boats - and there are still many people who will be using their boats for a while yet. So be sure your stuff is secure, whether at a dock or spread out on your lawn. Storms this time of the year are sometimes pretty violent and stuff gets tossed about.
     It's time for my mid-morning orange juice break. Fred came down with a cold about a week ago, and I did very well avoiding it I thought, until a couple days ago. Now I have it for sure, and while it's not one of those feel-lousy-all-over colds, it's totally annoying to be sneezing, sniffling and coughing all the time. Fortunately, I don't have to be anywhere or do anything for the next week or so, so I'm not going to be spreading it around. I just isolate myself here at my computer and deal with it. That involves lots of water, hot ginger tea, orange juice - and tissues. On the positive side - perhaps this will build up some immunity against more severe colds this winter.