We had a very pretty dark gray long-haired cat come to our door tonight. We had noticed the motion-detecting light going on and off during the evening, but couldn't see anything - but then he/she came to the front door. We hesitated - trying to think who nearby might have a cat like that and then decided to let it into the garage for the night and see if we could find the owner, but by that time the cat had disappeared. We called, but it didn't come. We don't know if it's a stray or just a friendly neighborhood kitty. If it is yours, please let us know because we're going to worry about it as the nights get colder if it doesn't show up here again.

Most of our foliage is gone, but our cousin Ora sent this neat picture taken by drone of the Smugglers' Notch Road. The foliage is gorgeous, and it shows how that road twists and turns! I haven't been over that road for years, but it was always a treat - especially in a convertible!

On a more serious note, it's getting colder now and recently Henretta Splain (Clubhouse Circle) mentioned that the cove by her house is beginning to look "greasy" - like it's not too far from freezing over. That means that the ducks should be leaving soon. I want to remind people that it's important not to feed wild ducks because when you do, they are inclined to stay around too long and run a very real risk of getting frozen into the ice. We have seen that happen, sadly, several times. One Thanksgiving when we were living at camp in the early 80s was a really sad occasion because that happened in the cove between the Fitts's and us - and there was nothing we could do to help those trapped ducks. By the time we saw them in the morning, they had struggled trying to escape from the ice and when some would-be rescuers tried to break the ice around them, they were too exhausted to fly.  Another time it happened in the middle pond and I think it was perhaps Bryce Montgomery who finally shot them rather than watch them flounder and suffer with their feathers frozen into the ice. If you know of someone, well-intended as they may be, feeding the ducks, please let them know they must not do that. The ducks will find enough food without human help and will migrate in a timely fashion if left alone.