Rain Measurements

 I thought some of you would be interested in how much rain I've recorded over the past three mornings: a total of 2.00 inches. That is a fair amount. There have been some washouts, but as far as I know, nothing serious locally.

The rain filled my new pond quickly, and it is a joy to see! Today I watched the wind making patterns as it swept across the water. I took this picture today, and there was quite a bit of wind, but the sky was a beautiful blue, and after several days of dreary, rainy weather, it was great to have sunshine, even though it was on the cool side. I don't think we got out of the 40s all day.

I haven't seen any wildlife around the pond lately, but there are plenty of frogs. Every time anyone walks along the water's edge, there are a few that plop into the water. I expect there will be quite a din this spring - something I'm really looking forward to. Hearing the peepers in the spring is one of the things I miss most about living on Joe's Pond. They were very loud there, and I loved hearing the chorus rise and fall, especially as I was falling asleep at night. I know that some people are very frustrated by the loudness of frogs in the spring and cannot sleep with such a racket going on; but I loved it. It was as if they were telling the whole world around them that winter was over and life was beginning again.

The weather is going to get cooler each day (or each night) for a while now, and there will no doubt be a skimming of ice on my little pond soon. Joe's Pond will take a while to freeze over, but it will happen - all too soon! There are snow flurries in the forecast later this week "in the higher elevations," which usually means this area. We've been fortunate so far this fall - some years we've had snow early in October and several times I've had to bundle up to do fall foliage tours and led tourists over Cabot Plain in a snow squall. Believe me, they were always impressed! Some took it in stride, but others were not too happy about it. Also, this coming weekend we turn our clocks back!

We have been answering questions from our editor all weekend and again today as she goes through the index and picks up on names that are spelled inconsistently or have Jr. or Sr. attached and she tries to figure out who is who. Those kinds of things don't readily show up until they are side by side, like in the index, alphabetized. When we were writing the text, we were usually very familiar with whoever we were writing about and often didn't pick up on using Robert or Bob, Steve, Stephan or Steven - that sort of thing. Families through the years tend to repeat names - sometimes not exactly, but with different middle names (of sons, in particular) so it's often very hard to figure out which generation is being talked about. 

However, we are making very good progress, and we think we will be finished perhaps by the end of this week and the edited, formatted manuscript will be ready to go to the printer!! It is very exciting to have this book nearing completion. We were skeptical about being able to get it out before the holidays, but now I believe we will accomplish that. 

The "Wish List" with names and contact information for people who want copies is growing daily, and we have volunteers waiting to begin getting books to them. We know that Deb Stresing at the West Danville Craft Shop and Jenny Rafuse at Hastings store want to have them on hand to sell for us, but I'm not sure where else they may be available. Certainly at the Danville Historical Society and from Patty Conly, Debby Marrier, or myself. I will have more for you later, I'm sure. In the meantime, if you want to get on the Wish List, send your contact information to: book@danvillevthistorical.org. 

Take care, get your booster (or first or second) shots, and be safe to enjoy life with the people you love and friends you've missed.