Record High Temperature Today!

 Today has been more like a day in late March than the end of December. The temperature stayed in the 40s and near 50 all day, with plenty of sunshine, all very pleasant. Tonight it's still 45 degrees and I can hear the snow melting, dripping off the roof and running in the rain gutters on the house. As the snow melts, in some spots, like my driveway, it is revealing a very thick coating of ice, and although it got softer during the day, I didn't venture out. I don't think I got any mail today, so I didn't try to  go to the mailbox. When the weather is like this, I can't help worrying about what the consequences of these unusually warm days will be - deep cold for weeks on end? crazy blizzards with wind ripping down trees and causing power outages? rampaging streams and flooding? It's likely there will be payback. We just don't know what or when.

Tomorrow is the last day of the year 2022, and many of us will be making some sort of promises to ourselves. I've read that only about 67% of people live up to their resolutions. I wonder what percentage actually make resolutions. I've heard lots of people say they never do. However, January is a good time to take a moment to reflect on what one has accomplished and what we hope to accomplish in the coming year. Perhaps make a list of things you've done in the past year and another one of things you want to do in the coming months. It would be interesting next January to bring out that list and see how many things you can cross off as accomplished. Good luck, what every you decide.

Several people have asked about Ray Bothfeld who was badly injured in a farm accident last week. He had an operation on Tuesday and the report is that he is making progress, but slowly. It will be a long haul for him, first in hospital and then doing physical therapy. His parents are doing their best to manage the farm, but as I understand it, they were pretty much retired from the dairy operation Ray managed. Neighbors are pitching in to help, but it will be months before Ray will be able to resume his work - and that's only if all goes well and he recovers fully. There could be other injuries not evident yet, or aftereffects that could prolong his recovery. He was severely injured and now has metal plates to repair the pelvic area, but there are broken ribs and possibly unknown internal injuries at this point.

We are expecting rain tomorrow - probably not heavy, but enough to dampen at least some of the New Year's Eve festivities. If you are driving, be very careful - visibility may not be the best and there may be a lot of people celebrating on the streets in towns. Some cities will not have fireworks this year for a variety of reasons; for some where it's been particularly dry, cancellation is due to wildfire concerns, for others it's due to Covid outbreaks (again), and some had to cancel due to supply chain or staffing difficulties, costs, etc.  Burlington will have their display at 8 p.m. We will hope the weather will cooperate for that. At least the weather in most of the country will be warmer than some years. Vermont set a new record high at 58F today - that's seven degrees above the former record. We can forget about washing our cars for a while - the back roads are slushy and muddy, so wash jobs are a waste of time and money. Be safe and stay healthy.