Sad News

The West Danville community is saddened by the death of Garey Larrabee - long-time West Danville resident and proprietor of Hastings Store. Garey was a presence in the store, rising early every morning to "make the doughnuts" and other bakery items that were so popular with customers, or filling special orders for customers, including many in the Joe"s Pond summer community.. He was the go-to guy for more people than you could ever imagine. He looked out for everyone in the community, quietly lending a helping hand when needed, delivering groceries to shut-ins and doing welfare checks. He and his late wife, Jane Hastings Larrabee, worked tirelessly for their church, even as both suffered serious health problems. They were proud parents to their daughter and son, Jenny and Curtis, and Garey was delighted to have his grandchildren with him in the store, right from the time they were infants. He will be missed by not only his family, but the entire community. Coming to Joe's Pond won't seem the same to many people who looked forward to chatting with Garey at the store each spring - a ritual for returning summer residents.The torch has been passed to his daughter, Jenny, and I can only imagine the hole in her heart as she faces each day in the store that has been in her family for over 110 years, now without her father by her side. We will all miss him, and wish his family fond memories as they move on without Garey in their lives. Condolences may be sent to Jenny and the family at: P. O. Box 213, West Danville, Vermont 05873.

We are heading into our third really cold night - it's presently 3 degrees above zero and probably heading downward. The sky is clear after a very sunny but cold and somewhat windy day. I don't think the thermometers got out of the single digits all day, even with the sun. I didn't go out at all, and I've had the insulated blinds down except for where the sun was shining in - even with the cold outside temperature, I wanted to enjoy the sunshine. We've seen very little of that in the past months.

Some folks are taking the weather in stride - Diane sent this photo of the "village" of fishing shanties near the state access on the south shore of the pond today. It must have been cold out there with the wind coming down the pond from the northwest. But I'm sure the people fishing are dressed for the weather and they can get into their shanties and out of the wind when necessary. I was happy to keep warm inside, but tomorrow or Tuesday I'm going to have to stir out of my cocoon to pick up some groceries. Once I decide to go, it's always great to be out and about - it's just getting started that's hard, especially if the weather is bad. I think it is going to warm up next week and be like spring again. 

These weather swings are wild! We are cold here, but really it's pretty typical for January. In other parts of the country the crazy cold and snowy weather is very unusual and people aren't really prepared for it. It's hard to know exactly what to prepare for these days, and I'm not just thinking about the weather. There are a host of unusual events happening all around us, every day. I saw on Front Porch Forum that there was a forced-entry invasion of a home in Cabot recently - someone with a gun, looking for money and drugs. And nothing about national politics is "normal" these days. It is scary and complicated in so many ways, and very, very sad. Be safe, be careful, and look out for one another.