Finally, Rain! And some History.

  We got a much-needed rain last night. I measured .75 in. this morning.  Some areas got over an inch, but I suspect the ground was so dry it was absorbed quickly and left little danger of damaging runoff. My pond has regained normal level after being down several inches yesterday. Another big plus is that the pollen has been washed off trees and won't be blowing around us, causing eyes to water and noses to run. Between the pollen and the dust from our back roads, all vehicles are gray and gritty.

There was a newsletter from Responsible Wakes for Vermont Lakes (RWVL) in my mailbox this morning, explaining a proposed solution to implementing the new regulations on wake boats. This is all very new and apparently this summer will be a kind of test period to see how to deal with the new regulations on a local level. Some good thoughts and suggestions in there.

Yesterday I went out to lunch with middle son, Bob. We went to 10 Railroad St, a fun restaurant and bar in the former railroad station in Morrisville, VT. We were there early this spring and as usual, I couldn't eat the whole very large portion of food (fish and chips, I think it was), and so I brought the leftover food home. I inadvertently packed up the small container of tarter sauce with my food and didn't realize it wasn't a throwaway until the next day when I was getting ready to reheat the leftovers. So yesterday I returned it. The waitress was not a bit surprised I had taken it, nor did she express surprise that I had returned it. Later we asked for coffee to go and she said they didn't have to-go cups. I jokingly said, "Just put it in regular mugs and we'll return them next time we come." She didn't get the joke. 

The there food is excellent - we both had burgers that were at least six inches across and really thick, cooked to order and served with bacon, onion, lettuce - and a few slices of apple - on a big BBQ sauce-smeared bun, with a generous serving of fries. Again, I couldn't eat it all at one sitting, so I brought half of it home - without any of their serving dishes this time.

We like to explore old back roads - most we both know but don't frequent regularly - and yesterday we took the Nichols Pond Road out of Hardwick to Cabot. When we got on West Hill, I wanted to check out our West Hill School, so we detoured a bit from the normal route  and stopped there. The Cabot Historical Society owns the school and I learned at a recent historical society meeting that some tall spruce trees need to be taken down and there is one, partially dead, that is  especially threatening to the building. A massive limb has broken off and is resting against the building - we couldn't see how much, if any, damage was done to the building, but it isn't a good situation. It will take some time and expertise - the tree will need to be topped and carefully removed by a professional tree service. There are others that should also come down before they do damage. We should have estimates ready for a vote soon. The offending limb is between that tree on the left and the building - I just wanted a nice picture of the building, but you can see there are scattered limbs on the lawn and in the newly dug ditch next to the road. We may need a temporary "bridge" in order for visitors to cross that ditch safely. 

We used  this photo in the Cabot Oral History book. It is of  West Hill School children and their teacher, Howard Carpenter, taken in about 1896. The school closed in 1919 and the property was used by the town for storage, breaking out one side of the building to get road equipment stored there. They later rented it to a neighbor who also used it for storage. The Carpenter family goes back many years in Cabot, and Barbara Carpenter and her husband, Charles were instrumental in restoring the old school after they and others convinced the town to deed it to the historical society. It took a great deal of effort, time and money, but the group did an amazing job shoring up the foundation, rebuilding one whole wall, and replacing the flooring to it's original configuration.

Later, David Book, a teacher at Cabot School, organized his history students to do further restoration, finding desks, blackboards, text books, kerosene lamps, and other furniture and supplies appropriate for a school in that era. Going there is like stepping into a time capsule. The building has been closed to the public for several years due to Covid, but now the historical society is hoping to have it clean and safe for the public to visit in the near future. 

I attended the one-room school on Cabot Plain, but that school was built in 1929 and we had electricity, running water, central heating, and indoor toilets, none of which the West Hill School has. The school building on the Plain is still standing, now a summer residence completely renovated, with few reminders inside that it was once a bustling classroom with youngsters ranging from age 5 to 14 or 15 - some 20 or more youngsters under the supervision of one teacher. It was ordered and productive. Our teacher rarely had to use a ruler to whack our hands as a last resort; usually her method of discipline was the loss of recess or staying after school. Most of the time a warning look or a good "talking to" was sufficient to correct an obstreperous student. But a smart smack on the back of one's head was also occasionally employed, especially on some of the older boys who occasionally got out of line. It couldn't happen today - sadly. I have to say none of us were severely "damaged" by being corrected and learning to respect our teachers and fellow students. All the kids I remember from those days went on to school, find productive work, raised families, and were upright citizens. Some of the older boys went into the service during WWII, nobody whined or complained, had public protests against their neighbors or, as far as I know, landed in jail. But that was a different time - simpler perhaps, but we all have endured wars, political nonsense, personal hardships, ups and downs including often financial insecurity, but those kids all grew up to be stable, happy humans, and I think it is thanks to those one-room schools where we learned to work together and respect one another - it's called manners. And when we got home each day, we had chores to do that taught us work ethics and responsibility.We were very, very fortunate.

With that, I'll remind people to get your tickets for the mac'n cheese and ham supper at the JPA pavilion on the 22nd - Happy Hour is around 5 p.m. - it's always a great meal and fun event. Call Peter Crosby, 802-535-4949.