News From the North Country

The last couple of days and nights have been cold and wintery. As a result, the pond is almost entirely frozen over - the first two smaller bodies of water are completely frozen and Shelly Walker reported to me today that the cove where she lives froze over today. There is open water in the broadest section and at the narrows between the third pond and the middle pond. That may close in tonight. Tuesday night Shelly had 7 degrees at her house and I saw a low of 9 degrees here and it's going to get very cold tonight - with wind. Blizzard conditions! We have a few inches of very light, fluffy snow on the ground (I measured 4 inches this morning which brings the total for the past few days to about 5.5 inches. The ground seems to be pretty well frozen, unlike some years when we get lots of heavy, wet snow and the ground doesn't freeze very deeply at all. This was all light, very dry snow because it's stayed quite cold.

Those of us who have lived near the pond know that we generally see the pond freeze and reopen two or three times before it closes in for the duration. That said, it has happened a few times that it froze over in December and we didn't see open water again until May or June! We have a cold stretch coming in the next few days, but then a stretch of warm weather next week, so probably most of our ice will be gone again.

 Dotty Noyes had a birthday last month, but we couldn't celebrate it until yesterday due to conflicting busy schedules among the four of us, Diane, Cyndi, Dotty, and myself. We missed having Sherry with us, but she is basking in the sunshine while we struggle with snow and winter boots. I missed Sherry's birthday and then my own earlier this fall - but I was on hand for Dotty's Tuesday. She chose to go to Moose Look Restaurant in Concord for lunch, and that was a fun trip. The place wasn't very busy, the food was very good, and we had a really nice time. Happy Birthday, Dotty!! (Photo, from left to right - Dotty, Cyndi, Diane, Jane.

I especially enjoyed being able to hear everyone - I had my hearing aids tested and adjusted recently, and immediately noticed a big difference. Unfortunately, my hearing had diminished since my last checkup - just a fact of life - but today I've been turning down the ringers on my phones, adjusting the TV  volume down, and notice house noises I hadn't heard before. Plus, the Croc-style shoes I wear around the house make a pretty loud squishing sound that is really annoying. I may have to retire them. When they were new, I wore them to an appointment and as I walked into the waiting room an elderly gentleman commented, "Your shoes need oiling!" They are some sort of synthetic material and I don't think oil is the answer. They are as loud walking on carpet as they are on wood or cement. It's a built-in annoyance.

We have recently had three deaths associated with Cabot. John Greaves, who was a few years ahead of me in high school, passed away last week; Nettie Thomas, who I haven't seen for many years, but who was in school about the same time, also died; and Winton Goodrich, son of Sally and the late Walt Goodrich, and brother of Miles and Glen Goodrich, passed away last week. It's tough to lose someone any time of the year, but I think it is especially difficult when it happens close to a holiday. My thoughts are with these  families as they process losing their loved ones. 

I cut some boughs and put together a couple of Christmas decorations yesterday, one for my front door and one that I'll probably pin to my deck. I don't decorate much for the holidays anymore, but I do like to have a little something Christmasy around. I thought of putting up my artificial tree, but that would mean I'd have to get out ornaments to trim it - and somehow that seems like just too much work. I talked myself out of it. I'll just enjoy watching all of that tree-trimming excitement in Hallmark movies instead. 

Today middle son Bob and I went for lunch at the Village Restaurant in Hardwick. This was the very first time we have been there when they were not crazy busy. Maybe it was the weather. While we were there, several fire engines went racing by - engines from Woodbury, Wolcott, and several others went by. As we left, one was ahead of us heading east on Route 15. It turned onto the East Hardwick Road, so we drove out that way to see what was going on. It turned out to be what looked like a barn fire towards the north end of the village where there are several other buildings. We didn't want to be in the way, so we didn't try to get very close - we will find out about it on the news tonight, no doubt. 

If you must be out and about tomorrow here in the north country, be extra careful. Roads could be a bit slippery and if the forecast is correct and there's a lot of wind, there could be whiteouts with blowing snow. Enjoy the snow!