Cold & Snowy

 We've had such a mix of weather in the past several days, it's really hard to keep up. I've had to check the thermometer before going outside to know whether I could head out in shirt sleeves or had to bundle up. Today is a bundle up day, for sure. It was zero this morning and hasn't moved out of the single digits yet even though the sun has poked through the clouds and snow flurries occasionally. The snow on the trees was beautiful a couple of days ago - then some really warm weather settled the snow pack and melted some of the ice - my deck was actually free of ice and frozen slush for a couple of hours yesterday. Now there's a fluffy coating of very dry snow on everything. It does keep our landscape looking clean and fresh, though. (Photos taken yesterday morning.)

I thank our Joe's Pond Association treasurer, Jack LaGue, for sending me the following about the recent post about fireworks.

 Jane, I’m writing to clarify two points regarding the January 13th blog post about the 2026 fireworks.

At the August 30, 2025 JPA meeting, the members voted to spend up to $15,000 on the 2026 display. The motion passed via paper ballot (48 in favor; 36 against) as noted in the Meeting Minutes on the JPA website.  The decision to cancel was made by the Board after Northstar’s proposal came in at $20,000, exceeding the $15,000 voted for by the members as explained in the Notices on the JPA website..

I am grateful that Steve and the others stepped in to ensure we have fireworks to celebrate the 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

There is an important nuance regarding donations that donors need to be aware of.  While contributions to the Town of Danville for fireworks are tax-deductible, qualified charitable distributions (QCDs) from tax-deferred accounts cannot be made to the Town of Danville. Under IRS rules, QCDs must go to a 501(c)(3) organization and the Town is a municipality, not a 501(c)(3) charity

I mention this only because I would not want to see a well-intentioned donor's QCD become a taxable event due to this technicality. This distinction was noted in the minutes of the August meeting and on the Donations and Support page of the JPA website.

I have let Steve Larrabee know about the possible tax glitch, but in the meantime, best to check with your tax preparer. Again, thanks, Jack, for making these points.

After I posted the video of the pictures taken by John Donahue when Molly's Falls Reservoir and dam were being built, I had a lovely note from his granddaughter, Anne, with some family photos and a bit of personal history about her grandfather. She said the Molly's Falls project was his first dam project as an electrical engineer. She though that might have explained how he happened to take so many photos. He moved his family to Cabot, renting a house on Main Street while he worked on the dam. Anne's father, John, Jr., was about 7 years old, his twin sisters, Frances and Margaret, were 4 when they lived here.  Left, Anne's grandmother, Katherine, with John Jr. and the twin, Right, the house on Main Street in Cabot, 1926-7.

Anne lives in Northfield and has been a state representative for Washington County since 2003. The complete collection of photos will can be seen at the Cabot Historical Society when it opens in the spring

I had some evening grosbeaks visiting my feeder this morning. There were at least 6 or 8 of them and they dominated the space so the smaller birds had to pick up the spilled seeds on the ground. The grosbeaks are not neat eaters like the chickadees and nuthatches, so there was plenty for everyone. The grosbeaks usually raid the small fruit on the ornamental apple trees, but in addition to my trees being very old and not producing much fruit in the past years, whatever is on the trees was solidly frozen this morning, so perhaps that discouraged the grosbeaks. 

I gave Jamie a ride to Berlin yesterday afternoon so he could pick up his Honda that was in for repairs, and on the way home, I saw a good sized flock of turkeys near Plainfield. I came home through Cabot and expected to see more along the flat in Lower Cabot or by Burtt's Apples, but by the time I got to Cabot there was quite a bit of fog, so if there were turkeys out there,  I wouldn't see them. I usually have turkeys visit my apple trees, but I haven't seen any this year. Winter is hard on animals and on humans. Some years are worse than others. Our ups and downs are probably good for animals because the snow doesn't get to be too deep and there are nice warmups in between the bitter cold, but it seems to be pretty tough on humans, with colds, flu, and other "bugs" making us ill, and long, dark, cold, or rainy days making us a bit grumpy sometimes. I'm glad the days are getting longer and, once we're into February, we will have finally turned a corner - and then there's March and mud season! Aren't we glad we live in the Kingdom!?