We've had a little of just about every kind of weather you can imagine last night and today.  We've had snow, rain and plenty of wind - even a hint of sun just after noon.  Now it's bleak again, and it's raining fairly hard.  The temperature is supposed to fall into the pits tonight just to let us know it's the first day of winter, I guess.  The good news is, now the sun will begin moving higher in the sky and each day will be a few minutes longer. 

I'm guessing lots of folks are busy with last-minute Christmas preparations as my email in box has been unusually quiet this week.  There were a few meetings scheduled, but nothing coming in lately.  I had an email from Diane Rossi this week with a photo of an animal they have been watching at their house.  At first glance, it looked like a bird poking its head out of the water, but it's actually the rear end of the animal, and the tail.  His/her head is under water.  It looks like a muskrat to me, but seeing just that much of it, it's hard to tell for sure.  Diane said that's what they think it is, too.  If someone has another idea, post a comment.



 

We got a little more snow during last night, but it only amounted to less than two inches.  I got the CoCoRaHS  newsletter today from Nolan Doesken who is affiliated with the Universtiy of Colorado.  He said they have been getting snow finally, so the skiers are very happy.  He actually has a farm in what I guess would be called the "foothills"and apparently they don't usually get a lot of snow there, but here's what he wrote:

After a slow start, one storm after another has been marching across the country 
lately.  Arizona and New Mexico finally got a good soaker (valley rains and mountain snows) over the weekend.   There were some storm totals of more than 2" of moisture in parts of AZ. One of our favorite (infamous)mountain passes in Colorado -- Wolf Creek Pass -- picked up four feet of fresh snow and it's still coming down now.  Cool rains and snow finally moistened the dry soils across the Plains states.   Portland and Seattle both saw a little snow today, and a large storm is moving across the Rockies tonight and will be spreading snow from here to the Great Lakes in the next couple of days.  Our streak of 38 straight days with no measurable precipitation just ended this evening as snow now covers our ground.

 
We know this storm is headed in our direction, but whether it will deliver significant snow to us is another question.  We can only hope we get some - but not four feet!!

Christmas is coming up fast now - seems like only a few days ago I was thinking how nice it was that I had a whole month ahead of me to plan for the holidays.  Now it's time to finalize plans, wrap a couple more packages, and be sure I have everything I'll need in the pantry.  I'm not doing the family meal this year (Bob and Theresa are), but we have a few guests coming for dinner on Christmas Day. 

We had a cute greeting from Pat and George Parizo by way of photos.  I'm sure they won't mind if I share them here.  The grands were making use of our recent wet snow . . .  

I think they did a really good job - but I'm not sure how many builders were involved or if the handiwork took place all the same day. It doesn't matter - we appreciate that George sent the photos.  Looks like the kids had a great time.

You may remember we have been and still are very interested in solar energy, even though right now it isn't quite the fit we're looking for.  But this is an interesting bit of information from SunCommon, who we contacted a while back:

Solar now employs more people than coal. New studies show that 119,000 Americans (including me) work in solar, while just

86,000 work for coal companies. And that gap’s only going to grow.

Want to talk about job creation? Then let’s talk about solar. Want to revive good paying solid work in local communities? Then let’s talk solar. This is big, and we couldn’t be prouder.

In our little corner of Vermont, SunCommon has created 46 new jobs this year alone.

We can all use such positive news these days.

Things are looking up!

Dan Conant

Solar Community Organizer

This seems like good news to us, too.  Certainly solar is better for the environment, but it takes energy to make the components for a solar installation - either coal or oil, I suppose.  That's something else to consider, I guess.

Not a nice day today.  We started the day with some very wet snow (see photo), but only got an inch or so; then by noon the snow had turned to rain and we watched our pretty white snow wash away.  We're being promised more snow this weekend, but in the meantime, things are soggy wet, slushy, sometimes slippery, and bleak.  

We had a brief message the other day from Ray and Cyndi Rouleau wishing us Merry Christmas and letting us know they are here for the holidays with family.  We've had some lovely cards and messages - more e-messages than paper cards this year, which is fine with me.  I like the idea of conserving paper; however, that said, I enjoy the beautiful cards we get in the mail and have them hung across the fireplace this year since we aren't burning wood.  If we were hosting our family Christmas, we would probably have had a wood fire for ambiance, but while I miss being able to stand in front of the stove to get warmed up, I really like that I have heat in my corner office when we're using the boiler.  The heat didn't get to my little room from the wood stove very well.

We've both had dental appointments today.  Fred went early this morning and I went right after lunch.  I meant to ask them to please schedule us together for our regular checkups, but forgot when I was there.  It would have been much more convenient, especially since the roads were not great, especially this morning.  Then this afternoon when I was coming home, West Shore Road was about eight inches of heavy slush.  Not pretty at all.

Here's a surprise - Diane Rossi told me there was an ice fisherman out on the pond near the fishing access on Sunday.  This seems to happen every year - somebody is out there before the pond has been frozen over more than a few days.  One year we saw some fishing on the ice up near Flint's Point where there was still open water down past Smith's.  But so far, fortunately, we've had no accident, so I guess these guys know what they're doing.  Maybe they go by the number of days temperatures have been below freezing or something.   Our weather has been so off and on lately, I would think any old "rules" would not be trustworthy.

While I was in St. Johnsbury, I scoured the stores for a gingerbread man cookie cutter.  I was embarrassed to be asking for one - you'd think all grandmothers would certainly have one, and this one did, but I have hunted high and low and can't find it.  I ended up getting a set with two pretty small gingerbread men cutters and one Christmas stocking shape.  Not the nice big one I know I have somewhere, but it'll do if I don't turn up my big one that was my mother's and I used when my kids were growing up.  That's the real McCoy, if I can just find the darned thing.

We finally have some snow - but it's doomed to melt starting sometime tomorrow, if the weather forecasters are right.  In the meantime, we have a lovely coating of white, slushy roads this morning when Fred went to St. J., and I can honestly say it's getting to look a lot more like Christmas than it has.  And this shows you what the traveling was like early this morning.

Remember last week we went over to Narrows Drive to see how the Keach's new home is progressing.  Actually, all we saw was the foundation, but never mind, the house will be coming soon.  Bo just sent me a short slide show of when they razed the house back in the fall.  It's both exciting and sad to see a house torn down, and I imagine they felt a bit of both.  Perhaps Bo will send pictures of setting the house in place.   That's exciting!

I've had several blog readers weigh in on the Sandy Hook School shootings.  Here are some of the thoughts they've expressed:

". . . We are heart-broken for the loss of the children in Connecticut.  Working at the hospital I see more and more homicide/suicide young adults and children 11 and 12 years old.  They tell me they don't want to be here anymore...It scares me to think that this is our future. Their parents are not parenting; the video game electronic technology is ruining them.. Face-book, social media, cell phone, gaming...I think it's all a part of the DISCONNECT....We have a whole generation of lost souls . . . "

" . . . I saw you comments about the shooting at Shady Hook Elementary School.  How incredibly difficult!  And it raises so many questions about our society, as you say.  I watched the Interfaith Memorial Service last night.  It was simply beautiful...Christian ministers of all sorts of denominations, a rabbi (who sang/chanted a haunting and gorgeous memorial prayer in Hebrew, which he then translated), a muslim cleric who read a prayer from the Koran about the love of God.  Both the CT governor and our President were wonderful.  If you didn't hear the Presidents words, here they are: Click here.

" . . . I signed a petition to The United States House of Representatives, The United States Senate, and President Barack Obama which says:  'Our second amendment rights are long overdue a reevaluation. How many more senseless and entirely PREVENTABLE shootings have to occur before we do something about Gun Control.  As a citizen and constituent of this great country, I am asking that you take a firm stand and make a positive change by restricting access to guns and saving lives.  I don't have a gun.  I don't want a gun.  I don't need a gun.  But somehow the guns always wind up in the hands of people crazy enough to use them irresponsibly and dangerously.  This HAS TO BE STOPPED.  Thank you for your action!!'  Will you sign this petition? Click here."

It's up to you whether you sign petitions or write to your representatives or whatever you choose to do or not do.  I'm just the messenger.  I think people simply want to do something, anything, to prevent more children being killed.
 

I heard a gentleman on CBS This Morning who said that in today's society, the average 12-year old child has already seen as much violence as the average 1970s adult did in a whole lifetime.  Isn't that sad?  I remember when there were watchdogs protesting violence in films, and that resulted in the present day alpha ratings designed to warn parents if the film has violence, sex or "adult language," leaving the decision up to the parents whether their child sees it or not.  That might work in a perfect world, but all too often, parents are too busy trying to earn a living and put food on the table to filter out all the bad stuff or spend much time with their children in order to explain or teach; and even if they are very careful what their kids see and do, just watching the previews in a movie theater or the promos on television can give a kid an overdose of all the above, usually in something less than a minute.  There are the games, their friends, and more pressures than we could have imagined even 20 years ago.  I've noticed some pretty raunchy shows have crept into early evening television which used to be safe for families to watch together.  Not so much anymore.  Even the special shows designed for young children sometimes have more violence than I think is good for young children, and parents really need to be there to explain some of the stuff they're seeing.  And don't even think about letting kids watch the news.  That's enough to unnerve adults, let alone youngsters.
  

Another expert this morning suggested better and more accessible mental health providers are needed.  He didn't mention how to get people to make use of such facilities, or who is going to pay for them.  

Surely the easy access to guns is part of the problem, but like an invasive weed, the seeds of violence spread easily, the roots are already deeply imbedded in our society - and being well fed.  It may take a whole lot more than just better gun control and psychiatric counseling to help kids grow up with values that will keep them and future generations safe.

It's too big a problem for me to solve, but I sure hope someone comes up with some solutions.  Soon.

I expect many of you, like me, find yourselves going back to the television for more details about the horrible shootings in Newtown, Connecticut yesterday.  As hard as it is to watch and listen to, I am wanting answers, and my mind races wondering why this happened, how could anyone be so damaged to take young lives, or any life, for that matter; and what can possibly be done to stop the awful killings all over the country.  We are seeing so much violence, even here in Vermont, and it seems nowhere is safe, nobody is exempt, it's "open season" and bad things keep happening to good people who happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time when some demented person runs amok.  Somewhere, somehow, something must have gone terribly wrong that humanity has so many flawed souls.

Our hearts ache for those parents who have lost their children and for the children who have lost their friends and teachers.  All are forever scarred, but most will cope, some better than others, and life will go on.  Those of us watching will pull our loved ones - whatever their age - closer, be more vigilant, more suspicious, extra careful and pray nothing like this ever happens again.  But we know it will. 

So I force myself away from TV and back to my computer.  I will shift my attention to other things, but the sadness will not go away.


My e-mail had this notice when I checked a few minutes ago:

SCHOOL CHOICE

MEETING

 

January 8, 2013

6:00 pm

Masonic Hall in Cabot

 
There will be a School Choice informational meeting on Tuesday – January 8, 2013 at 6pm at the Masonic Hall in Cabot , Vermont .
The purpose of this meeting is to discuss the process for shutting down the High School in order to offer High School Choice to our students in grades 9-12.
A member of the North Bennington School district will be in attendance to discuss North Bennington ’s experiences to date related to closing their school and to answer any related questions.
All residents interested at any level in offering School Choice in Cabot, or think they might be, are welcome to attend.
Please feel free to forward this onto any interested persons...hope to see you there!

* * * * * 

Here's a bit of news - Marty's First Stop has switched from Mobil to Irving gasoline.  We have noticed the price is more competitive now - likely at least part of the reason they switched.  I haven't heard what company will be coming to Cabot, but we understand it will likely be self-serve; that way they can begin supplying gasoline to the community sooner than if they wait for the store to be remodeled and staffed.  That will be really good for folks in and around Cabot; when you think about it, there aren't many places to buy gas along either Route 2 or Route 15, the highways on either side of the town that Route 215 connects, so Cabot folks have had to travel some distance to get gas.

Fred picked up our fruit at the gym in Cabot this morning - the grapefruit are HUGE, and look delicious. We'll probably split one; we usually have an orange or an apple as a snack during the evening, so tonight we'll have a special treat. Fred got some pictures when he went to Cabot.  Like a lot of people, it's hard for either of us go over the Plain and not take pictures, especially from the cemetery.  Here's a short slide show. 

We've had another very nice day today - sunshine and not too cold temperatures.  We had just a sifting of snow overnight, but it wasn't enough for me to measure this morning.  There is still just a trace of snow on the ground around our house - even today's sunshine didn't melt most places.  The ground is too cold now, I guess, and whatever snow we get is likely to stay put.

From Sam Carpenter at Cabot School:
 Hello all, I'm letting you all know the citrus fruit arrives Friday and is available for pickup Saturday. Come directly to the Cabot School cafeteria for pickup. 8:00 - 12:00. If you need directions let me know. Payment will be expected when you arrive for pickup. If you are unable to come to the school Saturday please let me know and I can arrange to deliver your fruit another time.

If you cannot pick up, let Sam know:  The e-mail address is: cabotfundraiser@yahoo.com

I recently received a message from Ken Hoeppner, who is associated with the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail (LVRT):
Jane, I am looking for a person in Danville who can cooperate with the Town 's  Commerce to identify and obtain funds for collecting them for the LVRT web site.(about $5000) The purpose to is to offer a vacationer an on line guide to amenities in that locale.

The assignment would be to work with the Businesses to create a listing of amenities in Danville such that a visitor could go to the web site and plan a trip from it. How the amenities could be collected for example could be through the Chamber of Commerce, calling a meeting with the Towns Businesses or through the selectboard...whatever works. There will also be funding requested to install the listing on the web site.

Anyone interested should contact Ken at  kenandsue@hoeppner.com

* * * * *

One day this week, we took a short ride up the east shore of the pond just to see how things look.  There are a few changes - the foundation for Bill and Bo Keach's new home on Narrows Drive is finished and awaiting the pre-built home.  It was a very nice day when we were there, so we went on up Old Homestead Road and then back on Route 15.  We took a few pictures, but I had trouble making the slide show, so gave up temporarily.  It should be ok now: Click here.

 Then we took some time in West Danville, it was a nice day. Today was another really nice day - sunny, temps in the 30's or maybe even higher - I didn't check often, I busy with other stuff.  Tonight there seems to be some snow in the air - not unexpected, and fairly welcome being so close to Christmas it would be nice to have some white stuff on the ground for Santa's sleigh.

I've recently had a couple of inquiries about accessing the web cam at Rossi's.  You need to use Internet Explorer as your browser.  One of the easiest ways is to go on our website and click on "Web Cam" at the bottom of the menu on the left of the page. 

Someone today thought the cameras weren't working, but I think it was because the pond is frozen over and there was no movement at all going on.  Even their flag and the wind gauge were still most of the time, and apparently the light wasn't catching the frog spitting water like it sometimes does.  Tonight you can see the lights of traffic on both Route 15 and Route 2, and a few minutes ago there were some snowflakes in front of the cameras.  Some days, after the pond is frozen over, there just isn't much moving.

People will be happy to learn the hardware store in Cabot has finally been sold, this time to a local couple, Bobby and Stephany Searles, who own the general store in Cabot.  They say they hope to have gasoline available as soon as possible, then they will do some work on the interior of the store with an eye to possibly renting space to crafters or other businesses, but they plan to have a full line of hardware items and some household items available, as well.  They say there is someone also interested in re-opening the snack bar.  They are putting up a Christmas tree so folks will know things are happening.   We surely wish them well.