9/28/25

Flowers, trees and gardens seem to be uttering a sigh of relief with the rain this week. Before its arrival, work was being done in the brook running along Dublin Rd that has caused horrendous damage to the houses and the Echo Lake Inn during Irene and the 2023 flood. Hopefully that will help to mitigate future issues.

There is a drain going into my basement that gets clogged at times. When I notice the water rising there, I lift the drain cover so it does not come into my house. I did so last week, then on Saturday I decided that I needed to clean it out & replace the cover so I don’t twist an ankle if I use that door. As I was cleaning out the muck around the edge, I peered into hole and there was my huge toad! He disappeared from view and I proceeded with my clean-out, but wondered if I should replace the cover. I did for a time as I brought items out that door, but when I finished, I set the cover ajar to give him an escape hatch in case he needed it…

A reminder about programs being held this week at Fletcher Memorial Library. On Mon, 9/29 at 5:30 PM is “Be Ready Before Disaster Strikes!” Then on Tues, 9/30, is the 6 PM meeting about changes to the Current Use Forest Standards.

Don’t forget the happenings at the Fall Festival at the Historic Site on Sat, 10/4. Think apples!

“Friends” of Fletcher Memorial Library are excited about meeting with author Sasha Hom on Thurs 10/9 at 10:30 AM as she leads our book discussion of Sidework, a lyric, page-turning novella about a homeless Korean adoptee and mother of four. Sasha Hon lives off-grid on a 600- acre land co-op amid 5,800 acres of conserved land situated within Vermont.

I admit to being a bit intimidated by AI, so I am looking forward the FLM session that is being sponsoredjointly with Black River Good Neighbor Services called SENIOR PLANET on Friday, 10/10 at 1 PM. With support from Godnick Adult Center & Vermont Community Foundation come learn more about Chat GPT, too.

Another fun event will take place on Sunday, 10/12 from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm at the Ludlow Mini Park, corner of Main & Depot Streets in Ludlow. This is the Black River Academy Museum’s (think Calvin Coolidge) Annual Fall Festival fundraiser where they will be serving delicious food for breakfast and lunch, plus lots of goodies at the Bake Sale.