Friday evening

Somehow, sometime, all of the snow melted. The sky was the brightest blue and the sun so bright that it blinded my camera. Lawns - like this at the Municipal Hall - looked as if they needed to be mown!

Who would ever believe that it was December 29th?

.

I must ask Joe and Joan what the weather was like fifty years ago!

They'll remember, for sure!

*************

The blogger's going to do something very unusual, tomorrow morning: sleep late! You're on your own.

To read the O-D, click HERE;

and for the morning weather forecast, click HERE.

Have a Great Day!!!

Friday morning

It's Garbage Day!



28.8 degrees, at 6:00 A.M., and no precipitation overnight.

The WKTV News Channel 2 forecast includes some dicy (and ICY!) weather!

Today: Sunshine and clouds. Pleasant. High in the mid 30s.

Tonight: Partly cloudy and cool. Lows in the upper teens to low 20s.

Saturday: Clouds and some sun. Chance of a sprinkle or flurry. High: 38, Low: 24

Sunday: Increasing clouds. High: 35, Low: 23

New Year's Eve Night: Increasing clouds. Some sleet or freezing rain possible after 1-4 AM. Temperatures in the low to mid 20s.

New Year's Day: A messy mix of sleet, freezing rain, rain and possibly some wet snow. Some ice accumulation is possible. High: 33, Low: 28

***********

When I was visiting Dick at the Harding Nursing Home, the day before yesterday, one of his "girlfriends" came in - Lynn Timian. She had the same big smile that everyone else there seems to have, and she absolutely gleamed and glowed when she started to tell us about a concert that two of her seven children had been in on December 17th at the Stanley Theater in Utica.

It was a Utica Symphony Orchestra concert and featured 315 guest choristers from local highschools. Of that number, nearly one-third - 91 - were from Waterville, and when it was their turn to perform, alone, "you could have heard a pin drop!"

And I said, "What a grand experience for them!" and then mentioned the Marching Band's upcoming trip to Washington D.C. for the July 4th Parade. "Yes!" she said, "I've got three kids in Band, too!" And we marvelled that here, in "little old Waterville," WCS students are putting our name on the musical map of the country! (Cheers!)

***********************

As you've no doubt deduced, by now, having my husband become a resident (albeit a temporary one) at the Harding Nursing Home has been if not a thoroughly delightful experience, for me, at least not an unpleasant one, at all!

Everyone there is wonderfully friendly to ALL residents and visitors. The building is so clean! - the floors gleam, the big diningroom is as bright as can be and THE FOOD REALLY IS GOOD!!!

There are 92 residents and 130 employees, and quite a number of local residents volunteer, there, on a regular basis. I hate to name some without naming all (and perhaps I can get a complete list?) but I've seen Marie Hillary there several times and yesterday Walt Freibel was transporting folks to and from Church Service.

I'm sure that everyone knows where "the nursing home" is, tucked away behing the historic Charlemagne Tower Homestead, but I wonder if Watervillians realize how fortunate they are to have such a facility, right here in the village! I certainly appreciate it more now than I did two weeks ago!

Do make a note: there will be a Parade of Lights BOTTLE DRIVE next Saturday - January 6th - from 9 'til noon. You can either drop bottles off at the Fire House or phone one of the Parade of Lights committee-members for a pick-up.


I keep watching for activity around the Victorian Street Lamp storage trailers: perhaps next week????

Thursday morning, continued

I made a second visit to the Nursing Home, yesterday, later in the afternoon.

The Christmas Tree next to the driveway was all lit, and ..........

I wonder if the Hardings have ever considered stringing lights on the big fir tree that appears to be growing out of the roof of the building!

It was just late enough that the strings of lights on the Bell Tower showed up,

and the candle-wreaths on the telephone poles along East Main Street were bright.

***************

Earlier in the day, I'd noticed that Tom had been looking ahead.........

and I found this notice on the Community Calendar:

Legion Riders and Ladies Auxiliary
Waterville American Legion
will sponsor a
New Year's Eve Dinner and Party
$25 couple or $15/person
for Dinner/Door Prizes/Party, 6 p.m.

$7/person for the Party at 9 p.m.

Ends at 1 a.m.

Between morning and afternoon tours of Waterville, I'd spent a great deal of time in New Hartford. On the advice of my grandson and others, I went to see "A Night at the Museum" and loved it! It's not only a delight, but a "must see" if you've ever been to the Museum of Natural History in New York City - which is where the story takes place! - or any of the other major natural history museums that are all over the country, and have wondered what would happen IF all of the animals on display and the tiny characters in dioramas actually came to life.

I really don't go to very many movies and am hardly qualified to judge good from bad, but I'd give this film a most-enthusiastic "Four Bones" rating! (Once you've seen the movie, you'll understand!)

Thursday morning

It's Recyclables Day!

28 degrees, at six o'clock, and no precipitation.

There were snowflakes in the air, most of yesterday, and although the measured accumulation may have been so small as to be insignificant........

the effect on scenery and everyone's spirits was VERY noticable!

The Gazebo and Duck Pond at the Harding Nursing Home.

Sharon Brown was at the front desk.......



Colleen was in her office,

Katie and Candy were serving coffee in the new little
service area next to the big diningroom.

..and the snowy frosting made the Courtyard Garden a pretty view.

(Sorry: the orange blobs are reflections of diningroom lights!)

Dr. Francis Chabot was on early "rounds," and Mr. Brown was in "fine fettle!"

Wednesday morning

It's 29.5 degrees at 6 o'clock and it's SNOWING!

It must have just started, because there's just sort-of a frosting on the grass and shrubbery, but it's coming down in big flakes - do you remember "Ivory Flakes" that glistened?

Finally, it will start to look like Christmas.

Yesterday was a very gray, drippy, colorless day - but today I'll take some brighter pictures.
Until then - please enjoy these beautiful photographs, taken in the sanctuary of St. Bernard's Catholic Church on Christmas morning.

(Photo by Jean B. Davis.)

(Photo by Jean B. Davis.)

Tuesday morning

GARBAGE DAY!!!


It's 34.5 degrees, outside, and drizzly.

I checked Town of Webb "videocam" in Old Forge at a little after 5:00 A.M. - still too dark to see if it's raining or snowing, there.

I also killed time by reading a few newspapers online. The Syracuse Post-Standard has a great website. If you don't know exactly what link to click on, type "Waterville" - or Sangerfield or Deansboro or ?? - into the SEARCH space and Bingo! Magic will happen!

While such a lack of snow is of real economic concern, in the North Country, it is more a disappointment around Waterville: snowmobilers and young snowman-builders sit and stare out windows hoping for a sign of something white!

The Canada Geese are either thoroughly confused or are making the most of a good thing, going South for a day or two and then circling back for another day at Prior's Pond or the cornfield behind the Sullivan Apartments on Tower Street!

All of the villagers that I spoke with, yesterday, knew exactly - and happily! - just what they were doing and where they were going WHEN.

I had a really wonderful day, thanks to family and friends. I made a couple of trips to the Harding Nursing Home. First, to exchange a few little presents with Dick, and then returning at noontime for Christmas Dinner in the big diningroom.

He and I were seated with Mr. Al Wood and his son Doug, and - what a grand serendipity! - they are history buffs from Bridgewater! We had a wonderful conversation (over roast beef, mashed potatoes, squash, mixed vegetables in a light bechamel sauce and then coffee and pie!) about everything from farming in Madison County to the story of the "Forestport Break"
on the Black River Canal. (If you're having a liesure day and like history, you'll find those links interesting.)

At a few minutes before 2 o'clock, I met Alex Meszler and his father, Dale, at the Masonic Temple and we climbed the stairs (which seemed, at least to the writer, much steeper and longer than the last time we were there!) to the room where the console and levers are situated.

You have to remember to wait until the big bell strikes the hour: and you can hear and feel the mechanism gearing up for several seconds before it actually rings and, when it does, the whole tower shakes!

Alex led off. The levers have alot of built-in resistance, but they have to be pushed down rapidly and firmly with one hand to make a bell - 12 feet higher in the tower - sound. You can't actually wait to hear the bell ring because the mechanism makes so much noise and because there's also a split-second delay. You just have to get the next note struck with the OTHER hand while the first hand gets in position to push the next lever. (You don't realize how much energy and concentration it takes: pretty good exercise !) He's good at the hand-over-hand business: even playing the "Glo-o-o-ria. glo-o-o-ria" part of "Angels we have Heard on High" ---- he didn't end up with an arm stuck between what are, essentially, wheelbarrow handles, as another chimer once did!

We took turns, playing about eight familiar Christmas carols, before deciding that it was time to let the neighbors go back to watching television or dozing, or whatever. The Meszlers went home to their Christmas Dinner and I came back to Whiskey Hollow, talked by 'phone with Allison and Rick and eight-year-old Iain about their Christmas Day, ditto Dick's sister and some far-away friends and then sat back and watched "Sahara" --- a Clive Custler/Dirk Pitt novel: a thoroughly unbelieveable tale combining all the best adventurous elements of "007" James Bond and "Indiana Jones" movies.

A good, good day!

A Little Later .....

Yesterday, Main Street was filled with shoppers and walkers.
Noreen Machold and her daughter came to a screeching halt
just to have their picture taken and say "Merry Christmas!"



Tom was busy, sometime during the night....



...but Main Street was nearly completely empty, this morning.....



...except for this lady: she was probably NOT the one who
wanted to go for a walk!



"Mackeral Sky" - and it even looked cold.





But here's Mr. B. - warm and cheery and enjoying
"all the comforts of home" (comfy chair, coffee,
and his laptop) up at Hardings'.