...the frost perched on the town...

We have a small pond less than a quarter of mile down the hill from our house. Ducks, for the most part, stay the winter, but geese are only passing through.

To my ears, there's no better song to guide us to winter than Joni Mitchell's Urge for Going, which I first heard on Tom Rush's LP The Circle Game. Each autumn since the song's 1968 release, I recall the lyric, "See the geese in chevron flight ..."

Our race for state representative has produced an odd effect: signs for both the Democratic and Republican candidates in the same yard. There are several possible explanations, none of them making great sense.

In the race for governor, we step into the land of "I Don't Get It." Republican Kerry Healey, our current Lt. Governor, is comparing herself to Bill Clinton, arguing that, even though Clinton has campaigned for Democrat Deval Patrick, her policies are more like Clinton's than Patrick''s are.

Up in PEI, an Olympic gold medalist is upset that a street named after him uses just his nickname, rather than his full name with nickname in the middle.

The Smithsonian Global Sound has released an album of of polkas drawn several regional traditions. Among the songs are Karl's Bad Schottische. When I was growing up, we had a 78rpm of the Finnish song, Maailman Matti (Matti, Man of the World). I had no idea what the song was about, but it was a familiar and comforting tune.

Happy 15^th Birthday, Matt.