There's still snow and it's 25 degrees at Thicut! A branch of the big pine tree by the driveway broke and is partially blocking the driveway, ironically near the cedar tree Bob and I exposed last time. I was able to pull it off the road, but it's still attached high up in the tree. Next time we'll clear it away. The house was a toasty 50 degrees compared to the outside and the furnace was running when I went inside. There's a glazing of ice on the pond. I met some folks from Middlesex Land Trust out to make a trail on the east (our property side) side of the brook past (north of) the falls. I think the leader's name is John something, we've walked with him before. I warned them of hunters and they put on their orange gear. No sign of hunters or their trucks this time, though. I think Eric V. and Anna Ruth have only cleared two guys to hunt: Steve LaRosa and the garbage guy. The oil tank still reads 5/8 so the furnace is being efficient in this cold snap.
I returned Anna Ruth's 'history bag' after making a copy of a transcription she did of information she had from Nanny about family history on Nanny's mother's side. It includes names of her mom (Anna Barbara Schlecht)'s, parents and siblings and a bit of history about each of them in Brooklyn. Some quotes: "Barbara married John Kruger on October 1, 1893...and had 9 children... only Ruth [Nanny], Eva, Lillian, and Paul lived to be adults, marry and have children.""The year before my Mother [Anna Barbara] died they [Nanny's mother and father] bought some property in Haddam Neck, Conn. because my father wanted his children to enjoy country living. They spent only the summer months there often with members of the Schlecht family. " The last bit of transcription says: " Eva, Lil and I as well as Paul's wife Betty, are all alive in May of 1992."There is also a handwritten 3 page list of where Nanny and Poppa lived from when they were married to Poppa's retirement from Lycoming College in Williamsport.
