I'm sure we all share sorrow with Ruth Davison and her sister Martha Houghton, who have recently lost their mother, Ann Hilton. This sadness has followed the death of Howie Davison's brother E. J., shortly before Christmas.

Friday morning, Fire Chief Barry Johnston brought over the thermal imaging camera which the Fire Department has just acquired. Other news: the fire truck, donated by Steve Fenton of New Jersey, has been totally refurbished and is now ready for action. Steve will be retiring soon to his Edgecomb property on Shore Road.

Heidi Gagnon reports sighting a peregrine falcon over Mount Hunger. My own bird feeder, nothing so exciting, but a group perhaps 14 of goldfinches, drab now in winter plumage, but I make out hints of bright yellow.

To make your winter go quicker, why not sign up for an adult education course? I am going to be teaching for both the Union 74 and the Boothbay Region Adult Education programs.

The class is "Journaling for Self-Empowerment," a technique for testing and developing creative ideas or for sorting out knotty problems, on the principle that writing down what is on our minds will help us to see our ideas clearly, which will lead to gaining control of them, to lead them where we want them to go. For information about any of the adult education programs, call Union 74 at 563-2811, Boothbay Region at 633-3224 or Wiscasset at 882-9710.

To escape the frustrations of my crashing computer, Bruce and I spent the weekend in Bar Harbor. We went with friends to a splendid production of "Ruddigore," by the Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Hancock County. Also recommended, a new exhibit at the Abbe Museum, devoted to "The Four Mollies," intrepid Native American women whose very different lives spanned from the 17th century to the 1930s.

And that's it from "Woebegone Puddle." You can reach me with your news at 633-2978, 234 River Road 04556, or bonesukl@midcoast.com.