I'm back! Grandbaby Kate is beeyootiful! Grandson Ben is 5, and standing superhero tall! The most difficult part of the whole trip was the drive from the Portland Airport to Edgecomb, through rain which turned into snow and dazzled on the windshield as if we were driving through a fireworks display!

So, what's been going on while my back was turned? Llama "hunted down." Quilt returned. Kids have made the move to the new school. Terrible schoolbus accident, but fortunately, as I have heard, no one killed and injuries were minor.

Old Edgecomb Schools, Chapter V: In past columns we have glimpsed the two schools on the Boothbay Road, so seemingly close together (but perhaps one was closed before the other opened?) Nick Dean's 1887 map shows another school on the Mill Road itself, the north side of the road at Parsons Creek. Does anyone have information about that one?

Town Hall early alert: On Tuesday, Dec. 24 and Tuesday, Dec. 31, the Tax Collector's and Town Clerk/Treasurer's office will be closed; however it will be open as usual on the Monday evenings, 7-9 pm, and on the Thursday afternoons, 1-5 pm. And in view of the deepening winter, any day the weather is so bad that school is cancelled, figure that the Town Hall is probably cancelled too. Call 882-7018 before venturing out. If the answering machine answers, then no one is there!

That's it for this week! I'm back at the old stand at 234 River Road, 633-2978, bonesukl@midcoast.com. This column appears in The Boothbay Register, The Lincoln County News, The Wiscasset Newspaper, and at www.Edgecomb.org.