BUMPS IN THE NIGHT

Winter rumbled in at 12:30 a.m., with lightning and window-rattling thunder -- more like a summer night than the start of the cold season.  Ponds are already overflowing, and the neighbors' vernal pools are at higher levels than they ever are in late April -- missing only the tadpoles and other creatures that populate them in the spring.

Wave after wave of heavy rain pounded on the roof, nearly drowning out the sound of the town's emergency  horn:  1 -- 4 --- 7, the code for Sunset Road. Shortly afterward the cry of sirens as volunteer firefighters responded to the call. Lightning must have struck.

Commenting on the strange weather, someone recently observed that the North Pacific rain forest conditions seem to be migrating to New England. I for one am glad this isn't snow, for we'd be shoveling out a couple of feet tomorrow