Dear Friends,

There was snow coming down as I headed into work this morning and the evening news is talking about the dates for the opening of the ski areas, but I can really tell that the seasons are changing by the light. I think I may need one of those happy lights, as the lack of daylight is remarkable.

I think I am finally back on East Coast time, but it really took almost a week to recover from jet lag. I was waking up at 2 a.m. wide awake for a few days. We are in one of Vermont’s mini seasons: stick season. The tourists are mostly gone, the trees have lost their leaves but snow has not yet covered the ground. This is actually one of my favorite times of the year.

Jason and I joined Small Dog director Larz Barber on a motorcycle ride on Sunday, and the sky was cloudy and the air cold. We changed our plans for heading to Brunswick Springs and instead headed to Glover, Vermont, the home of the Bread and Puppet Theater. They have a museum there that we visited, which was a great, albeit cold, experience.

We received our first shipment of the new MacBook Pro models that were released this week, and the initial reports are all very positive about these new faster versions of the MacBook Pro. With this introduction, I believe that Apple’s line-up for the holiday season is particularly strong and that supply should be stable for the holidays. We will be celebrating the fifth anniversary of our South Burlington store and the first anniversary of our Manchester store with a week of special offers in November, so stay tuned for some fun!

All of our stores have received some stock of the new iPhone 4S, and we are accepting orders on a first-come, first-served basis. The sales of the iPhone 4S have been spectacular, and each shipment we receive from AT&T sells out as soon as it arrives. I checked on my contract and found I have a couple of weeks to wait before I can get mine, but I look forward to the new Siri voice commands. A few of my friends have been playing with Siri and seem very impressed. I am hoping that I can use it to send text messages.

Halloween is Monday and is a big deal here at Small Dog, as we all get dressed up and have a contest for the best costumes. Be sure to vote on Monday for your favorite!