Weather & Ice Update

 The weather is really awful. Not dangerous with tornadoes, earthquakes, or excessive rain like in other parts of the world, but exasperating, at least. We had more snow last night. The snow turned to freezing rain sometime during the wee hours and by morning, announced by a roll or two of thunder, and there was an inch or more of slush on everything this morning. Then sometimes freezing rain, other times plain rain, but now the temperature is above freezing (33.3F) and we're getting mostly steady rain. By noon it is supposed to begin to clear out of here and the forecast is for sunshine and much warmer temperatures this afternoon. We'll believe it when it happens.

In the meantime, Diane wrote when she sent me this photo of the Ice-Out setup - "It is just sitting there." The new snow makes everything look fresh and white - most of the stakes that are supposed to hold the line off the ice are down and covered, the dark spots where there seemed to be melting going on are obscured by a fresh coat of snow - it looks like winter all over again out there. 

We are pretty sure the ice is taking a beating from all the rain from above, and with water pushing on the ice from below as brooks pour gallons into the pond. It's really hard to know where weak spots are with the new snow covering, but nobody is going out on the ice for any reason - way too dangerous at this point. We'll keep you posted - with warmer temps later today and into the remainder of this week, things should begin to change.

Several people associated with Joe's Pond in one way or another have had emails recently asking that they purchase a gift certificate "as a gift for a sick friend" for the sender because their credit card has been denied.These emails are of course bogus. DO NOT fall for it. Immediately delete and report as spam. We are hoping that Google will be able to eventually intercept and stop this, and in the meantime, our friend whose email is being used for these scams is changing passwords and doing whatever possible to avoid this continuing to happen. Scammers are clever - they make it sound very logical. When I received such a plea last night, even though my immediate reaction was to delete and report as a scam, I later reached out to my friend just to be sure I hadn't acted rashly and perhaps it was a legitimate request.

If you are driving in the north country of Vermont today, be careful - there could be slippery spots. Be safe, stay dry, warm (or cool!), and enjoy. And if you live in Vermont, remember, "April showers bring May flowers."

Howard Coffin Presentation

 

Howard Coffin, historian and author, will be speaking on “Vermont Women and the Civil War,” Sunday, April 6 at 3 pm in the Willey Building in Cabot. This event was postponed last week because of inclement weather.  Howard is a seventh-generation Vermonter, an author and historian,  whose area of expertise is the Civil War.  He is the author of four books on the Civil War: “Something Abides: Discovering the Civil War in Today’s Vermont”; “Full Duty: Vermonters in the Civil War; Nine Months to Gettysburg”; and “The Battered Stars”, as well as “Guns Over the Champlain Valley”, a book on military sites along the Champlain Corridor. 

With nearly 35,000 of the state’s able-bodied men at war, Howard speaks about how women took on farming, worked in factories, served as nurses in the state's military hospitals, and more. At least one Vermont woman appears to have secretly enlisted and fought in a Vermont regiment. 

Admission is free and the talk is sponsored by the Vermont Humanities Council and the Cabot Historical Society.

This picture is of Clarina IreneHoward Nichols, a women born in Townshend, VT.,  who was a newspaper editor, writer, activist, lobbyist and public speaker during the years of the Civil War.

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It looks like our weather may be showery on Sunday, but nothing like last week when we had to reschedule Howard's presentation. I would advise staying on paved roads getting to Cabot,  not going over Cabot Plain or following Brickett's Crossing Road to 215. The back roads in town are passable, but not pretty.  

If you haven't sent in your Ice-Out Tickets, you are out of luck as of midnight last night! The contest closed as of midnight, but the flag is still up and the clock is still ticking! As soon as anything changes, I'll let everyone know, but right now we just wait for Mother Nature to decide.

There isn't a lot of melting going on here today. I was outside a little before noon and although the sun was nice and bright, the wind was really cold. We still have a fair amount of snow and we are expecting more tonight, but then it will turn to rain and hopefully launch us into weather that is more like the spring we've been waiting for. I'm ready.

Although there is open water in the first two ponds, the big pond looks pretty solidly frozen. However, the sun does have heat in it and even with cool temperatures ( only 34F at 1 p.m.) there is some melting going on. Much of the new snow we got this past weekend has gone - just in time for another fresh coat tonight! There is still old snow left on the shady sides of hills and in the woods. If, as forecast, the snow turns to rain tomorrow, whatever snow we have will likely go quickly and the ice on the pond will begin to show signs of departing.

In the meantime, I heard a robin chirping away happily earlier this morning. There haven't been as many birds at my feeder today and I think that's because they are finding plenty of natural food now there is some bare ground again. I may put my feeder out again tomorrow if there is snow on the ground, however, I think the birds will be fine without my help from now on. I can finally clean the window where the feeder was. They are really messy eaters and oil from the seeds flying around smudges the window glass. It's been too cold to try to do much  about it, but the first warm day we get, I'll clean it up.

It's lunch time and the mail just came, so I'm off to the mailbox and then will settle down with a bite to eat. I hope your day is happy, safe, and uneventful except for something wonderful.

Still Winter!!

We still have winter here at Joe's Pond this morning. While the freezing rain turned to plain rain in much of the surrounding area, we had freezing rain until around 9 a.m. The rain has finally tapered off and about 10:30 it looked like the sun was going to break through, but no such luck. Our temperature is up to 40 degrees after being 30 earlier, and the icicles are dripping. I took these pictures just before dark last night. My small birch trees were loaded with ice and beginning to bend out over the driveway. If they actually bent further, I can't tell, but some years they have actually bent all the way to the ground under the weight of ice and snow. Once released of the weight, they straighten up. Some trees split in these conditions. We've lost several nice young maple trees from a winter overload. The icicles on my deck were intact this morning, but now most have dropped off. There was a coating at least half to 3/4 in. thick on the floor of the deck when I went out to get a precipitation reading - just over 1/4 in.

While I was working in the kitchen last night I was startled a loud scraping noise coming from near the windows in the living room. At first I thought it was the branch of a tree rubbing against the house, but when it happened again, I realized it was a bear. I had lowered the blinds but hadn't taken in the bird feeder. The poor animal was desperate to find something to eat and apparently tried to climb the side of the house to get to the feeder, 10 to 12 ft. off the ground on one of the big picture windows. As soon as I raised the blind, yelled at him and rapped on the window, he took off.

This morning I went out to see if there was any damage, but aside from a few smudges on the siding, everything is ok. I could see by his tracks that he had visited the other window where the feeder had been last year before locating it in the new position. Not only do they have a keen sense of smell, they also have good memories, apparently! I took this picture from the window this morning. When I later went outside I could plainly see toe and claw marks in the prints. I will take my bird feeder in earlier from now on. I had planned on removing it for the season until this ice storm came along and I knew the birds would be having a hard time finding food with everything covered in ice.

Sadly, last week we lost a long-time friend within the Joe's Pond and surrounding community. Richard "Dick" Larrabee passed away at his home in Danville. Dick was a popular builder, handy-man, man-Friday, and former owner with his wife, Terri, of the Joe's Pond Country Store. Folks around the pond knew and appreciated Dick for his building expertise, advice, and very "Vermont" take on the world. His stories were legendary. He will be sadly missed by his family and many friends. Condolences may be sent to Terri and the family at P. O. Box 53, West Danville, VT. 05873.

Snow Report!

We got 7 inches of new snow during last night. There have been a few straggling flurries this morning, but for the moment there is nothing in the air except hungry birds. Fortunately, the temperature is still moderate - in the high 20s and inching into the 30s, but last night's snow was light and not difficult to shovel so I was able to clear my deck in a few minutes this morning and got my measurements sent on time. Later Jamie and Marie came down to help, so amy driveway is clear and Marie did my walkway. Now we await the freezing rain or whatever is coming our way tonight and tomorrow. Whatever it is, with all this new snow on the ground and a fair amount of old snow still around in our area, there will be lots of water flowing off the hillsides into Joe's Pond.

I went to Danville yesterday morning to stock up of food and top off my car's tank. Our road was very slippery with mud, but no dreadfully deep mud holes like we had last week. However, with all this snow on top of the mud, people are not out and about much today. The roads will no doubt get a bit worse before they get better, in spite of the town's best efforts to keep them navigable. The stamat they used last week in the bad spots is holding up fairly well except on the stretch just below my house where it was still dicey. The paved highways may be bad if there is icing, as predicted.

Diane sent this photo of the Ice-Out setup - no dark ice showing this morning! And no chance the clock will get stopped right away. Remember that you only have until April 1st (Tuesday until midnight) to purchase Ice-Out Tickets. Get your guesses in - you can't win if you aren't in the game!

The signs of spring are everywhere, in spite of this last batch of snow. For the past several days I've been visited by deer on my lawn near the pond. At first it was a very large, healthy doe that showed up two different evenings to munch on the hillside; then yesterday around noon, a much smaller, younger-looking deer went to the same spot to browse. That one also looked very healthy, too, and I think it was probably last year's fawn. (See photo.) 

Whenever I've been outside these past nice days, I have heard ducks and geese in the area. There is no open water on my pond yet, so theere have been no visitors here. They will probably investigate as soon as it opens up. In the meantime, there is plenty of open water at the upper end of Joe's Pond where the channel come in (Joe's Brook out of Walden).

I have lots of birds at my feeder. I still have it out even though I know bears are moving around now. It is high enough on the window so the bear couldn't reach it, but I will take it down soon. I thought it might be important to have it out during this (hopefully last!) snow and ice storm this weekend. Then I will probably take it in. Once there is plenty of bare ground again, the birds will do well on their own. The expected ice storm will make it difficult for them, though. I haven't seen a robin here yet, but Jamie said he saw one in West Danville last week.

Here is an important note: The program by our friend, Howard Coffin, who was scheduled to present "Patriots in Petticoats" tomorrow (Sunday) at Willey Hall in Cabot, has been postponed due to this weekend's storm. No date has been set for rescheduling him, but as soon as we have one, I'll let you know.

Stay warm and dry, and be prepared to possibly be without electricity for at least a few hours if we lose power. The buildup of snow, topped with rain and possible icing, is likely to weigh down branches and topple trees, sometimes taking out the power lines. Best to have an auxiliary heat source on standby, as well as extra water available for drinking and flushing. The power company crews are well prepared and will be on top of these outages so the power isn't off for very long, but the best insurance is to be prepared. And please be safe. Enjoy some "down time."

Latest Ice Report

I just got a report from Bob Mackay. He just came in from fishing and said he measured 15 inches, "no pockets, medium ice from top to bottom" and then he mentioned that the weather has messed things up and even the fish aren't biting. He will be out there again tomorrow and will report if there's a change.

Reminders

 I just want to remind you of a couple of things going on here in the next few days. Tomorrow, Wednesday, March 26, the Danville Historical Society and the Danville Women' Club have collaborated to bring you a very interesting program, "Patriots in Petticoats." This will be at the Congregational Church (next door to the historical society's Sias House) on Hill Street, at 1 o'clock. (See poster.)

Then, on Sunday, March 30th, the Cabot Historical Society is presenting Civil War historian, Howard Coffin doing a presentation, "Patriots in Petticoats," at Willey Memorial Hal, Main Street in Cabot, at 2 o'clock. Howard always is very interesting to hear and I'm sure he will be happy to chat and answer any questions after his talk.

Yesterday afternoon, I was glued to my laptop watching the annual Vermont Principal's Association's state-wide spelling bee. Granddaughter Tangeni was competing - I think this was maybe her third or fourth time representing Waterford Elementary School at this contest. This was her final contest as she will be entering high school next year. She told me Sunday that she is  relieved that she will not to have to study for the competition again. Had she won, she would have gone to the national spelling contest held in Washington, D.C. I was very proud of her - there were some very difficult words as the contest moved through the rounds. She made it to to the third round when there were only about 20 students left from the starting group of close to 75-80 I'd guess from looking at the group. 

I was never a very good speller and always kept a dictionary close at hand back in the day, before we had computers and spell-check. I still have the dictionaries, but seldom open one because it is so easy to check spelling and meanings online. However, there is nothing that quite compares to holding an volume of the Oxford English Dictionary in one's hand and reading all the fine details of words presented there. I used that resource when I worked for Bill Lederer in Peacham, and always thought it would be great to own a set. Just as well I never did - I have a set of encyclopedias and a thesaurus or two in my office that I seldom crack open now. I would love to give some of those treasures away, but nobody is interested. I suppose they will end up in recycling eventually.

 

Just a brief weather note for Ice-Out Contest folks - today has been a "slow melting" day with temps in the 30s and low 40s. There have been pretty consistent snowflakes in the air, but mostly they melt on contact. However, my lawn was white early this morning. I measured half an inch of new snow, all of which was gone by 9:30 or so.

 

Our road got fixed yesterday morning - several truckloads of staymat were needed to fix where the road had mud holes, so it is pretty good now. However, there will no doubt be more breakouts as the frost continues to come out. This has been one of the more troublesome mud years - we have been pretty lucky for several years. It will be a while before the road is smooth and really good again, but the Cabot road crew is on top of the situation and doing their best to keep things moving. 

Don't forget - April 1st is the last day you can purchase Joe's Pond Ice-Out tickets! Be sure to stop by Marty's 1st Stop, Hastings Store, any of the other outlets in the ares (listed on the website) or go online to buy them.

Morning Ice Report

 We are definitely taking a break from spring-like weather today. Both Saturday night and last night were colder than normal - 11 degrees for a low Saturday night and 14 was the low last night. Now we're seeing 24 degrees, but there is a brisk wind with snow flurries! The snow doesn't seem to be sticking much at all, but it's discouraging watching it blow by the windows. I still have plenty of snow around my house and pond, but some bare ground, too. 

Diane took this photo early this morning. The sun never made it to shining stage - it's been completely obliterated by clouds and snowflakes!

Someone recently asked about the stakes that are set in the ice to support the rope on the contest setup so it won't get frozen into the ice. The stakes are less than effective most years. I think this year by the second or third day some of them had collapsed. The guys drill into the ice to set them up, but like the snow melting around the bases of trees this time of year, melting happens and over they go. Just about every year the rope gets frozen into the ice at some point, so it's just a matter of chance when it will happen and how strong the icy bond is holding the rope when the block wants to sink. Sometimes it's strong enough so the block and flag are under water for a day or so, so everyone thinks the contest must be over. But until the rope is released and the block actually sinks enough to tighten the rope and stop the clock, it isn't over! Every year is a little different.

Vermont Digger did an recent article that included our Joe's Pond Ice-Out Contest.

Although we've had some cold nights, there is still a warming effect going on so the ice is very gradually melting. This morning there were some people walking a dog on the ice - probably not the safest place to walk, but given the condition of our roads at the moment, we can understand their reasoning. I would not want to take chances on the ice now. There can be hidden soft or thin spots due to varying currents, runoff from culverts, or springs within the pond's depths. Any of those things can make the ice unsafe any time of the year - but especially now when we have already seen a decrease in ice of about 50%.

As for Mud Season on West Shore Road - it has been really bad for several days last week and especially this weekend. Thais morning I saw several truckloads of gravel or fill of some kind heading down past my house. I'm sure they were filling in the extreme mud bog that developed from about Randall's driveway all the way past Chatot's. There are plenty more spots further along W. Shore Rd. that need attention. I was glad to see that Cabot was on the job early this morning.

Bill, Monika, and Tangeni came for lunch yesterday. I had warned them about the road, so they came in the Hummer. No problem, but it looked like it had been in a mud-bog duel when it got to my house. Bill and Tangeni had made a big seafood chowder, and it was so good! Best chowder ever - worthy of the Coast of Maine. Bill said he had frozen leftover shrimp from hosting our Christmas Eve party, so added more seafood to it, with lots of cream and seasonings. Fortunately for me, there was enough left over for my lunch today - or maybe I'll have it with a salad tonight. Nice to look forward to!  I happened to have made a batch of egg salad on Saturday, so we had sandwiches with our chowder - I hardly needed anything for my supper. 

Tangeni is heading to St. Michael's College this afternoon to participate in the annual Vermont Spelling Bee. She has represented her school (Waterford Elementary) every year since I think she said fifth grade - except they suspended the contest during Covid. She spends a large amount of time preparing for this, and told me yesterday she is really glad that this will be her last year. She will be going to St. Johnsbury Academy next year - hard to believe! Time has slipped by so quickly. Here us a photo of her with Grampa Fred when she was 1 year old, and on the right, skiing last spring with Uncle Bob. She has grown another 4-5 inches since that photo was taken - she is taller than I am now! I think she must be at least 5' 6" or maybe more. She skied at Jap Peak with Uncle Bob last week and they were both worn out when they got home that night. Bob told me recently that he has a hard time keeping up with her now. They do off-trail skiing and although Tangeni didn't admit it, I think now there may be a little competition going on. Bob is thrilled to have a ski buddy - I think he has worn out most of his former skiing companions! But he's kind of got skiing in his blood, I suppose - his dad and Grandfather Dimick were both avid skiers.

One other little note - Cousin Ora recently celebrated her 90th birthday! Like some other people I know, her birthday celebration has gone on for an extended period - which is lovely, especially when it is a big one like this! Here she is on the right with her friend Kate celebrating with some 30 friends in the community where Ora lives in Warwick, RI. Lovely flowers and beautiful cake! Congratulations, Ora - looking good!

Enjoy your day, wherever you are, be safe and Think Spring!