Road Trips & Weather

This soggy morning started me off on the wrong foot, I think. It was way too dark and dreary after that absolutely gorgeous day yesterday! I have lolligagged most of the morning, and accomplished almost nothing. However, I'm at my computer now, ready to  do some catching up. 

Sometimes things that seem to be inconvenient turn out to be really special, and that characterizes yesterday for me. Middle son Bob and I have a standing "First Thursday" lunch date every month. We've done it for several years now, and every time we get together for lunch is different. We both like good food and back roads, so it's always an adventure. I have a conflict and won't be able to make the first Thursday of November date, so we decided to move our lunch to yesterday. That was just about the nicest day ever to take a road trip! It was about 72 degrees even here at Joe's Pond, and even warmer in Woodbury and Plainfield. We went on back roads through Cabot, Calais, and Marshfield to get to Plainfield where we wanted to try the newly opened "Outer Spice" restaurant - across Rte. 2 from Maplefield's. The place has been almost completely done over with new flooring, counter, and lots of artwork and musical instruments for live music that happens "on occasion," according to our waitress. The food was very good, service excellent, and we decided we will definitely go back.

After lunch, we struck out to find the high-rise drive over the roadway in South Woodbury area. Chico Carcoba sent me directions a while back when I posted a photo of the barn and bridge here on the blog, so using those directions, we found it easily. It was well worth the trip - and getting there was a joy driving with the windows open to the warm breeze. We got to see the overhead bridge up close - the big logs that support it from the bank above that is walled by massive stones that were probably quarried nearby - perhaps at the Woodbury quarries. The sign on the bridge indicated it was built in 1903. It looked like it will easily last at least another 100 years. 

I had hoped to continue exploring back roads by heading east from Woodbury on a road that connects with Jug Brook Road and comes out in Cabot, but Jug Brook Road is still closed on the Cabot end due to the July flood so we took the Cabot Road from Woodbury - a familiar route that we always enjoy.

Speaking of roads being closed, on Tuesday (on another road trip!) Diane Rossi and I encountered a road still closed by the flood, too. We were coming back from White River and Bethel area and decided to take Route 14 to Barre and then the back road to Plainfield on our way home to Joe's Pond. There is a maze of roads in the back country between Barre City and Plainfield Village, and I think we traveled on at least half of them! We came out on Gore Road which is known for it's steep ravine heading into Plainfield. The brook goes wild in heavy rain storms or sometimes during spring thaws and the road has washed out numerous times over the years. It is still apparently severely damaged from the July storm and it is closed through the steepest section, so we detoured, adding another back road to our itinerary, and arrived in Plainfield by way of East Hill Road. For a while I thought we were going to wind up in Orange or Chelsea. It was fun, we weren't in any rush to get home, and we saw lots of interesting back country.

I have all my outside work done! My snow shovel is in place on the front
deck - I had to use it for the first time after the weather turned on us last week and Saturday night dumped two inches of snow on top of about a half inch of frozen slush. Isn't it pretty?  It was all gone within a couple of days, but it prompted me to wrap my one "sensitive" tree, which I did yesterday morning. It was a lot easier to do in warm weather rather than the way I too often have done it - with cold fingers during a snowstorm. So now, let it snow!

And here's my handiwork, my bundled tree - fittingly bound up on October 31, 2024 - that probably kept lots of Goblins and Witches away from my house on Halloween Night!

This afternoon the weather has turned dreary after some rain, then some brief sunshine. November in Vermont is noted for its gloomy weather, so this may be the trend for a while. It's a little abrupt after such a nice day yesterday, though! 

Don't forget that Saturday you need to turn your clocks back one hour. And if you haven't voted yet, please do. Every vote does count, and this is an historically unusual presidential race, with both candidates tied in nearly every state. A lot is at stake! Do your part and vote - then however the races, either local or national turn out, at least you'll be able to feel you have a legitimate right to grumble or rejoice.

Milfoil Survey Continued

This was a cold day to be in the water - we had snow showers late in the afternoon. However, dedicated Joe's Ponders were out there looking for (and finding) milfoil patches. Here's what Barry Cahoon sent to me a few minutes ago:

On Sunday 10/27 JPA member Jim Bernotas and his niece and scuba diving partner Josie Cicia surveyed and hand pulled Eurasian Watermilfoil (EWM) along the shoreline on Sandy Beach Road, supported by JPA EWM Response Coordinator Barry Cahoon.Jim and Josie discovered a new, small but densely populated patch of mature EWM plants.  Jim described the patch as “a forest of mature plants”.They hand pulled as much as their time in the cold water allowed.

 

Indications are that a concerted effort toward continued frequent hand pulling next season by a team of JPA scuba divers and snorkelers in addition to surveillance and monitoring of the entire lake by all members will be essential for the JPA to achieve any chance for EWM containment. Application of additional benthic barriers in the spring may be appropriate for newly found established EWM populations such as was discovered today.

 

Thanks so much to Jim and Josie for what should be considered no less than heroic volunteer efforts.

 

Photos are courtesy of Susan Bouchard.

For Joe's Pond

Barry Cahoon

MIlfoil Update & More

We awoke to another frosty morning today. We are having white frosts each night now, which is more "normal" for the end of October. The daytime temperatures have cooled considerably this week, and right now I have only 47 degrees showing on my shaded thermometer. The sunshine is veiled, first with dense fog early this morning and now a haze seems to be lingering. Not sure what that's about, but there is breeze and it's very damp, so it seems a lot colder than that 47 degree reading. 

Bob MacLeod  (123 North Shore Road) got in touch with me yesterday to let me know there's a section of someone's dock lodged on shore near the JPA docking area for the tennis courts and recreation area off of North Shore Road. There has been a lot of strong wind lately and this is likely  someone will be wondering where part of their dock is. Hopefully someone is looking for it and can get it back before it gets frozen in!

I had this important message from Joe's Pond Association President Joe Hebert yesterday updating us on the Eurasian Milfoil Project:

 Eurasian Water Milfoil Update

I wanted to take this opportunity to update the members regarding our response to the mifoil
infestation that was discovered in mid-August. As you are aware based on our private and state surveys, the only present location remains in the northwestern area of the lake. We remain diligent looking for other areas but currently none have been located. Divers from the State of Vermont, assisted by our own volunteers, have been here on four different occasions pulling the plants. Subsequently, on October 4th, an approximately 200 square foot benthic barrier was installed at the location of the densest population. The material was donated by the Lake Elmore Association and we have additional barrier if needed. We have already arranged an extensive survey in the spring which will guide our approach for next year. Marker buoys have been prepared and devices for surveying are available. We also anticipate training programs in the spring for those interested in surveying and harvesting milfoil plants.

As you may know, Barry Cahoon has volunteered to serve has our milfoil response coordinator and has been working diligently towards forming our response to this infestation and approach moving forward as this will be an ongoing issue if we are to control this invasive plant. I want to emphasize, as Barry has previously indicated, this effort will require a coordinated response in which all of us must invest our time and effort. Towards that end we have identified areas that need to be addressed to form a Milfoil Response Committee to assist and function under the coordinator and the JPA Board of Directors and hope that individuals with pertinent skills will be willing to volunteer. These include the following:

Milfoil Response Plan
The JPA response to the EWM infestation should be guided by a plan that identifies goals and
priorities, elements of response and establishes an organizational structure and other aspects of the response that are appropriate. Currently Henretta Splain has agreed to undertake this task.

Mapping System
A digital mapping platform either using existing lake associations, or to be developed which can
effectively track locations of EWM, dates and type of treatment and other data needs.

Survey Coordination and Supervision
As a very high priority activity at this early stage of infestation, recruitment, encouragement and
coordination of divers, snorkelers, waders, boaters and others within JPA membership to find and identify the spread of EWM to other areas of the lake, monitoring of known infestations and any treatments of those areas are all key to control of EWM in Joe’s Pond. This may involve developing the littoral zone into different sections with volunteer supervisors for each area.

Education
Collection, reproduction, development and distribution of educational materials to the JPA
membership and other lake users is desired. Recruitment for and coordination with the state Aquatic Invasive Species section for the presentation of a Vermont Invasive Patrollers (VIP) workshop for members is necessary and will be planned for next spring. Appropriate material will also be available on the JPA website.

 EWM Control Tools, Materials and Infrastructure
JPA will investigate tools and materials needed to support the effectiveness of our response to
EWM. We will need to identify, acquire if needed, train the use of, store and provide access to such tools materials deemed necessary to combat the infestation.

Grant Applications
The state has resources to assist with financial assistance for the endeavor. The grants will be more complex than in the past and may include coordination with the towns of Danville and Cabot. Collection of data documenting volunteer hours, JPA expenditures and other efforts will be necessary. Currently Pam Hebert who has done the grant for the greeter program in the past has agreed to coordinate the effort. Pat Rubacalba has agreed to assist and supervise the grants process in the future.

Regulatory and Permits
Future EWM control activities may require regulatory review and approval by the State of Vermont DEC. Permit applications will be necessary for any regulated activities. We currently have an emergency response permit but it is likely additional permits will be necessary for any future treatments. Additionally, public hearings may be required. We invite any JPA members who feel they possess the skill to assist and willingness to volunteer to any of the tasks to please contact Barry Cahoon, JPA Milfoil Response Coordinator at bear817@hotmail.com  or 802-535-0049. We anticipate a committee of about 7 members but encourage all with areas of expertise and/or willingness to serve and learn to please contact us so we might enhance our efforts to control this infestation. Please get involved!

Joe Hebert
President JPA

 *******************

Getting ahead of the Eurasian Water Milfoil is going to be an on-going, complicated task that will need the help of all of us. Joe's Pond Association is stepping up to organize and take the lead in combating the infestation, but the welfare of Joe's Pond is important to our surrounding communities and I hope others with expertise, relevant experience, or simply time and a desire to help in any way possible will come forward to help, as well. Contact Barry Cahoon and let him know you want to help.

 

Centering on History

 Once again I made the deadline to get my article to the Cabot Chronicle - but just barely. It was an unusually busy week and although I thought I was well ahead of schedule, I found myself barely making it last Friday. It wasn't all my fault. I usually don't search for photos for articles until I'm finished writing. Since I'm doing a series of historical pieces about Cabot, I was confident about what photos I would use and knew exactly where they were. When I plugged in the stick drive where they were stored, a box came up saying the file was damaged and did I want to fix it - and of course I said yes. I know these things take time, so I left the computer to do it's work. When I came back a little later, there was a message that the file couldn't be used. You guessed it. Everything was gone. I tried everything I could think of, but I couldn't access anything on that auxiliary drive and I no longer had it on my hard drive because I was trying to make room and put lots of files on auxiliary stick drives. I later had the same message come up on another stick drive when I used it, but I ignored it and the files were all there when I opened it.

Long story short, I sent the article with a few photos I was able to find by searching other files on my computer - stuff I'd used in some other way or shared in messages, but the more recent photos I had wanted to include were gone. I had shared some of the historic photos with the library in Cabot, but they are closed on Friday. I explained to Jeannie, editor of the Chronicle, and hit the "send" button. 

Saturday morning I scooted to the library and Kathleen was waiting for me with a copy of the lost photos. I'm so glad I had shared them with her! While I was out (on such a lovely day!) I decided to take a quick trip to the Center of Town - the subject of my article. Work has been done to establish a walking trail from the Village to the Center - but most of the historic site has had little attention in recent years. The old cemetery gets mowed regularly, but the bushes around the old pound and the stone marking where Cabot's first Congregational church stood had grown back. I was happy that there were no large trees down in the vicinity. The signs  that I believe the Judith Lyford Woman's Club, now disbanded, put there to mark the church and pound have disappeared and the one by cemetery has bullet holes and is bent out of shape. It's sad, but they can be replaced.

The Center of Town is a lovely spot. I was there at about noon and the sun twinkled through the massive trees. It was quiet. The foot trail is closed for the season. I went down to the cemetery (left), but I didn't go past the gateway. I got some pictures and returned to the parking area where there's a trail leading to the old pound. I keep a couple of walking sticks in the car, but didn't think to grab one until I was half-way to the pound (below right), and realized if I went over its wall and up the hill, the shortest route to the top where the church marker is, I would probably need a walking stick or I'd risk a tumble. I had no problem locating a sturdy stick among the forest debris, which is what I've done for years and why I have several rough ticks by the door of my garage. 

It was only a short distance to the top of the hill, and I was very aware that I wasn't as steady going over rough country as I used to be, but between my makeshift walking stick and grabbing onto tree branches and bushes, I got safely to the top. The marker for the church is shown on the left. The black and white photo below it was taken when the marker was put in place during an Old Home Day celebration in 1901. At that time, the area had been cleared and opened up for farm land. The boulder is high on a ledge and faced north or northwest. Over the years it has been moved - in 2001 to remove the capsule buried there when it was originally set in place, and again about a year ago when it was badly damaged by graffiti when the vandals were apparently looking for the capsule. The capsule contained only a few newspaper clippings and nothing of much value, and when it was opened in 2001, it was not put back in the cavity under the big stone. The empty capsule is now at the Cabot Historical Society museum. Today the stone faces roughly south - just about opposite from it's original position, towards the road and a plateau instead of overlooking a very steep stone cliff as you see in the bottom photo.

 I arrived back at my car all in one piece, no harm done to me or the environment. The Center is one of my favorite spots. It's a quiet, lonely spot - not many people go there - except I imagine more people will take advantage of the walking trail and visit now. It is notable because it is actually the geographic center of the town. James Morse, Esq. was the first to settle there in 1789, a few years after the first settlers arrived on Cabot Plain. Jesse Levenworth, Maj. Hitchcock, and Asa Douglas donated eight acres of land to be used for town purposes at the center, and a school was built, the pound, the church, and a cemetery established. Soon there was a store, several homes, a tavern, and farms surrounding the public land. But in a few years the population shifted, as it had from the Plain, and by 1846, the town business and much of the community at the Center had, as one old timer put it, "moved down to the swamp" next to the Winooski River, where Cabot Village is now. And that's the story of Cabot's Center of Town.

Our nice weather continued yesterday and today and I think we will have one more day of warm, mostly sunny weather before temperatures more in line with late October settle in. This has been a nice opportunity to get outside work done, and I have everything done except one tree needs to be wrapped in burlap, then I'm done. I suppose it wouldn't hurt it to not wrap it, but other years if I didn't cover it there were large patches of dead branches in the spring. Recent winters haven't had the extended periods of below-zero temperatures we used to have, so it might be ok, but I don't want to take a chance. It gets a lot of wind and weather and putting a little burlap around it is no big deal. I'll take care of that tomorrow, I think.

Be well and think pleasant thoughts.