Catching Up

I've been fairly quiet on my blog recently and it's time to catch up on things. Autumn seems to be an unusually busy time - I usually have all my health checkups about this time. I have no idea why it has happened that I get to do these around the same time as my birthday, but that's how it is. Not perfect timing, for sure, and there's something weird about being greeted at a doctor's office with "Happy Birthday!"  Well, yes, I'm happy to have another one each year, but still. And I get greetings from my dentist, even though I don't have an appointment there, and even an automobile dealership I haven't used in years. Comes under the heading of "customer relations," I guess. Anyway, they are all good people, and I do appreciate them - and their well wishes.

I celebrated a little uniquely this year. It was with friends - although vicariously. I was not feeling up to par on the day we were going to go for lunch in honor of my birthday, so they celebrated without me and shared texts and photos (see photo, Dotty, Sherry, Cindi, and Diane). They went to Polly's Pancake in Franconia - it had been my choice, and unfortunately had to wait an excessively long time for a table. Franconia is flooded with visitors this time of year, and I should have thought about that. Sorry, ladies. Had I been with them, I think I would have opted to go some other place - back to Littleton to "99" or to Wells River to the truck stop - that would have been a hoot.

I was very pleased that two of my cousins, one who lives in Denver and another who lives in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley region. It was wonderful to hear from them both and catch up on the family news. I haven't seen either Judi or Dick for literally years, but we have kept in touch. Dick's birthday is four days before mine, so we remember each other's dates; Judi just somehow remembers things like that, and has a nice habit of calling or writing to me every so often, and it's always great fun. Their calls made my day. 

 So now I'm up to speed again and feeling pretty normal, ready to catch up on emails I've neglected.

A few days ago I had this message from Barry Cahoon:

On Friday, 10/04/24, the state Aquatic Invasive Species dive team, assisted by JPA member and scuba diver Jim Bernotas, JPA President Joe Hebert and Joanne and Jamie Stewart, installed approximately 200 square feet of benthic barrier on the lake bed to cover the most dense areas of Eurasian Watermilfoil (EWM) establishment identified to date.  This operation was conducted just off the shoreline along Sandy Beach Road and was preceded by the removal and relocation of any freshwater mussels found within the footprint of the benthic mats.  The mats consist of a geotextile material designed to limit the amount of sunlight and solar energy accessible to the EWM thereby killing it over time, and are anchored to the lake bed by pieces of steel reinforcing rod laid on top of the mats.

The application of the mats was limited to this small priority area as the AIS believes that more widespread use of the mats results in the elimination of native plant species which, if left intact, serve to deter the establishment of EWM.  EWM will quickly and aggressively re-colonize any bare areas of lake bed.

Continued vigilance, monitoring, hand pulling and potentially additional treatments may be required next spring.

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I also had this message from Emily Finnegan, FPAC-NRCS, VT :

Hi Jane,

My name is Emily Finnegan, and I am the District Manager for the Caledonia County Natural Resources Conservation District.  We've been working with some folks in the Joe's Pond community for the past few years through a program called Lake Wise, which is an initiative of the Agency of Natural Resources that provides free, non-regulatory technical assistance to lakeshore homeowners and awards lake-friendly shoreland properties.  We have even facilitated a few projects on the pond, including replacing a retaining wall with a natural shoreline, that I can't wait to show off to the community when they are complete!

 The reason I'm writing today is that we also work closely with the federal USDA Natural Resources Conservation Program (NRCS) to gather community feedback on natural resource concerns in Caledonia County.  Together with other folks who work in the region, our job is to translate those concerns into federal financial assistance for local land stewards.  Given the broad audience you have with your blog, I was wondering if you would be willing to share a bit about an upcoming opportunity for folks to share their natural resources concerns with us at a free community dinner and feedback session on Thursday November 7^th from 5:30 to 7 pm at the Peacham Community Meeting House (56 Church St in Peacham).  I attached a press release that I recently sent out, if that's helpful as well.  I'd also be happy to trade more emails if you have additional questions, or feel free to reach out to me anytime at 203-219-4638 if you want to talk more about this opportunity!

 Thanks so much for your consideration. Emily Finnegan

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Like lots of you, I've been watching closely the terrible weather situation Florida is going through right now. We have many Joe's Pond folks living in Florida each winter and friends who live there year around. Some Joe's Ponders have not left Vermont yet, and no doubt their migration to their summer residences may be delayed, and in some cases, may be cancelled altogether and they will opt to go elsewhere this winter - or remain in Vermont. I haven't had any reports yet, but it is still very early. I'm hoping everyone is safe and properties weren't badly damaged. The news is pretty grim and there will be a long period of cleanup once roads are cleared and utilities are restored down there. I will relay any information that comes my way, but for I just hope everyone is ok.

Our weather turned wet and cold today. I had to go into Danville to get my flu shot and it was really a lot chillier than I'd expected. I stopped at Marty's, and when I came out of the store there was a cold, misty rain - just a tad off from being snow, I think. Golly, it was cold. A cup of hot tea put me right once I got home, but it took a while to warm my fingers up. A woman in the waiting room at the Health Center told me there was hail at her house yesterday - but she was called for her appointment before I could find out where she lived. I bet we had flurries last night - the low was 33 degrees and there was .09 inch of precipitation in my measuring tube this morning. We haven't had a real frost yet, although a couple of nights have been right at the freezing point, and one morning last week Jamie said there was a bit of frost up at his house. He is a few feet higher in elevation than I am. I bet there was significant frost on the Plain.

The foliage is holding pretty well - I think it's a bit past peak in most areas, but still pretty, especially now the leaves are wet. I noticed an ad someplace that St. Johnsbury is having an autumn train ride this year - about 1 1/2 hr.round trip, I think it said. I believe I saw that in the Caledonian Record, but if you are interested in it, you will find details on the Visitors Center site. Seems like a fall thing to do.

 

 

 

Lovely Autumn Days

 We have had absolutely lovely fall weather for the past several days - perfect for the annual Fall Foliage Festivals scattered throughout our area. It all began Saturday in Cabot with tours to scenic spots in the morning and a big Cheese & Culture event on the Cabot Common in the afternoon. The turkey dinner that evening sold out - they had to set up tables inside the church to accommodate more people. Diane and I were there at about 5 o'clock to pick up dinners, and the common was alive with vendors and visitors. Burtt's Apples just outside of town had cars parked in fields on both sides of the road with lots of people visiting their store, orchards, and the newly opened walking trail. And by the way, the turkey dinner was exceptional - large portions and absolutely delicious. I actually didn't have mine until last night - we also got chicken pie suppers from North Danville that night, too, so we had chicken on Saturday and I had turkey on Monday - and Tuesday. I couldn't eat all at one sitting, so I'm looking forward to another great meal tonight - that I don't have to cook and doesn't come out of a package!

It seems to me that the foliage hasn't presented the brilliant colors we've seen some years, at least in this immediate area; but there is impressive color showing on distant hills, and I'm sure leaf peepers are happy just to have the sun shining and warm breezes blowing as they travel through the area seeking photo ops.

Mary Whitcomb visited Burtt's Apples this past weekend and sent me some photos she took. This really nice shot taken from the hiking trail at Burtt's shows how the Maple Glen farm has been turned from dairy fame to productive fruit orchards and maple production. Years ago, Maple Glen was the home of A. M. Foster who invented the Foster sap spout. At that time it was a dairy farm with one of the largest maple orchards in town. I have written here about that before, how they had wonderful sugaring-off parties each spring and dozens of people came to enjoy sugar on snow.

When I was growing up, the farm was owned by Payson Walbridge, and it was a truly lovely, well-kept farm. I don't have any photos of it in the 1940s, but I remember the buildings always being well maintained, the house painted white with flower boxes and lilacs. There was a big sign on the red barn, Maple Glen. Eventually the farm was sold to Bob and Barbara Davis and was operated as a dairy farm and maple producer for several more years. 

When the Davis's left Cabot, the Burtt family bought the property. I don't know if they operated it as a dairy farm for a while or not, but in later years Greg Burtt and his dad, Keith, have developed the hay fields, pastures and maple woods into highly productive fruit orchards, maple production, and grazing for beef cattle. They have cleared land beyond what any of the previous owners had, to expand their endeavors, built a modern sugar house, large storage facility, and maintain very busyseasonal farm stand.

From the upper fields above the orchards, there is a fine view of Cabot's West Hill, the Bothfeld farm, and the quarries in Woodbury (photo right). Thank you for sharing your photos with me, Mary.

This photo of Maple Glen was taken in 1979, and I'm not sure who owned it at that time. The hay field in the foreground is now home to apple trees, the farm stand building, parking lot, and children's activities area.

This morning I had an email from Laura Prothero, Dirctor of Development at the Vermont Center for Ecostudies in Norwich, Vermont. Eric Hansen did a presentation recently in Peacham, I believe it was, and Laura sent a recording of the event. It has a lot of very interesting information and great photos - some by the late Ray Richer, who, with his wife Evelyn, watched over our early loon recovery efforts. To see Laura's message and see the presentation, click HERE.

Enjoy these beautiful autumn days, be safe.

 

Things to Do, Places to Go

 I recently had a notice from Joanne Stewart letting me know that she has been in touch with Eric Hansen (loon biologist for the State of Vermont) and he is going to do a piece for our Joe's Pond spring
2025 newsletter. Eric goes back to the very early years of helping loons reestablish here at Joe's Pond, so I'm sure he will have some interesting information for us.

Also, he will be doing a loon program at Peacham Library on Sunday, Oct 6 at 3 p.m. So mark your calendar and take a drive over to Peacham on that Sunday afternoon. It will be a lovely drive - the foliage is usually really nice in that area, and Peacham is a lovely little village any time, really. Eric will be happy to answer loon questions you may have.

We finally got some rain last night. I measured 1.19 in. this morning and it has rained quite steadily all day, although mostly lightly. I think it must have been particularly beneficial being light instead of a torrential cloudburst. The ground was very dry and absorbed it quickly.My pond was down almost two feet, but this morning it was nearly back to normal level. I didn't look at it before dark, but I'm sure it has reached the overflow pipe and is at capacity level now.

I wonder if our lack of very bright colors this year (again) is a result of such hot weather and so little rain in the late summer. For all of the early start which seemed to have very nice color, most of the trees I've seen were dull and many have already lost their leaves. Then there are some maples that are still green. Our foliage is just one more weather-related event that is unusual. This photo is of one of my maple trees in October, 2021. Not so vivid this year - in fact, many of the leaves turned brown and the wind took most of them off this year. Other trees are still green.

I'm watching the weather in Florida and I am very worried for all those people in the path of Hurricane Helene. I don't understand why anyone would refuse to leave when told the storm may have an "unsurvivable storm surge." That would sure send me running for the hills. The devastation this will probably do to that state is unimaginable. I hope those people change their minds before it's too late. One report I heard was that even coastal areas not in the direct path of the hurricane, including some of the east coast, would have damage from wind and storm surge. 

Wherever you are - pay attention to the weather and heed official directives. These are unusual times, with unusual storms. Better to be safe. 

This is the start of our region's annual Fall Foliage Season. There will be all-day festivities in Cabot on Saturday, Sept. 28th. This is Cabot's  Fall Foliage Day, with a mini-revival of our Apple Pie Festival, and  Cabot Cheese and Culture Festival - all rolled into one super-fun day. Head over the hill and through the dale to enjoy fall at it's finest. 

And a reminder: There will be a turkey dinner at the Cabot church starting at 5 p.m. - takeout and seating on the common under tents; and a chicken pie supper at North Danville church, too late to order take-out, and probably to get tickets for dining in - but worth a try. See the poster in the previous blog.