DIGGING OUT!

We are pretty well out from under this storm, and struggling to get ready for the next onslaught sometime next week. We went to St. Johnsbury to shop for groceries today - my normal shopping day is Thursday, but common sense kept me at home and off the roads yesterday. St. Johnsbury streets are passable, and some sidewalks are cleared, but parking is difficult, and once parked, there's no easy way to get from the car to the sidewalk. There were still quite a few cars buried under snow in private drives, and with streets so narrowed by the snowbanks not yet removed, drivers have to be patient when meeting other cars and wait while people navigated turns and discharged or picked up passengers.

We started off by returning Don Encarnacion's Jeep this morning. Last night we noticed Don's driveway hadn't been plowed, so after a lovely evening at the Rossi's, Fred and Bill (Dimick) dug Don's Jeep out of a snowbank and Fred parked it in our drive until Don could get someone to plow his drive. Normally Don plows his own, but yesterday's storm was a little more than he wanted to handle. George Cosgrove got Don's drive cleared this morning.

West Shore Road is a bit narrower than usual, but we now have reasonable snowbanks to catch us if we start to slide. It's pretty wintery, the wind is still a reality, and West Danville has taken on a North Pole appearance. I took some pictures from the parking lot across from Hasting's Store this morning; then we paused at Point Comfort to show you there's still tanning going on at Joe's Pond. I didn't get out of the car for this one - that's me in the car mirror . . .

I would caution those of you who may not be thinking much about your cottages here at the pond to have someone check to see if your roof needs to be shoveled. There have been several barns that caved under the weight of the snow yesterday, and with more coming next week, it's better to be safe than sorry.

We wish everyone a wonderful Presidents' Weekend. Stay safe and warm.