Fred was able to find the radio interview from this afternoon. Go to the following link, click on "Listen to part 3 of As It Happens" and you'll find the interview near the end of the segment. Ice-Out Interview
Have your speakers on. Move the sliding bubble guide at the bottom of the screen to about 3/4 of the way across to find the beginning of that interview - almost at the end of the program.

Is it Spring Yet?

Not here at Joe's Pond! We've had snow flurries off and on all day today, but none of it has stuck around, fortunately. The water level went up after the ice went out due to the rain of the last couple of days. Several area roads were closed late yesterday because of flooding, but today things seem to be back to normal. I overheard one of the men on a road crew complaining that the roads were "either too frozen or too wet" to do anything with. Assistant town clerk in Cabot, Velma White, told me today the Danville Hill Road is very bad so she's been going up Rt. 15 to 215 into Cabot each day. Good to stay on the hard surface if you can.

We've been busy inside today. Fred has been working on his computer downstairs and I've been on mine upstairs. In addition, I did an follow-up interview on CBC Canada Sirius Radio out of Toronto - the same gal that Don Walker did an interview with. Don wasn't available, and neither was Dave, so Dave asked me to fill in, last minute. I think it was going to be on a 5 o'clock show tonight, and I was doing the interview at 4:50. Cutting it a little close, but we got it done and I hope they ran it so we'll have more Canadians entering the contest in 2009. Dave will be doing a follow-up interview with Jay Thomas, Sirius Radio, NYC on Monday.

Speaking of 2009, a little while ago I mentioned on the blog that there are road projects planned for Rt. 2 in the Cabot area. John Zicconi responded to my query with estimates of when the planned work might happen. As I understand it, Act 250 pre-hearings for all segments were to be held tonight in Cabot since all this work is on the stretch of Rt. 2 along Mollys Pond and Molly's Falls Dam in Cabot. In the meantime, this is what is planned: (2009-2010) 1.46 miles starting east of Marshfield town line to just west of Thistle Hill Road, reconstruction, alignment and addition of eastbound truck climbing lane; (2013-2014) 1.5 miles starting east of Hookerville Road through to just west of Danville Hill Road, full reconstruction, widening and alignment; (2015-2016) 1.34 miles near Molly's Pond ending east of W. Shore Road, full reconstruction and widening, alignment and addition of westbound truck climbing lane. The dates the planned work may be done are shown. When all is finished, the commute to and from Montpelier/Barre should be considerably shortened and less stressful.

We're looking forward to moderating weather in the next few days - more sunshine and gradually rising temperatures. That should bring out some of our summer folks who have delayed returning because of the muddy roads and foul weather. Hope to see lots more of you soon.

Roads Flooded

I'm getting messages via the scanner about roads in the area being closed due to flooding. Rt. 5 in the Lyndonville area, near Rt. 122, and also just north of St. Johnsbury. The river was very high when I went that way yesterday; now it is over the road. I'm not sure if they believe the water has crested - the snow/rain seems to have stopped here within the past hour, so that should help.

The Connecticut River is flooding some areas, especially in Dalton NH area. There may be other areas, but these are the ones I'm hearing about on the scanner.

Rain, rain, snow!

Yep, it had to happen - it's been snowing quite hard here at Joe's Pond for the past couple of hours. Enough so it's sticking to the ground in many places. The temperature has dropped since noon from about 41 to 31 degrees. We've had rain for the past two days and the water is very high. There are flood watches throughout Caledonia County and the upper Connecticut River area. I took some pictures when I came home from St. Johnsbury around noon today.

These were taken on W. Shore Road. You can see there's still a lot of water running off the hillsides - there's still some snow in the woods and all the brooks are running fast. There has been a pretty steady rain falling both yesterday and today. The snow isn't going to help, especially on the already muddy roads. Water level in the pond has come up from what it has been, I think, and with so much water running into the pond I doubt it will get much better. We can only hope it doesn't get worse.

I saw Jane Milne in town today and she told me North Shore Road is much better now. Last week it was impassable because of the heavy traffic. There is a construction job going on at the Calderwood (Heffernan) camp, with lots of heavy equipment traveling in and out. Marty Larrabee is the contractor and he has repaired the damage so it's much better now, Jane said.

On this side of the pond, the road is passable, but definitely needs work where both Danville and Cabot have put fill into the mud holes but haven't been back with the grader to smooth and level it. It is mostly huge rollercoaster mounds and there are still muddy spots and dangerously soft shoulders, but we're all making it through ok - slowly and carefully.

When I got home, Woody had taken over my favorite chair and was sleeping soundly. No friendly meow to welcome me back - just belly-up dead-to-the-world snoozing. Now he's moved to the desk at my left elbow where he's contentedly curled up while I type. He looked outside a few minutes ago and promptly went back to sleep. Snow obviously isn't his thing. Like all of us, he thought spring was here!

Saturday is Green Up Day! Here's the link to learn more about it. We should all get out and do our part to pick up the winter's deposit of trash along the highways and roads around the lake. Here is something from Cabot - I'm sure Danville has something organized, too.

Green Up Day – May 3

Green Up Day is Saturday, May 3 from 9 am to 2 pm. This is the day to help spruce up the town roads. Take your pick – they’ll all need some cleaning! Every Green Up Day we clean up a significant portion of our 50-plus miles of paved and gravel roads. We need your help. Work by yourself –or form a group to clean a road section – or work with your neighbors to divide and conquer. Some folks get out to pick up trash sometime during the week before Green Up Day when it is convenient, and bring the roadside trash down to the Recycling Center on Green Up Day.

Green Up trash bags will be available at Harry’s Hardware the week before and at the Recycling Center on Saturday morning. But you can also use your own bags. The Cabot Conservation will have a map to keep track of roads that have been cleaned. Only roadside trash will be accepted.

There will be free metals collection from 9 am 2 pm. Any items with metal will be accepted, but no TVs, VCRs, microwaves, propane tanks, freezers, refrigerators, or air conditioners.

There will also be tire collection for a reasonable fee. Various size tires can be taken with or without rim.

If you have questions contact Gary Gulka (563-2284) or Larry Gochey (563-2496).

To learn more, go to this site: Green Up Vermont

Rainy morning.

The showers for the next few days should help to get everything clean and green. I wish I'd done a little more yard work yesterday, but there will be nice days ahead for that.

I heard from Martha Flanagan this morning that her son, Chris, found the following in his Portland Oregonian this morning: (Thanks to both Martha and Chris for letting us know.)
AP Article

The ice is mostly gone from the whole pond this morning. There is a little clinging to the southeast shore from the fishing access towards the narrows, but that won't last the day with the rain. The water never got alarmingly high and I haven't had any reports of damage. At least one camp will be missing a dock, but Richer's have it secured at their house. We picked up a section of the fence between Rouleau's and Rossi's this morning. A couple sections had been torn off by the snow and this one was across their driveway, probably blown over by the wind yesterday. The snow did more damage this winter than usual because there was so much and it was so heavy.

I can't report that the roads around the pond have improved over the past few days. There is either mud or huge mounds of dirt where the holes were, and now we will probably have to wait until after the rain for the towns to get out with equipment to fix the roads. I've been told it's not a good idea to work the road when it's raining - just makes more mud. Makes sense, I guess, but it doesn't help those of us who need to travel.

The last of the ice was moving about on the pond today. This morning I took this picture of some 'bergs drifting into the marsh at the north end of the lake. There was a strong wind coming up the lake. This afternoon when I was out doing some yard work, the wind seemed to be more out of the northeast, but I couldn't be sure. Sometimes the hills around and in back of our house cause the wind to bounce a bit.

Things are sprouting in the flower beds, but everything is very compacted from being under so much heavy snow. Also, several of my small bushes and trees have been either split, flattened or completely broken, even though I was careful to stake them last fall. The stakes were broken, too. So today I pruned and propped, hoping to salvage some of them at least. Last fall I was thinking I'd take out the flowers that always need weeding and have only low shrubs and ornamental trees on the front lawn, but now I'm afraid that might not be such a good idea. I may resort to digging everything out and having only grass. Less work and no casualties. Even the hand rail on the steps up from the parking area in our drive took a hit. The spindles will all need to be re-set and the supporting top and bottom rails re-attached to the posts. The weight of the snow just ripped the nails out that held everything in place. The good news is most of the snow is gone and in a day or so I should be able to finish raking and mulching the flowers and the frost will be out so we can move the posts to work on the railing. The daffies at the end of our house are unscathed, and more are nearly ready to bloom along the walk. Some are still under that patch of snow, though.

Fred is back in the wood business, thinking already about having our 2010 supply brought this spring instead of waiting until fall. That way he'll be able to get it split and piled and give it a little extra time to dry this summer. The supply he got last fall will go into the garage this fall, dry and ready for winter, 2009.

I haven't been out to see how the road is today. Yesterday it was very bumpy where there had been muddy spots, and worse where the town dumped gravel in to fill the mud holes. Lots of traffic today, and a lot of them hit the bumps along our section of the road at top speed, so it would not be surprising if there are pieces of cars scattered along the road.

I'm putting the finishing touches on the newsletter and Evelyn will be ready to print within a day or so, so it should be in the mail very soon. Our Joe's Pond Association officers are drifting back; I understand George and Judy Anderson arrived today and Tom and Camilla Dente are expected Tuesday. The others will be arriving shortly, so the new season is about to begin.

Now the ice has gone out, things are getting back to normal around the pond. Of course, not ALL of the ice is gone - there are still spots in coves and along some of the shoreline, depending on which direction the wind is blowing. Things that weren't securely attached to the shore have been "liberated" by the high water in some cases, or by the shifting ice floe. I had this e-mail from Evelyn this morning:
Hi Jane…

As we were sitting here having our morning coffee we saw a dock approaching… it was floating slowly into the cove. Through the binoculars we realized that it was possibly the Talbot’s dock. Ray got into our canoe and hooked on to it (it appears to be upside down!!) and paddled it to shore. It is now tied to our shoreline. We knew it would possibly get hooked up in the marsh somewhere and once the water level went down it could be impossible to retrieve. So it is here and safe.

We have noticed three loons on the lake this morning… they sound so wonderful… it is so nice to have spring return!!!

Happy Spring!! Blessings, Evelyn

*****

The Times Argus did a nice article on the Ice-Out Contest - here's a link if you'd like to read it - Ice-Out

*****

I just had this message from Evelyn, too. We had a bear visit last night… took down the feeder outside Marguerite’s window with a big crash on the deck. It woke Ray and I up but neither of us thought the other was awake so we didn’t go check… (Thought it was the cat knocking something over on the porch)… but this morning we have huge bear paw prints on the side porch and across the yard… he (or she) is a big ‘un!! So guess the feeders will come in tonight…
It's a good warning to everyone - the bears are awake and hungry! It's been a long winter for them and there isn't much out there yet for them to eat, so they'll be very brazen about coming to our houses. Any garbage or food of any kind is going to attract them and they can do lots of damage. Normally the bears we have here in Vermont are not dangerous, but if they have young with them, they get a bit testy sometimes, so it's best to give them plenty of space. They are clever about opening containers and are big enough to break things to get what they want, so like Evelyn says, bring in your feeders. The birds will do fine this time of the year and it's too bad when bears are shot just because they have become a nuisance because people leave easy food around for them to get into trouble with.

DAVE PARKER ANNOUNCES THE ICE-OUT CONTEST WINNERS ARE . . .


DON ROGERS, SWARTZ CREEK, MICHIGAN

JANET EGIZI, ST. JOHNSBURY, VERMONT

ROXANNE GORHAM, LYNDONVILLE, VERMONT

JOE KELLY, BARRE, VERMONT


ALL HAD PICKED APRIL 25 AT 5:15 P.M.
NO ONE HAD PICKED THE EXACT DATE AND TIME, APRIL 25 AT 5:25.

EACH OF THE WINNERS WILL RECEIVE A CHECK FOR $1,323.


CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL WHO WON, AND THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO PLAYED THE GAME. THE ICE GOING OUT TODAY WAS A HUGE SURPRISE TO ALL OF US HERE AT THE POND. WE DON'T RECALL IT EVER GOING QUITE SO EASILY, WITH SO LITTLE WARNING, BUT THE WHOLE POND SEEMED TO SUDDENLY TURN TO SLUSH UNDER THE HOT SUN OF THE PAST FEW DAYS.

CHICO CARCOBA CONFIRMS:

4 WINNERS DECLARED WHO GUESSED TIME CLOSE ENOUGH TO CASH IN.STAY TUNED AS ICE MAN DAVE PARKER WILL NAME THE WINNERS.FUN TIME AND GLAD FOR WINNERS. CHICO


Also from Chico Carcoba -

GEORGE R ANDERSON AFTER HAVING EMERGENCY HEART BY PASS SURGERY 4 MOS. AGO HAS RECOVERED AND IS ON HIS WAY BACK TO

JOE'S POND AS OF THIS WRITING. THE LORD WAS ON HIS SIDE AND HE WILL BE BACK TO REPRESENT THE BEST BARRE HAS TO OFFER.WELCOME HIM BACK

Some photos taken this afternoon. You can see that the flag is still there but seems to be tipping crazily. The ice around it is looking pretty "rotten" and it probably wouldn't take much to send it to the bottom - a wind coming from the right direction would do it, or some rain.

The rest of the pond is either open water or the ice is pretty black indicating it's mainly slush. There isn't much wind at all - just a very gentle breeze, so things are remaining fairly quiet, for now. Tomorrow, Saturday, is supposed to be sunny again, much like today, and temps will be in the 60's during the day. Saturday night and Sunday there may be showers, so that may have a big impact ton the ice that's left.

While we were at camp we saw a very large bird circling over the pond. It was too high to get a good picture, but we could see it had a white head and, I believe, white under the tail. We had a couple of eagles visit last year, one spent some time on the ice near the flag. This bird finally left in the direction of Molly's Pond.

We found a trio of wild turkeys just below our house. I think you can make out this guy if you click on the photo to enlarge it. They are shy and blend into the thicket very well. We think it may be the same ones we've seen at the edge of our back lawn earlier this spring. It's nice to see the wild life moving about. All the critters had a difficult winter and must be happy to be able to get food.

Beautifully Sunny Day - we need to enjoy - it's going to get cooler . . .

I have a couple of things for you this morning - I received a notice from the Town of Cabot about a special select board meeting tonight regarding a Danville/Cabot project on Rt. 2. According to the town clerk, Tara Rogerson:

This is in regards to the wetland mitigation site and the construction being
done to Rt. 2   I don't know all the details, but I believe that in the
upcoming construction, some wetland in Cabot will be disturbed/destroyed,
and must be recreated in Danville.

I have contacted the Vermont Dept. of Transportation (DOT) and will let you know more later.

*****

From Tom Dente today:

Hi Jane,
Checking the long term weather it appears Vermont spring will be back with temps in the 40-60 degree range. However the teaser warm weather we've had was great to open camp last weekend. Camilla and I are packing warm clothes for our return to Joes. Tom

*****

North Shore Road has been reported this morning as being impassable. Tom got in touch with the Town of Danville and they will be looking at that right away.

We can also report that several Cabot trucks with gravel have gone by our house this morning, so we believe West Shore Road is being taken care of, too.

*****

This came from Chico Carcoba this morning regarding his Ice-Out prediction formula:

I THINK MY THEORY WAS SHOT DOWN WITH THE FABULOUS WEATHER WE HAVE HAD RECENTLY.ALL THIS SUN AND WARMTH ARE A WELCOME CHANGE.

Just goes to show you that you can't even depend on Vermont weather to be normal. That's what makes the Ice-Out Contest so much fun!

*****

From Homer Fitts this morning - (Homer has the Ice-Out clock on his deck and the flag is directly in front of his home next to the State Fishing Access.)

Hi Jane,

A lot more cars in access area today probably because the ice is gone from the first two ponds. At one time there were five there at the same time. Seem to continually come and go.

Just talked with Noah and Lou Alonso in East Lansing. We went to school together in Barre. Same class. Noah and Me.

Really great couple !

Homer

We agree - and hope the Alonso's are headed back to Joe's Pond soon.

Latest Report from Chico on Ice-Out

This came in tonight - Thanks, Chico!

12012 TICKETS ENTERED:

4/24 4PM 4084 WILL BE OUT OF RACE.

4/25 4PM 4613 WILL BE OUT OF RACE.

4/26 4PM 5129 WILL BE OUT OF RACE

4/27 4PM 5761 WILL BE OUT OF RACE

SO, OVER HALF THE ENTRIES SAID ICE WOULD GO OUT AFTER 4/27.

Cooler, windy.

After the rain last night we notice quite a difference in the ice. First I must confess I gave you bad information yesterday when I said there was open water to about opposite the Allen cottage on Old Homestead. That was an optical illusion - I'm sure some of you will understand how difficult it is to judge distances when one is about at water level. I was looking at the water from Sandy Beach Road yesterday, but when we went down W. Shore Road today, I took a picture from Gardners' parking space and it's plain to see where the open water is. I've included that photo in the slide show. Click Here

You'll see in the pictures that both smaller ponds are pretty much ice free except for some driven into coves by the wind, or in the case of Point Comfort's docking area, sheltered from the wind and slower to melt. There is a sharp cut-off at the narrows leading out of the big pond. The ice is crowded into that lower end of the pond and appears to be pretty solid. There's a lot of water going over the dam, but you can also see a tinge of green on the grass by the penstock. St. Johnsbury area is looking quite spring-like. Trees are a bit further along, also flowers, no snow in evidence except as you go into town on the right by the river where the town has dumped their snow all winter. That's going to take a while longer to melt.

The wind has been blowing down the lake at a good clip all day, so all the ice is packed into the cove where the block and Ice-Out flag are set up. While the temperature has been around 50 most of the day, the sun is bright and with the wind stirring things up, we know the ice is changing rapidly. If the wind shifts into the south, that will begin to drive the ice up the pond again and could be the final push needed to let the block and flag down. We've known the ice to hold together through several of these direction reversals in the past, so it's still anyone's guess when it will weaken enough for the block to go down.

Today Chico sent a message that as of 5 p.m. yesterday, 3,730 times picked on Ice-Out tickets had gone by. That's about a quarter of the guesses out of the running. We'll keep everyone posted as to ice conditions, but I really think Chico's prediction that it will go out on May 8 is going to be wrong this year, for the first time in 14 years! Just goes to show you, it's been a strange winter - and is a strange spring!

We expect a few Joe's Ponders back in the next few days, though. There's enough snow gone now so people can get out onto their lawns to rake and clean things up a little after the snow. This wind will dry out the roads and gradually, summer will arrive.

Here's something you may be interested in knowing about that's planned for the Joe's Pond marshes - Birdathon

A couple of the photos Tom took on the 19th were caught in my spam. Here they are:

Channel drive is starting, on 4/19/08, to be over flowed by the water in the North portion of Joes Pond. This is where Joes Brook comes into the pond. Flooding is almost an annual event in this area due primarily to the ice in the pond which will not let the water reach the dam thus increasing the level here. Without the ice water would flow virtually unimpeded to the dam.

See the black object on the far side of the opening in the Dam. That is the inflatable bladder which modulates level in the pond. Normally it is up several feet from its flat position in the photo. This is the first time I can recall that it has been fully "flat".

Thanks, Tom for all the photos and the explanation of how the rubber dam works. It's sure proven to be functioning well through this unusual spring. As far as I know there has been no flooding damage around the pond.

We had some pretty intense thunderstorms rumbling through here last night, with some fairly heavy rain, too. The ice on the pond must have taken a beating. We'll be going out a little later this morning to take pictures. I'll post them later.

From JPA president, Tom Dente -

April 19th, notice how tight the ice is to the shore even as most of the snow in the area has melted. This is on Clubhouse Circle which receives an abundance of sun since it is on the East side of the pond. The West shore tends to open up quicker due to the flow of water from Joes Brook not the sun.




Joe's Pond outlet on 4/19/08. Guess how much water is going over the dam? About 300,000 gallons per minute. Amazing!


It is amazing how much water is pouring into and out of the pond this time of the year. Tonight we've had a light rain shower with even a rumble of thunder. It seemed appropriate since the temperature has been over 70 degrees here today. It's going to get cooler tonight and for the next few days, but still above normal for April.

I had a very nice e-mail from Lori (Thorgalsen) Schrader:

Hi Jane,

I just wanted to say thanks (again) for making me feel like I'm back in VT, while still making my home here in FL with my family! Each day I log on with anticipation to see what is going on in the Danville area, and there is no better blog than your's! Although I haven't lived in VT for over 20 years, there are still memories of fall, winter, and spring (summertime memories are with me too, but the kids and I continue to make the journey north each year to create new ones). It was neat to see your sons' picture in the recent blog. I remember them all, as I am in their age group.

Recent stories of mud season and difficult driving conditions bring back visions that I'd probably rather not remember, but do...vividly! Thanks for taking me through the seasons, and for your updates on the people and businesses in the area. The pictures are great, and my kids enjoy watching the slide shows in fall and winter. My mother thinks I'm psychic when we talk on the phone. She wonders how I know so much about what is going on up there. Of course I give you credit though.

Thanks so much! (Wish I'd bought my ice-out tickets.)

Lori (Thorgalsen) Schrader

It's very nice to hear from Lori, and I'm very glad she enjoys the blog and the web site.

I have a short slide show that will let you know how well we're progressing here with our muddy roads and the melting snow and ice. The road continues to be a minor problem - passable, but certainly not good - and there are spots that threaten to become a challenge later on. I was surprised this morning when I went down Sandy Beach Road to the Richer's that there is open water stretching down the middle of the pond a good distance - I'd say about even with Brown Rd. where it connects to Old Homestead Rd. by the Allen camp. The ice is darkening and pulling away from the shoreline - it has all the signs of late spring breakup. I wouldn't dare guess how long it will be before the flag goes down and the clock stops so we have a winner of the Ice-Out Contest, though.

While at Evelyn and Ray's, they pointed out the loon just out from their shore. Evelyn said she first spotted him around 10 o'clock this morning. There is still some water on their lawn, but Ray said it has gone down some since the weekend.

The weather is again beautiful - so warm people are without jackets and if it weren't for some snowbanks from plowing or drifting, it would be hard to believe just a couple weeks ago we had snow everywhere.

Here are the pictures I took this morning.
Click here for April 23 photos

MUD NEWS - well, not really NEWS . . .

This is the same old, same old. The mud hole by Mason's on West Shore Road is better since the town worked on it, but there is another bad spot breaking out on Gardner's hill, just up from the Keenan's log cabin and Meadow Lane. So anyone heading for Meadow Lane, Sandy Beach Road or beyond on W. Shore Rd. should proceed with caution. Apparently the frost isn't out of some areas, and as usual, we get one spot fixed and then another section goes bad. The Brickett's Crossing Road is still pretty good. Walden worked on that yesterday and although it is a bit rough and there may be more spots breaking out, for now it's passable.

When Fred and I went to Cabot last evening, the road was just ok. There are a lot of holes, ridges, and places to avoid, plus some pretty slimy and muddy spots where you need to pay attention or you'll slide into deep ruts or the ditch. That may get worse, too, before the frost is all out everywhere.

Drive carefully and only when necessary is our mantra these days.

I found this comment from Matt Randall who is in the LSC show (see April 21 blog entry below) - not sure why it didn't show up when I allowed it, but since it didn't, I'm copying it here for you to see.

Matthew Randall (Hysterium) said...

It does say in the description of the musical that it is a family show. Although be warned that there are scantily clad women, and dances to match as well as cross gender roles. So if you were thinking about bringing a youngster do so with this in mind. Otherwise if you come you should be prepared to be laughing all night!

10:15 AM, April 22, 2008

Another Beautiful Day!

Warm and lovely again today, and the snow is rapidly disappearing. We were amazed when we went to Cabot Village for a meeting last evening - that side of the hill has very little snow, and in the village, there is none.

Fred and I attended a meeting about the proposed cell antenna installation on one of the silos at the Sousa farm on Cabot Plain. When we first heard about the possibility of an antenna there, we were excited that it would provide coverage in our Joe's Pond area. However, there are several pitfalls.

First and foremost, the position would not meet the setback requirements set by the town. While there may not be hazardous emissions, as has often happened in the past we really don't know the long-range effects of the waves given off by these towers, and with five residences potentially effected directly if it is positioned there, it simply isn't the most desirable location. The Sousa family does not live at the farm, and has the farm for sale, however, there would be the advantage of a sizable monthly payment to them. On the down side for them, it was pointed out that engineers have been consulted and warned that the integrity of the silo would be compromised by cutting a large opening for access, and the silo could never be used for anything else again, and it would be very difficult to make repairs as it deteriorates over time.

Many people spoke, bringing up pros and cons and possible alternatives. This installation was likened to the one at the Bothfeld farm. The major difference is that installation in on the outside of the silo, and also is completely within the boundaries of the family property and any families living in the vicinity are Bothfelds so emissions to others is not a concern.

It was pointed out there is already an antenna on the Sousa farm, however that is a low-frequency tower used mainly by Green Mountain Power and one or two other companies for only occasional communications which is very different from the higher powered cell-tower installation. Therefore, that tower does not pose the problems the new one would, but placing cell-phone equipment on that existing tower would not avoid the setback problems.

It seemed to us that there will be coverage in this area soon. The gap in the Rt. 15, Rt. 2, Joe's Pond (West Danville/Marshfield/Walden) area is a concern, but it may not be from the Sousa farm location that solves the problem. The Cabot Board of Adjustment will either rule quickly or ask for another meeting to clarify any remaining issues on this appeal. We'll keep you posted.

I really slipped up. I got this message from Liz Randall some time ago and somehow it fell through the cracks in my computer filing system and she just reminded me . . . so here it is - and I hope some of you will be able to go. Liz and John's son, Matt, was great in last year's performance of Cabaret, so we look forward to another great performance in this production. Hope to see some of you there! Matt will be playing the part of HYSTERIUM (Slave-in-chief to Senex)

Lyndon State College 2008 SPRING MUSICAL:

Twilight Players Spring Production:

"A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum".
A farcical comedy set in ancient Rome about a slave sent to woo his master’s
love in exchange for freedom. This classic musical by Stephen Sondheim will
be packed full of singing and dancing to entertain the whole family.
For more information, call 626-4846.

Performance dates and times for the musical

Thursday April 24 7pm
Friday April 25 7 pm
Saturday April 26 2 pm & 7 pm
Sunday April 27 2 pm

Another Beautiful Day at Joe's Pond

Just like everyone got tired of my writing about "another snow storm" all winter long, now you'll be tired of my expounding on "another beautiful day" in paradise!
It's not quite as bright this morning as some days - some high wispy clouds are filtering the sun - but the thermometer is still showing about 55 degrees at my house.

Jamie just sent us an e-mail saying the road crew at Cabot dumped a load of fill in the hole by Mason's - things are looking up!!

I just heard one of the road crews in the area, Walden, I think, commenting that a new culvert they had put in wasn't handling the flow of water. Somehow our Caledonian Record wasn't delivered on Saturday, so I checked on-line and found this picture that won their mud picture contest. It is titled, "Anyone Seen Dad?" and is by Sandi Redfield.

I also want you to see the photo of John Randall (637 W. Shore Rd., Joe's Pond) turning over the sod in a field at their home in Miller Place, L.I. Liz wrote: John Plowing the field with his 1950 Farmall Cub and 1 bottom plow.

Also, this morning the daffodils I picked Saturday hoping to force open to use on my table at yesterday's brunch, were in full bloom this morning. A day late, but still much appreciated.

And to make our day complete, the Cabot grader just went by, so things are perking up here, for sure. No word from Tom Dente on the water level at the pond, so I guess we can assume it hasn't changed much overnight.

Spring is still here!

We enjoyed another very nice day today although it wasn't quite as warm as it has been the last couple of days. This may have slowed down the melting process a bit, which is a good thing. However, the snow around our house disappeared at a very rapid rate, even today.

Water is high in the pond. Here's what Tom Dente wrote at about 4:45 p.m. today:

The water level has decreased by 1/2 inch in the past 2 hours. Perhaps we have reached a crest, if so I'll confirm in the morning.  Tom

*****

Our family gathered at our house today for brunch - a send-off for our friend, Monica, who is leaving to visit her family in Namibia during a break from her studies here. She has not seen her family for about two years, so she is extremely excited about her trip. At the table, left to right are Theresa, Bob, Marie, Jamie, Bill and Monika.

While we wait for the ice to go out of the pond, Evelyn Richer and I are hard at work on the Joe's Pond Association newsletter. E-mails are flying back and forth between us, and things are shaping up so we'll be ready as soon as we have an Ice-Out Contest winner.

I wish I could report the road is better, but I doubt the mud hole in front of Ken and Nancy Mason's has improved much at all. On Saturday, Fred caught this biker (looks like Jay Chatot to me!) going by on his mountain bike - a good choice for traveling the roads here this time of year.

With more good weather forecast for this week, the roads should begin to get better and the ice and remaining snow will be finally gone. We'll have sparkling blue water again and folks will begin to gravitate back to the pond. Evelyn said they are watching for the loon to come back, too, now there's open water at Loon Cove.

I picked my first daffodils on Saturday, but it was a bit too soon and they didn't open in time for the brunch today as I'd hoped. I had cut some pussywillows from the tree out in back of our house and the daffodil buds were a promise that there's more to come once the snow is off the flower beds.

AN UPDATE ON THE UPDATE

This may be a record - three posts to the blog in one day. I decided to add to the last one because I'm posting another update on the water level here at the pond. I had an e-mail from Tom Dente sent at around 7 p.m. - here it is:

Hi Jane,
Camilla and I came up Friday and opened camp. What beautiful weather... what a lot of snow and ice.
I checked on the water level and found that in the channel area the water is backing up because of the ice covering on the lake. This will cause some flooding in the immediate area. Where the ice has pulled away from the shore the level is about 3-5 inches above normal. The bladder at the dam is deflated letting out significant water and should keep level on the shore lines to less than 2-3 inches increase. That's the best estimate at this time. Joes Brook looks like it has calmed down a bit which should help the shoreline in the channel area.
Great to be here
Tom

WATER LEVEL UPDATE (Noon on Saturday)

Hi, again, Joe's Pond people. Evelyn Richer just sent me an update I thought you'd like to see.

The water is very high... it is overflowing our shoreline and that hasn't
happened since the dam was adjusted... and like you say ... there's still
lots of ice and melting going on upstream from us... We're fine being so far
back and high up... but the "Point" at the first narrows, may find
themselves in a puddle... it will be interesting... the flat lands on the
Conn River are in for a bit of water I'm afraid... I remember as a child
going down to the meadows (in Woodsville) to see the flooded out barns in
the spring... all along through Newbury and Bradford was almost always
underwater... this will be a year like those or worse I'm sure...

Gotta run again...  Evelyn  

We just had a short visit from Jackie LaGue. He'd been to his camp and to his mom's to see how everything is - all is fine, but the snow is still deep, especially where his camp is on Meadow Lane. Jackie had read the blog so he came in from Brickett's Crossing instead of the usual Rt. 2 and W. Shore Rd. route. That stretch to 215 is still good today, he said.

Just so you get an idea of today here - it's 72 degrees in the shade. Absolutely beautiful. I wish we had enough bare ground to get out and rake . . . it's that nice. Perhaps after lunch I'll go pick away at some of the snowbanks so they'll melt faster.

Another Happy Spring Morning at Joe's Pond!

Beautiful outside, even early this morning. I took a picture of the channel as we see it from our deck to show you that it's well over the banks up there, and the sun was sooooo warm - some summer days don't start off this warm, believe me! I could hear the ducks and geese in the channel area. Here's what Evelyn wrote this morning . . .

We are nearly clear here in the cove... just a long strip of ice near our
shoreline and several large areas in the marsh... but the rest is clear and
looking like 'duck soup'... no signs of the loon yet... but any day... by
Monday we should be open enough to get the canoe in... !!  YEAH!!!!!

Well, gotta have my coffee... Happy Mornin' to ya!!  Evelyn

Kevin Johnson sent me this link a few days ago. It will explain more about the pike so if you catch one you will know what it is and report it to Len Gerardi or Kevin.

Pike

Fred and I walked yesterday morning, but I was so busy yesterday I never got a chance to put the pictures we took together for the blog. I've done that this morning and here they are, with a few we took this morning. Not much has changed - the pond shows few signs of the ice melting, but I suspect it will go very quickly, and all at once. Even though the usual pulling away from the shore hasn't really happened overall, as you'll see in the pictures, this string of unusually warm days and nights that are barely freezing or above, will take a toll. There is still a lot of snow on some of the hills, and as that melts more water will pour into the pond, helping to rot the ice. On Mt. Mansfield, there was a trace of snow reported yesterday; the depth at the stake is 89" inches. It looked as if "Woody" was going to come with us, but I guess he had more important things to attend to in the woods by our house. This slide show is a combination of yesterday and today - we thought you'd like to see our back yard visitors this morning.
April 18,19 Joe's Pond

I had a message from Diane & Bill Rossi in New Zealand -
We are having a wonderful time. All our hosts are great. We have ended their drought.....lots of rain!

We're glad they are having a great time, even in the rain. I checked the temperatures/weather where they are and it seems they are having temps in the range of 60-70 degrees during the daytime, and sure enough- more rain in the forecast.

Message from Chico Carcoba -

Chico has a cottage on a lake in Woodbury and sent pictures he took today. It was beautiful there, a little less snow than we have here at Joe's, and a lot more water showing. He says the pond at North Montpelier went out on the 15th - Tuesday. Here's his prediction: NORTH MONTPELIER GOES OUT AND 10 DAYS LATER WOODBURY GOES OUT AND 13 MORE DAYS JOE'S GOES. MY PREDICTION IS THE SAME FOR LAST 14 YEARS I HAVE BEEN TALLYING THE JOE'S POND ICE OUT.

If Chico is right, Woodbury will be out a week from tomorrow, the 25th, and Joe's will go out on May 8th. This should be very interesting. Remember the dates - I'll keep track with you. The latest the ice has gone out in the 20 years we've had the contest is May 6. This has been an unusual year, so anything could happen.

These pictures are from Chico of his camp in Woodbury. Thanks, Chico - looks like you'll be swimming in no time!

I should mention that Woodbury Pond elevation is 1,188 ft, while Joe's Pond is 1,551 ft. This can make a big difference in weather and temperature. Also, I believe Joe's Pond is larger overall, and probably deeper than Woodbury Pond - although I don't know that for sure and haven't researched it. I'm sure someone will set me straight on this.

It doesn't really matter - we'll just wait to see if Chico 's prediction comes true. I think the next few days of unusually warm weather could skew his predictions a bit. Most years we don't get such a long stretch of very warm weather as we're expecting for the rest of this week - and then rain, without turning very cold. However, anything can happen - we could even get another snow storm after this warm spell . . . don't put your shovels away just yet!

My daffodils are doing nicely, though - I'm going to pick a few Saturday and hope they open up and are pretty for a family brunch on Sunday.

Thanks to John Curran at Associated Press in Montpelier, Vermont, we made news at Joe's Pond again. Here's a link to the article about all our snow, broken records, etc. Thanks, John!

AP Article

*****

We thought you might like to see that spring is finally here. This will also give those of you with Ice-Out tickets an idea about how much melting has been going on in the last few days (a lot!) and how much more there is to go. We think things will move fast at least for about a week. We're expecting temps in the high 60's and 70's until Sunday, and then a couple days of rain. There is quite a bit of green showing on lawns even in Danville where there's bare ground. Not so much around West Danville and Joe's Pond, though. The brooks are full coming into the pond, and that makes the only outlet, Joe's Brook, a raging force. We went down to the power plant but there was too much snow to be able to safely get a good picture of the water near the plant. Downstream the water is swift and deep - and probably very cold, and Fred wasn't up for a dip this morning. We then went up Rt. 15 to avoid the mud on W. Shore Rd., and took pictures across from Walden Country Store of the Joe's Brook Falls. Lots of water coming into the pond, and that, of course, isn't the only source. The brooks coming into the pond from the hillside along W. Shore Road are running high, as well. We showed you some pictures of one of the brooks from Cabot Plain. There are at least two others from the Plain that feed into Joe's Pond that I can think of. I hope you enjoy the slide show.

Spring at Joe's Pond

This will give you an idea of how much snow has gone and how much is still left to melt and run into Joe's Pond. The top photos are the big field where the horses are. This area faces north, towards Rt. 15. Across the valley, on the Rt. 15 side of the pond, you can see there is a lot of bare ground.

Fred went below the culvert to take the picture of one of the brooks that flows from Cabot Plain, and then took a shot of the upper side of the road where the brook cuts through the snowbanks so you can see there's still lots of snow in the woods and on the north facing slopes.

The sun was warm today - even the breeze felt warm. Last night the temperature was below freezing, but I'm not sure it will get that cold tonight. We're hoping it does so the mud will be frozen enough so we can get out tomorrow to do some grocery shopping. We're afraid if we wait until the weekend the roads could be worse. We've been told Brickett's Crossing Road going to Walden Heights is still pretty good, but the best way for people on this side of the pond to get out is to go over the Plain to Rt. 215 and to Cabot or Walden Heights. That's a big surprise. Usually the road from the Plain into Cabot is worse than others. We'll see how it goes. You can bet we'll take our mud boots in the car with us tomorrow, just in case we have to leave the car somewhere and walk through the mud. That hasn't happened for a number of years, but there have been mud seasons in the past that really held us captive for a week or so.

Message from Chico Carcoba, our logger-man. Chico puts all the Ice-Out ticket information into the computer so we can find the winner when the clock stops:

I HAVE JUST FINISHED ENTERING ALL THE 2008 TICKETS. WHAT JOB.! THIS WILL BE BANNER YEAR IN TICKET SALES.FINAL TOTAL SOLD HAS BEEN CONVEYED TO MR. DAVE PARKER.I WILL LET THE NUMBERS BE TOLD BY ICE MAN DAVE. WHAT A JOB HE DID.!!!!
LET THE ICE GO SOON ,SO I CAN OPEN UP MY CAMP ON NOT SO FAMOUS WOODBURY POND. AS ALWAYS,NORTH MONTPELIER GOES OUT AND 10 DAYS LATER WOODBURY GOES OUT AND 13 MORE DAYS JOE'S GOES. MY PREDICTION IS THE SAME FOR LAST 14 YEARS I HAVE BEEN TALLYING THE JOE'S POND ICE OUT.CHICO

There you have it - the formula for figuring out when the ice will go out. We just need to wait for North Montpelier's ice to go and begin the countdown.

Dave reported just over 12,000 tickets were sold this year. This kept Chico pretty busy - I guess he knows now his April Fool's Day prank on me backfired! I have POWERS, Chico!! Actually, I think our contest this year benefitted from all the straange weather we had. People everywhere were tired of winter and our Ice-Out game was a fun way to ease the tension. As Dave said last night, "now all we have to do is wait." We're going to have very warm weather for the next three days, and then on Sunday perhaps some rain, so things should be melting big time by the end of this week.

A Truly Beautiful Spring Day!

We have one of those blue-sky-not-a-cloud-on-the-horizon kind of days this morning. The temperature on the cold side of our house is at 40 degrees. I think it froze last night, but didn't get as cold as it has for the past few nights. As I work at my computer, I'm hearing on the scanner some of the road crews in the area saying how good the roads are. I'm sure they're joshing. We took pictures on our walk yesterday, and watched with interest as several cars churned through the mud in front of Mason's. Cabot came with their rake and filled in the ruts with more mud - not a great fix, we think. We're hoping they bring crushed rock today. Here are the pictures of the road . . . and one of the pond to show you how much melting hasn't taken place. Then, we can never resist the afternoon sun on the White Mountains, taken from the top of Sandy Beach Rd.

Good Morning - and what a morning it is!

Just beautiful here, blue sky and 36 degrees on the cold side of the house, and about 10 degrees warmer out of the sun on the sunny side. We're expecting a string of nice days until about Sunday.

Kevin Johnson just gave me an ice update - he and his kids, Conner and Kyle, went ice fishing yesterday and he said they measured the ice at 24" and 26" - depending on where they bored the holes. They caught a bundle of perch - he said they've been biting really well for the past week. That explains those fishermen we've seen daily near the big island. He says he uses an electric fillet knife so they end up boneless and they eat them fresh right away or freeze them in a freezer bag with water so they don't get freezer burn. Good tip, Kevin. Thanks.

Based on this late ice report from Kevin, we've lost around a foot of ice in a little over a week. This week of warm weather will take it down a few more inches, for sure. We aren't so sure what it will mean for our muddy roads, though.

Kevin also reported that a few years back he caught a 27" northern pike when ice fishing at the northeast end of Joe's Pond. Here's what he said:

I called Len Gerardi who is the Vt. fish & wildlife biologist to find out if the state was aware that Joe's had a northern pike population, he said no and wanted me to keep the fish so they could confirm that it was indeed a pike. He called me back a few weeks later and told me that I was correct - it was a pike. How it got here is anyone's guess but as a trout fisherman, it's not good news to me. They look just like a chain pickerel but grow much larger. They are a very aggressive warm water fish that can grow up to 20 lbs. and consume many smaller fish (up to 16" in length) including trout. I spoke with Len again to see if the state would consider stalking bigger rainbow and browns because of the presence of northern pike (I thought the pike may gorge themselves on many of the 8 to 10 inch trout that the state stocks each spring) but he didn't feel it was necessary. He said he didn't feel they would have much of an impact because they typically hang out in shallow water near weed beds. I have heard of other pike being caught in Joe's, so Len would like to know about any other pike that are caught so they can document them and determine how big the pike population actually is. Maybe I can get some information from the state that shows the differences between pike and pickerel so that it could be passed out at one of the meetings.

We hope everyone will be on the lookout for these and report to Kevin at his office, 748-3541, his home, 563-3187, or to Len Gerardi at Vt. Fish & Wildlife in St. Johnsbury, 751-0100.

See below for description of the northern pike.
Northern Pike

Here's a photo of a Chain Pickerel for comparison.

Chain Pickerel

Road Warning!
I took this picture yesterday about supper time. I could actually see some rainbow colors through the snow shower passing over the pond, but it didn't come out that way in the picture - you can imagine it, though, and it was very pretty, even serene, after our snowy day.

So yesterday I was telling everyone that West Shore Road was still pretty good and perhaps mud season wouldn't be too bad - that has all changed!! West Shore Rd. has several bad mud holes from our house to Rt. 2. A neighbor called me yesterday to find out if we'd been over it, but all I could tell her was that it was good when we walked on Saturday. Since we'd had cool weather and only snow, I thought it would still be ok. I don't know what changed it - Mother Nature, I suppose - maybe it was Sunday traffic, but it all went "to hell in a handbasket" seemingly overnight.

We had to go down to camp on an errand this morning and were we surprised! We met one of our neighbors as we were "riding the ridges" through the mud on our way home, and suspected she might have problems. We turned around and found her car sort of across the road in front of Mason's, front wheels in one set of ruts, rear wheels in a different set, but not totally mired. Fred drove her car the rest of the way to Rt. 2. We got home ok, but had be very careful. Unfortunately, traffic is using the top of Ken and Nancy Mason's driveway to get around that really bad spot. It happens every year there. Springs under the road in that area, I guess, combined with deep frost. Not a pretty sight.

I've called both Cabot and Danville road crews, but we know all the roads in both towns are the same and they have their work cut out for them this time of the year. Fred checked the road beyond us, going towards Walden Heights, and that is still very good, so our neighbor who got stuck will be able to go home that way. Last report I had was that the road over the Plain to Cabot is very bad.

That's about it for the road report. UPS got through from Rt. 2 and said Danville is fixing their end . . . no sign of Cabot crew yet, but I'm sure they'll be here before the end of the day.