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