After the rain let up a bit this morning, Fred and I went down to our camp on West Shore Road to check the water level, tie down anything that might float away, and survey the area. The water in the pond was high, but not much higher than it has been most of the summer, given that with a day here and there when we had no rain and with the rubber dam open as much as possible, things have been relatively stable. We were there at around 11 o'clock, and I imagine by now the level of the pond has come up considerably. We took pictures, and they will give you an idea of how the water was pouring into the pond - and we looked at only two sources - the brook between our cottage and Ned Hamilton's, and the runoff between Jane Ward's and us coming from the culvert and the ditch on the hill going up to Rt. 2.

We were surprised that all the water in the ditch came from the hill under the electric power line. We haven't been out in that woods for several years, but never realized how much water came from there. The woods was always marsh land, and right now it must be just a spongy mass of muck.

You can see how high the brook that drains the swamp in back of Hamilton's is and that it was over its banks in several places behind their garage and next to their barn. The tennis court area was kind of under water, too.

Further up the road, the brooks seemed not to be raging quite the same - perhaps because there is less development and the water can spread out before being channeled through culverts. We are expecting more rain - in fact, there's a warning for severe thunderstorms, possible hail and wind this evening. Super weather. Here's the slide show: Pictures

Homer came to pick up Ice-Out tickets today - it was good to see him. We saw him for a few minutes at the fair Saturday night, but not to talk to. Homer does a great job selling Ice-Out tickets for us, and we can always depend on him to host the media when they come looking for a story each spring. If anyone needs tickets, Homer has plenty for now, and so do I. The stores in W. Danville have them, too. Diane and I haven't delivered to the usual outlets yet - once snow flies we'll begin to think more seriously about Ice-Out; but there are quite a few early birds who want their tickets now. Like Homer says, it's remarkable how much the contest has grown over the years.