We have another beautiful DRY day today. We are seeing lots of trees budding and the wild cherry blossoms are almost out (which usually means so are the black flies!), but we were struck by the contrast between here at Joes' Pond and in the valley at St. Johnsbury. We took pictures - it was beautiful driving in this morning. This is a hillside right in the St. J. area. When we got home, I took the one below from our deck to show you the marked difference in just a few miles and about 1000 feet in elevation makes. St. Johnsbury is at about 588 ft., Joe's Pond is 1,551 ft.

No wonder our growing season is so different!

Yesterday afternoon, Don Walker called and asked if we knew what the blue "box" thing was hanging in a tree at the end of his driveway at camp. We didn't, but intrigued, we took a break and went down to see if we could get any clues.









Fred was able to get a good closeup picture so we could read the writing on the tag. If you click on the image to enlarge it, you'll see it's a survey of the Emerald Ash Borer. The contraption was, indeed, hanging on a small ash, and while I didn't find out much on the website when I went there, I'll include it here for anyone interested to go to: Government Survey Don and Audrey will be moving up soon, so he will no doubt have some contact with whoever is monitoring the trap and will find out more information. I suspect we don't have the Emerald Ash Borer here, but it is certainly something we don't want, so it's good to keep track.

The workers were busy in Danville this morning, surveyors were working opposite Marty's 1st Stop, signs were out warning of work going on, trucks and other equipment were in evidence. The real work will begin next week, but it isn't expected traffic will be impacted too much right away.

St. Johnsbury is being torn up, too. They are experiencing a huge redo of their antiquated water system. Some of it has been in place for wall over 100 years, and breaks in the system have been frequent. Now there are several locations around town that will be getting updated and that means lots of water shut-offs and traffic delays. There was a line going up Western Avenue this morning, but that was the only place we saw activity, and we were only delayed a couple of minutes.

I was communicating with Shelly Walker this morning, Don and Audrey's oldest daughter, and my mind wandered to when Shell and I co-chaired the boat parade a few years ago. Back then a really fun part of the parade was Ralph Hastings manning the water pump aboard a pontoon boat. Ralph delighted in spraying the on-lookers lined up on docks and lawns to watch the procession.

The pump had been purchased by the Association - perhaps after someone's boathouse burned on the eastern side of the pond, I don't remember details, but I remember it happened. I don't think it was ever needed after that, but this morning I asked Garey Larrabee about the old pump. According to the minutes of the meeting when it was voted to buy the equipment, it would be kept at "Hasting's barn." Of course, the barn is now the Joe's Pond Craft Shop, and all the stuff it used to contain, rummage sale articles such as books, clothing, trinkets, furniture (we all used to "recycle" during the summer, getting rid of stuff we didn't need and picking up stuff we did need for a few cents, in most cases), had long since been disposed of.

Garey told me that Ralph, his father-in-law, had finally sent the pump to the Danville Fire Department to store since they borrowed it frequently. That makes perfect sense, of course, and put some closure on the whole thing for me since every now and then I'd remember Ralph and the pump on a party barge and wonder about it. It's nice to know the old pump is being put to good use from time to time, perhaps saving someone's property.