Monday, April 29, 2013

Another really nice day.  Not as much sun as we had Sunday, but nevertheless, a very nice spring day.  

We worked outside on Sunday, but today was mostly spent doing other things.  No matter what direction you go from Joe's Pond, it seems spring is further along than it is here - it gives new meaning to "the grass is greener."  The grass IS greener, there are more daffodils blooming, fields are drying out, folks have cast off their heavy coats and boots, and gardens are looking perkier than here even just a few miles in any direction.  Even so, things are looking pretty good here, too.  The pond is sparkling blue, there are more birds singing and animals frolicking than anywhere else I've seen recently, regardless of the green grass and flowers.  Just this morning a big brown and white rabbit zig-zagged across our back lawn like a torpedo gone a-wry.  As near as I could tell there wasn't anything chasing him, but he sure was in a big hurry.  

Last week I think I mentioned that Emmett Fitzgerald, a producer for Living On Earth, PublicRadio International, out of Boston had interviewed some of us here at the pond about the Joe's Pond Ice-Out Contest.  He was here just before the clock stopped, and later I sent him the information about Gary Clark in Barre winning this year's contest, so he talked with Gary, too.  Emmett hails from Montpelier and said he's known about the contest for a long time, but had never known anything about how it is actually set up or how it works, so when he was visiting his family a week ago, he stopped by.  He was too late to buy a ticket, however.

We took a big chance and got our car washed today.  The mud season seems to be pretty well over with and wasn't a really big deal this year anyway, and even if it rains as predicted, it's good to have at least some of the mud off.  I went to Cabot to check some files at the town offices, and then we went to Montpelier to pick up the Joe's Pond Association newsletter from Leahy Press.  It will be in the mail to all our members tomorrow, and Fred will also have it posted to the web site.  I'm not sure when he'll have it ready, but should be soon.  He has some other stuff in the pipeline and I have to wait my turn, just like anyone else.  We're trying to get the Ice-Out pages updated - it's easy to miss something, but we keep trying and appreciate when someone lets us know if we missed something.  Watch for the new newsletter - you'll find it under Joe's Pond Assn. on home
page.

We took this picture today on Cabot Plains Road, just a little west of the school house.  This was only a small part of the herd - the rest were far off in the meadow below.  This is looking north towards Jay Peak and Newport area.

Friday, April 26, 2013

We've had a pretty spring-like day today, and things are looking good!  The ice was all but gone when we came home from St. J. around noon.  All we could see of it was some white slush on the Route 2 side of the narrows in the big pond.  Unless there was some in the cove near the pavilion, I'd have to say the ice is gone for this year.  We took these pictures as we were coming home around noon today.  Click on them to enlarge.

Over the course of the Ice-Out Contest this year, we've had people wondering if the clock stopped sooner at the new location than it would have at the old one.  That's impossible to say, of course, unless we'd had identical setups this year.  However, my answer is that historically, the ice has always been "all gone" from the pond in two to four days after the clock stops.  It is normal to have some ice left after the clock stops, and I'd have to say this year was pretty typical of other years.

Work is continuing in Danville.  I'm amazed at how much is dug up again.  This year we knew the work would be mostly on the Green, and that is where they seemed to be concentrating today when we went by.  The pavement is all taken up through town.  One think I noticed was that the "hill" in front of town hall has been leveled.  It appears the road will be back to being a gradual grade through town rather than having that bump up and gully from this winter.  There was no holdup at all going in either direction, but as I mentioned, the major work seemed to be on the green.
 
Here is the work schedule:
Work Update
Danville Route 2 Project
Project:  Danville FEGC 028-3(32)

WEEK OF 4/29/13
Work this week will be focused on box cutting Route 2 and Hill Street.  The schedule below is the work plan for next week and can change at a moment’s notice.   A new update will be posted as to any changes in the schedule and/or traffic patterns.

Monday – Route 2 -Crews will be box cutting Route 2 in front of Diamond Hill Store.  Two-way traffic will be maintained while crews work in this area. 
Tuesday – Hill Street - Box cutting will continue from the intersection with Route 2 back 100 feet.  Travel on Hill Street will be one-way only.  Motorists will be able to turn onto Hill Street from Route 2.  Motorists traveling from Hill Street to Route 2 will be re-directed to Mountainview Drive.  Two-way travel will be maintained on Route 2.
Wednesday – Route 2 - Box cutting operations will move back out onto Route 2 across from Diamond Hill Store (south side of Route 2) and work their way West.   Two-way traffic will be maintained while crews work in this area.
Thursday/Friday – Route 2 – Work will continue on Route 2 in the area of the Town Offices.  Two-way traffic will be maintained with intermittent alternating one-way traffic as crews tie in the box cut to the new roadway that was completed last fall. 
Motorists can expect delays when traveling in and around the project.  While crews will maintain two-way traffic as much as possible, there will be times later in the week that one-way will be necessary. 


Contact Francine Perkins, Public Relations Officer, FRP Enterprises, LLC with any questions or concerns with regard to this project at 802-479-6994 or for a more up to date schedule visit www.roadworkupdates.com.
 
This post was taken from the Cabot Front Porch Forum.  It caught my attention mainly because of the name of one of the performers, Al Boright.  As I read on, I was please to find that he is the son of Charles Boright, who was principal at Cabot High School when I went there, I think during my freshman and perhaps sophomore years.  I looked Al Boright up on Google, and found lots of information.  The show sounds like it will be a great one.
 
At CSPAC 7PM... On May 18th, at 7PM, we have the good fortune of a concert, all proceeds going to the Cabot Mentoring Program, with Al Boright, of Groundhog Opry fame. Al generously performing with friends John Sargent on keyboard and SaraLee Terrat on guitar. If anyone remembers the Groundhog Opry, performed for many years in the past during mud season, you will recall the humor and wacky talent of Al Boright. Al's Dad was Principal of Cabot school when Al was born so he has deep roots in town and is happy to support our mentoring program by providing an evening of fun and music.
Tickets are $12 at the door, $10 in advance by reservation (call 563-3338) and $6 for students and seniors. Also a family rate of $20.
Come out for some old fashioned entertainment and support a great cause! There will be a raffle and door prize, and delicious refreshments!

Thursday, April 25, 2013

I've had a comment from "Jennifer" asking how come she saw people moving around at the site of the Ice-Out hook-up just about the time the clock stopped, and wondered if it was coincidence.  Well, in answer to that, yes and no.  Not coincidence really because Fred and I had gone down to check to make sure everything was intact, which we had been doing regularly since the pallet and flag had gone down.  Then Ray Richer, who had done the set-up for us in past years, saw our car and stopped by as well.  We asked Ray to check out the connection, etc., too, and then were all three back and forth observing and discussing why this was different than other years, and as we were standing next to the railing where the connection is, the rope tightened and broke the connection, stopping the clock.  

We then called upon Ray to be our third set of eyes to verify the exact time the clock was showing - we secured the line that was lying limp in the water with the floats attached and left the scene.  So checking the equipment was routine, being there when the connection was broken strictly coincidence, although it has happened in the past because whoever is in charge is generally keeping very close watch on everything when it's obvious the end is in sight very soon.

We are not surprised someone was watching - and Jennifer, thank you for asking the question.  I had not thought to describe fully how it happened we were all there.  Now, when you view camera 1, you can see the flag next to the seawall.  Later in the day, Ray was able to retrieve the pallet and secure it on shore for us.  Some of you may have observed him doing that, as well.  On camera 2 you can see that there is open water over much of the surface of the pond.  Historically, within from two to four days of the end of the contest, the entire pond is free of ice. 


I received this poster from Diane Langmaid.  Like she said - it looks like it will be a great time, and is for a good cause.  Take a look by clicking on the picture to make it larger.  Mark the date on your calendar - June 8th is in the somewhat distant future, and although I'll try to remember to post it again closer to the event, it may slip my mind, so better save the date now.  Thanks to Diane for sending it to us.

I rec'd this nice note from Homer and Margaret Fitts yesterday.  I was busy with other stuff and didn't get to post it, but because Homer was such a big part of this contest for many years, it's not surprising he know and appreciates all the work and effort that goes into the contest each year, not only by those of us on the committee, but all the other people who are part of our support group.  So thank you very much, Homer and Margaret, for this:
 

HI FRED,JANE,BILL AND DIANE,
 
A VERY SINCERE THANK YOU TO YOU AND WHOEVER  ELSE HELPED YOU WITH THE SUCCESSFUL 2013 ICE-OUT.       SURE HOPE OTHERS APPRECIATE ALL THE WORK AND WORRY THAT GOES WITH IT.
                                                THANKS AGAIN,
                                                                HOMER AND MARGARET
Our glimpse of spring-like weather was brief, and we are back to a gloomy 40-degree day with no sunshine to warm the earth and chase the frost out of winter-weary Vermonter's bones.  Yesterday was beautiful, and we could fairly see the ice on the pond receding.  Fred and I spent the day dashing back and forth to the Rossi's, first to monitor and record the finish when the clock stopped, and then, after finding the name of the winner among the 11,699 tickets and alerting the media and our outlets of the outcome, we enjoyed a few hours of quiet time before the phone calls asking for detailed information began. 

We were not disappointed.  At lunch we got a call from Lyndon State College Channel 7 News team they would like to get video footage and an interview, so back to Rossi's we went.  The interview was short and we were home in no time, answering phone calls and e-mails.  I think the last call came in from  Dave Delcore for an article in the Barre Times Argus.

Also, there was a mention on WCAX.



So our 26th Joe's Pond Ice-Out Contest has been successfully concluded except for awarding the check, which we will do in mid-May.  

Changing the subject, this just came from Evelyn Richer: 

I just wanted to drop a line to let you know...(If you don't already)
that Steve (at the Danville Inn) is now open on Thursday nights with a
brand new menu and live entertainment.  In fact, Ray and his two buddy's
Rick Monroe and Bob Carpenter will be playing there again tonight between
6pm-8pm... (Steve is open from 4-8 serving dinner)  He also has put in a
nice (long) bar... a great addition, to add to the night club/dining
atmosphere... I went the first night that Ray played and the place was
'rockin' standing room only... but not too loud to enjoy your meal...
They play music from the 70's (Eagles, Beatles, Neil Young, Moody Blues,
America, Gordon Lightfoot and much more!!)

Something fun and different to do on a Thursday night!!
 

We're delighted to hear about this.  We'd noticed Steve's sign that he would be open Thursday evenings, but hadn't known about the live music.  We very much enjoy going to Steve's Danville Inn.  We've had great experiences there for breakfast, lunch or dinner, and always enjoy seeing Steve.  We'll try to go on a Thursday night very soon.  First, we both need to shake colds.

While I was being interviewed by the LSC guys yesterday, Fred was taking pictures.  We had
heard machinery operating on the Old Homestead Road side of the pond, and he got this picture.  Some of you will recognize it as the space between the Sherwood and Nicholson properties, where the Maguire cottage used to be.  Mark and Robin Nicholson recently purchased the property and took down the dilapidated cottage.  Once the wall is complete and landscaping done, it will be beautiful.

I'm keeping track of my daffodils.  They are well up and budded, but it's been unusually slow going for them this year.  Cold nights and days like this aren't promoting new growth in anything, much less flowering; although, I've noticed the buds on trees, especially our lilacs, have grown fatter, so I guess things are moving ahead in spite of the weather.  Just to cheer things up, I'm going to put a header of last year's daffodils on the blog . . . and think spring!

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

We have an Ice-Out Contest winner.  The clock stopped this morning, April 24th, at 8:46.  Our winner is Gary Clark, who lives in Barre, Vermont.  Gary guessed April 24th at 8:44 a.m.   We have talked with Gary and also his wife, Sherri, and they are excited to be winners of just under $5,000.

The ice is not totally gone from the big pond, but it isn't going to last very long.  Today's temperatures came up rapidly after a fairly mild night, and finally released the rope enough to break the connection to the clock.  The pallet and flag had already gone out of sight, but the rope was being held firmly in the ice.

Our congratulations to Gary Clark.  We will have a presentation ceremony later at which time he will receive his check.

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

We've expected the clock to stop all day, but it is still running.  The pallet went through the ice sometime this morning, but hasn't dropped enough to break the connection and stop the clock.  We checked everything out and found the rope that controls when the clock stops was still imbedded in ice.  We aren't surprised because at one point in mid-March we had a very warm spell and the rope was clearly frozen in several inches of ice after the weather turned cold again.  Ray Richer was with us this morning and mentioned that the rope is woven and that would make it less likely to slip through the ice easily, even when melting starts.

We expected it to get warmer than it did during the day, but some clouds came in mid-morning so there was little bright sunshine and temperatures got barely 40 degrees with a cold SE wind.  This prevented significant melting and left us with this unusual situation - no visible pallet and flag, but a clock that is bravely marching on.  The rule is that the contest isn't over until the clock stops, so we are still in contest mode.  We think a couple of things might happen.  Either the rope will be released finally letting the pallet drop enough to disconnect the clock, or more of the ice on the pond will open up so there could be enough movement up or down the pond so it will disconnect the clock.  We'll check regularly and post information as soon as we have any change.

I don't think it will freeze up much again tonight like it has the past few nights - I'm seeing 32 degrees on my thermometer.  Tomorrow, Wednesday, is forecast to be warmer with rain in the afternoon.  That will have to have some impact on the ice.  Again, we'll keep you posted.

* * * * *

Danville Route 2 Project
Project:  Danville FEGC 028-3(32)

Mid-Week Update
Issued:  4/23/13
BOX CUT ROUTE 2 – The box cut on Route 2 will start a day earlier than expected.  Travel will be reduced to alternating one-way traffic on Route 2 while crews start the box cut at Melody Hill Farm.  They are anticipating one-way traffic in this area Wednesday, April 24th and Thursday, April 25th.   Traffic control personnel will be present to maintain traffic flow.
SMITH STREET ACCESS TO ROUTE 2 – While crews are working on the box cut at Melody Hill Farm, Smith Street access at Route 2 will be closed. 
Contact Francine Perkins, Public Relations Officer, FRP Enterprises, LLC with any questions or concerns with regard to this project at 802-479-6994 or for a more up to date schedule visit www.roadworkupdates.com.

* * * * *
In case some of you noticed the information posted here earlier today regarding bill H.526 in Vermont Legislature, I had a call from Representative Kitty Toll late this afternoon, explaining she had found out the information was incorrect and had asked the author, Karen Horn, for a retraction.  I received the following from JPA President, Tom Dente this evening:

Jane,
This is what Kitty sent me. Camilla and I were at a Dinner honoring Volunteers but I'm now caught up on all E-Mails about this issue. "All's well that ends well."
Tom

Begin forwarded message:

From: Catherine Toll <kittytoll@live.com>
Date: April 23, 2013 Apr2313 4:29:48PM ,
To: Thomas and Camilla Dente <tcdente@earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: Shoreland Zoning Bill, H.526

Tom, I just had the opportunity to speak with Karen Horn from the Vermont League of Cities and Town. Her information is NOT correct. I have asked her to send out a retraction. There will be no action taken this year; there will public hearings throughout the state in the summer to gain input as I mentioned before.

Thank you Tom for bringing this to my attention. I am glad I could clear this up quickly.
See you soon on the pond!

Kitty
Sent from my iPad

This is the message from Ms. Horn, retracting her former release:
  
From: Karen Horn [mailto:khorn@vlct.org] 
Sent: Tuesday, April 23, 2013 5:00 PM
To: Karen Horn; Jonathan Williams; Steven Jeffrey
Cc: David Gunn
Subject: Shoreland zoning legislation update
Good afternoon,
This afternoon, I have been assured by Senator Hartwell, chair of the Senate Natural Resources Committee, that they are not going to pass H. 526 this year.  The committee intends to take the discussion on the road over the course of the summer to hear from people what legislation should include.
Thank you for your calls to the State House.
Karen B. Horn
Director, Public Policy & Advocacy,VLCT
802-229-9111

There has been no real significant change since last night in the situation at the site of the pallet.  It is still hanging precariously, held only by the rope that is apparently still fairly well frozen into the ice.

These pictures were taken at about 8 o'clock this morning.  We wanted to be sure everything was still intact and operating the way it's supposed to, so Fred went and checked.  All was perfect, no real change after a cold night.  We had a low of about 21 again last night.  You can see in the first picture that there is a skimming of ice on the open water and some of the ice crystals look whiter.  That will change as the sun begins to work on it again today.



We've had some calls and e-mails wondering how the clock has not stopped when the flag is almost out of sight.  All we can say is the contest isn't over until the clock stops.   At some point, probably today, the weight of the pallet will break the rope free from the ice and that will allow it to disconnect the clock.  We think the flag leaning against the ice is another factor that is preventing the whole thing from sinking.  It will happen.

The temperature hasn't risen much yet, and there's light SSE wind that will no doubt keep the surface of the ice colder than if there was no wind.  As the sun gets higher in the sky, things will begin to warm up and then we'll see.  Right now we're checking the clock about every hour, and in the meantime, I'm getting out my call/e-mail list ready to let our outlets and the media know as soon as possible when the clock stops.  As I said before - we'll have a time to announce, but may not have the winner's name immediately.  Certain steps have to be taken to verify before we make that public.


Larry Rossi is checking in regularly with us, as is our data technician, Henretta Splain, and both Don Walker and Homer Fitts checked in with us yesterday.  I've promised them all we'll give them a call as soon as something happens.  

Yesterday Fred and I were reminiscing about past Ice-Outs.  Twice we had Easter Sunday dinner guests when the clock stopped; we couldn't remember exactly, but it seemed as if meals were interrupted pretty often.  We'll see how this year works out.


Monday, April 22, 2013


The clock has not stopped yet.  We are going to call it a day, and will continue our vigil first thing tomorrow morning.  We were at the setup site at 6 p.m. (Monday) and took the following pictures.  It looks as if the pallet should have sunk by now, but we think there is enough ice to just balance it where the pole with the flag are resting.  We've had a few calls from people who are trying to understand why it hasn't slipped below the surface yet - all we can tell you is that it'll happen all in good time.  Everything is working fine, and we have seen this kind of thing happen a few times in years past, although I don't recall ever seeing the whole pond quite this uniformly covered with slushy ice particles.  There are usually fingers of open water here and there by the time the ice gets to this stage.  It may have to do with there not being quite so much ice thickness this year - the thickest we had reported to us was about 24 inches.  Then after a bit of a thaw we got a foot of new snow on top of everything.  Strange winter.  We'll keep you posted as to when the clock stops and spring officially arrives at Joe's Pond. 


We are watching the Ice-Out flag very carefully this afternoon.  It has tipped crazily, but hasn't gone down enough to stop the clock.  The rope that tethers it to the shore has been solidly frozen into the ice, and we believe that is all that is holding the pallet from sinking.  The ice this year has turned to crystals, which sometimes happens so that instead of chunks of solid ice with lots of open water along the shoreline, we have fairly uniform ice crystals that melt during the day and freeze up again at night.  We had a low of about 21 degrees last night, and this morning there was a fresh skimming of ice over the open water along the shoreline.  The clock might stop this afternoon, or it might last into the night.  It's really hard to tell what's going to happen.  We are watching closely, you can imagine.  For you who perhaps cannot see the web cam pictures, above is a photo taken today at about 3 p.m.  Since then the corner of the flag is touching the water, and the pallet may be held only by the rope that tethers it to shore.

Today is sunny with pretty strong SE winds, but the temperature has only reached a high of 54, and is already heading back down as the sun begins to get lower.  We're expecting another pretty cool night and tomorrow to be about like today, but then rain on Wednesday.  

We've had calls from lots of folks watching the flag tipping into the water this afternoon, and some have wondered it the clock has stopped.  Larry Rossi just called from the site and said everything is still intact but there's lots of pressure on the connection, so he thinks it could go almost any time.  However, if it lasts until dark and the temperature drops so it freezes up again, that could delay things.  All we can do is wait and see.  We'll let everyone know as soon as the clock stops.  It may be a little more time before we know the winner(s) as we have to double check the time on the clock and then find and verify the actual ticket and try to locate the winner.  That can be a bit difficult sometimes (finding the winner) what with people on vacation, etc., but we persist.  We'll let you know as soon as the clock stops, though.

Sunday, April 21, 2013

We have sad news this morning.  Mike Calevro,  a long time summer resident at Joe's Pond, passed away on Saturday morning.  Our deepest sympathy to his wife, Sheila, and their family. 

We had a cold night, and it hasn't warmed up much so far today.  There was a low of 21 degrees over night and a skimming of snow/frost on everything this morning.  Now my thermometer that's not in the sun is almost up to 30 degrees, so warming is slow.  The ice that looked pretty dark yesterday is now white again, which means it froze up last night.  It's really hard to tell how long it will be before the pallet sinks and stops the clock, but it looks like with cold weather forecast for this week it will delay things considerably.  I don't think the ice will hold until May, but there again, it's hard to tell.  The last time we had a May Ice-Out date was in 2007, and before that, 2001.  We will keep you posted on conditions and let you know as soon as the clock stops.

Saturday, April 20, 2013

I received this message from Marti Talbot today with a link to her daughter Amanda's blog.  Another instance of near misses at the Boston Marathon on Monday.  Marti said Amanda didn't mention that her husband, Kevin's mom was in the grandstand, very near the bombs.  Marti said she was traumatized, but not hurt.   We are very glad the whole family is ok, and we are thankful the whole thing is coming to an end.

We've had two interviews about the Ice-Out in the past two days.  Emmett Fitzgerald (pictured at left) from the international public radio show, Living On Earth, was here yesterday and did interviews with us and several people in W. Danville; today Julia Shipley, who is doing an article for Yankee Magazine that will appear in 2014, came.  I've got a cold, one of those coughing, sneezing, totally irritating things that started off like allergies and is ending up as a full-fledged respiratory attack, so Fred met her at the Rossi's.  We have talked quite a bit on the phone and I've sent her information from my files, but she wanted to see the setup in order to better describe it in her piece.  I was happy I didn't have to leave the house.
The flag is still up and the clock is still running.  There has been a big change in the ice since yesterday, Fred said.  He got some pictures that show how the ice has finally begun to pull away from the shore.  This top picture is from Rossi's boathouse, the second one shows how much water there is along the shoreline. There is open water mostly around the small island now, and all of it is beginning to look pretty dark.  The next few days and nights are going to be colder, but it looks like we could have an end to the contest fairly soon.
When Fred went for his run this morning, he got this picture of "Harvey" who is just changing his white winter coat for a pretty brown one for summer.  You can see some brown on his head.  Fred said it surprised him - at first he thought it was a weathered gray tree stump.  Rabbits are silly, they sometimes freeze in place thinking they are hidden, and probably that's what this one was doing, although it looks as if he was just waiting to have his picture snapped.  Click on the pictures to make them larger.
I've had to do the blog in a different browser tonight - it's complicated, but without frustrations along the way I'd have nothing to complain about.  There are gaps and probably not everything will show up as usual, but tomorrow I'll get back to Firefox and hopefully things will go more smoothly.




We're having one of those days when just about everything in the weather arsenal is being thrown at us.  Overnight we had heavy rain - almost an inch measured here - and high winds.  We didn't hear any thunder, but wouldn't have been surprised.  Today we've had sun, rain showers, snow showers, and plenty of wind.  The temperature dropped from a comfortable high of almost 70 yesterday to the 30s and 40s today, depending on whether the sun is out or not. 

I think the ice on the pond melted quite a bit yesterday, but it doesn't look as if much will happen right away, and we're going to have cooler temperatures this weekend.  The good news is that just about all our snow is gone after last night's rain.  There aren't any real signs of green grass around our place yet, but my daffodils are up 3-4 inches, and I have seen other green stuff poking through the winter's mat of compacted leaves and cedar clippings I used in my flower beds.   My vegetable garden spot is free of snow but very wet, so there's nothing ready to happen there.  I don't have any hot beds to start plants early - I guess I'm not that eager any more.  Gardening is a lot of work and I'm mostly interested in having fresh lettuce and other greens available in the back yard than I am in having all those root vegetables and late crops to harvest in the fall.

We'll have lots of raking and cleaning up to do around the perimeter of our lawns this year due to all the cutting we've had done.  I'm looking forward to some of the traditionally wet spots being a bit drier this year and different vegetation showing up now the big trees are gone and the sun can get to the area.  Many years ago I took excess perennials up into the woods and planted them along our walking paths.  Since then the trees have grown so big there was little sunshine for them, so I'm wondering if any will be revived now they have sunshine.

Garey Larrabee down at the post office in West Danville, gave me a clipping  that was published in one of the newsletters published for postal workers.  It was an excerpt from a feature story in a recent issue of Green Mountain Postmaster and was written by a neighbor, Jill McGann, who, although she lives on Route 2 in Cabot, uses the West Danville post office.  Jill was responding to social media criticism of post offices, and said, "if they had West Danville as their local Post Office, they would be singing a different tune."  She mentioned that the postal workers in West Danville are always friendly and accommodating, which of course those of us who know Garey, Diane Jejer and rural carrier Josh Deth heartily agree on.  One think I've been concerned about each time cutting back on rural mail deliveries comes up, it that for many people who live alone, the mail carrier is the one person who visits them every day except Sunday, and more often than anyone knows, the mailman is the first to notice that something isn't right - mail hasn't been picked up from the box or someone doesn't answer the door when they come to deliver the mail (as they very often do for elderly or disabled people who cannot get to a mailbox).  These men and women are truly guardians watching out for all of us along their mail routes.  While many of us could get along fine without Saturday mail delivery, there are many people who would truly miss that contact and the security of the daily visit.  And I can't imagine being without the post office at Hastings Store.

Friday, April 19, 2013

Road Crew Worker Wanted

The Town of Cabot is seeking applicants to fill an entry position on the Town’s Road Crew. This is a full time position with benefits and overtime required, especially during adverse weather. Applicants from the Town of Cabot shall be given preference. A full job description can be obtained at the Cabot Town Clerk’s office or at www.cabotvt.us/jobdescription.php.
Applications/resumes must be received at the Cabot Town Clerk’s office by close of business Monday, May 13, 2013. Town of Cabot, PO Box 36, 3084 Main Street, Cabot, Vermont 05647.
Work Update
Danville Route 2 Project
Project:  Danville FEGC 028-3(32)

WEEK OF 4/19/13
Work this week will shift from pipe installation to roadway reconstruction in the middle of town. 
PEACHAM ROAD CLOSURE – Peacham Road will be closed between Route 2 and Park Street Monday, April 22nd from 8:00 am thru the end of the day.  Traffic control personnel will be present to maintain traffic flow.
ROUTE 2 - Route 2 will be reduced to alternating one-way traffic at various times this week while crews reclaim and widen the existing roadway.  Traffic control personnel will be present to maintain traffic flow.
Box cut will start on Route 2 on Thursday, April 25th at Melody Hill and progress west.  This work will include the removal of the current aggregate material under the roadway and replacement of new aggregate material.  Crews are planning for two-way traffic during this work.

Contact Francine Perkins, Public Relations Officer, FRP Enterprises, LLC with any questions or concerns with regard to this project at 802-479-6994 or for a more up to date schedule visit www.roadworkupdates.com.
We enjoyed a pretty nice day yesterday, but still had a cold wind; today is better.  Lots of sunshine, 62 degrees, and that's on the "cold" side of our house where the thermometer always reads lower than any others.  There's a strong wind out of the southeast, and almost no snow on the ground.  I can see some high on the hillside in back of our house, but other than a few pockets where it either was drifted or is shaded, the snow is gone!

I had this message from our resident wildlife reporter, Evelyn Richer, yesterday: 

Well, the iceout update from here is that the cove is nearly clear of
ice with several large 'flotillas' drifting by from time to time coming
out of the marsh, and there is about 20 feet of soft ice against our
shoreline, but a clear area where the loon nest will be when placed.

We have about 40 Canada Geese off and on and mallards, tons of Woodies,
Common Mergansers, hooded Mergansers, Ring-necks, black ducks, grebes, a
few gulls, and an otter to list a few...

The male loon was sited at about 8:30 this morning, and at 10:20 the
female arrived... They are fishing and scouting out the nesting site...
the nest cannot go in place until the ice recedes from our shoreline a
bit more, but probably by Monday...

Anyway, spring is on it's way now!!  YEA!!!

Just a little later I had another message from Evelyn:    

The ice is getting dark!!  The loons have had a visit from the eagle
too... so there's one more [specimen to report].
 
All of this is good news, and we also saw two loons in the middle pond yesterday.  I have been struggling to get a slide show ready to post here, but for some reason, Kizoa is not operating well.  I've tried just about everything I can think of, with no success as yet.  I will post individual pictures - but it won't tell the story quite as effectively.  Starting with first pond in West Danville, there was open water almost the full length past the beach.  There is open water under the bridge, and lots of water going over the dam, but when we were there at about 11 o'clock, there was still about 50-75 feet of ice holding between the open water from the narrows to the bridge. 


In the middle pond, there is a long finger of open water along the Route 2 side, and that's where we saw the two loons, calmly diving and seeming to be right at home.  These are probably the same two that have nested on the middle pond in the past. 


The big pond is a different story.  Yesterday there was hardly any sign that the ice is melting, but after a couple days of sunshine, especially today with temps in the 60s, the ice will take a beating.  Yesterday there was open water in the narrows between the middle and big pond; the open water from the cove that Evelyn mentioned stretches just a little beyond the small island, Pearl's Island.  The shorelines are not showing a lot of water yet.  Today we have a southeast wind that will tend to shove the ice up the pond - except there's no open space for it to really move that much.  That will no doubt change in the next couple of days.  As Evelyn says, the ice is getting dark, and that means it's melting from underneath.  We are watching the flag and the clock, but nothing seems imminent yet.  This weekend, nights are going to be cold, and that will slow things a bit.  

 I'm guessing slide shows are not going to happen for a little while, at least until we can figure out what's going on that I cannot upload as I want.

Later:  We finally got a slideshow together.  Slides.






 

Thursday, April 18, 2013

I just received this from our JPA President, Tom Dente: 
Hi Jane,
Our oldest son, Tom, ran the Boston Marathon on Monday finishing a little after 2 PM.  Following running the marathon runners drink fluids and eat some fruit and food products in a tent at the finish line. When they finished this they go to the bag area also at the finish to retrieve their belongings, (before the race your belongings, wallet, cell phone, clothes, etc.are put in a provided bag with your name on it). The explosions began just as Tom had gotten his bag he was about 50 - 100 feet from the explosions. He was shaken but not injured.  Normally, we would all watch the race from Boston College then after Tom runs by his wife, Liz, and children (our Grandchildren) would go toward the finish line to meet him and watch other runners finish. Camilla and I would head to Connecticut to beat the crowd. This time however, Liz, our grandchildren, and Camilla and I were not at the race as we have in the past because of the kids sports and activities schedules at home. If his wife and children had been at the race they likely would have been in harms way at the finish line. God works in strange ways!
Tom
 We were concerned that Tom's son might be running in that race, and are so relieved he was not hurt and that the family was not present.  The whole family must be shaken by this and forever thankful they apparently all had angels on their shoulders.  Thank you, Tom, for letting us know.
Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day, but the wind was brisk out of the northwest and kept things colder than it looked outside.  It was good to see the bright sunshine, though.  I measured a half inch of precipitation yesterday morning from Monday's rain.  We have lost most of our snow, but the ice on the pond appears to be untouched for the most part.  I noticed this morning there's a little water showing at the Rossi's where the Ice-Out flag is set up, but out on the ice by the flag, nothing seems to have changed. 

We had a low of 23.3 degrees last night, so whatever melting happened yesterday and in the rain on Monday has been stopped.  Today we're supposed to get warming temps, and perhaps a little more rain, but by the weekend we'll have cold weather again.  Nice, slow spring.  This kind of weather pattern has been good for the roads - at least for us, most have not been terrible.  There are the usual spots that break out, but no huge mud holes to get through.

I took some pictures this morning to show you what the pond looks like.  Yesterday I thought I noticed the ice in back of the islands, which is about all we can see of the pond from our house, was getting a little dark.  It apparently had some water on it, but this morning is frozen up again, and the next picture shows the channel seems to be frozen over again, too.  That will melt quickly if the temperature stays warm today.  Right now we're at 40 degrees, with no sun.

 We are excited that our young neighbor, Henry Burke, will sing the national anthem at Fenway Park this Sunday.  We are all very proud of Henry.  We'll be watching, you can bet.

The Caledonian Record had a short piece the other day about the rail trail that runs past Joe's Pond.  The lack of funds is on-going.  Added expenses from damage caused by storms and seeking permits over the past two years has cost the project both time and money.  VAST (Vermont Association of Snow Travelers) began work on the trail in 2007.  Now, Director Alexis Nelson says this summer they plan to construct two bridges, one in St. Johnsbury and one in Danville, and then will begin work on the Morrisville to Cambridge section of the trail.  That section requires the least amount of actual ground work on the train, he said.  

Right-of-way for the trail belongs to the State of Vermont after the Lamoille Valley Railroad stopped operating in 1994.  VAST has been charged with turning the rail bed into a recreational trail.  Having spent so much money on damage repairs and seeking permits, the project has nearly run out of money.  Project directors hope to be reimbursed by the federal government for storm damage or  ask that what has been spent on storm damage be considered part of the matching funds needed in order to free up more grant money.  As things stand now, there will be no money for the eastern end of the trail in this phase one of the project.

The trail past Joe's Pond is regularly used for hiking and some biking in the summer, and is maintained for snowmobiles in the winter.  Volunteers from the Joe's Pond community during the summer keep the trail somewhat mowed and clear of debris along the stretch by the pond, but as far as we know there is no coordinated volunteer effort to maintain it along further stretches either towards St. Johnsbury or Hardwick, although I believe there is some use of it by hikers and bikers during the summer.  

 


 

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 17, 2013
 Issued: 4/16/13
Route 2 – Route 2 in front of the Town Offices will be reduced to alternating one-way traffic throughout the morning while crews install drainage piping.  If all goes well, crews will return Route 2 to two-way traffic by early afternoon.
Park Street- Access to Park Street from Route 2 will be closed while crews install drainage piping.  Peacham and Smith will be open to all traffic.
Traffic control personnel will be present to maintain traffic flow.

Contact Francine Perkins, Public Relations Officer, FRP Enterprises, LLC with any questions or concerns with regard to this project at 802-479-6994 or for a more up to date schedule visit www.roadworkupdates.com.

* * * * *

Our weather seems to have changed to pretty typical April, finally.  This morning we had some sunshine, and the temperature was in the 40's; this afternoon the temperature has stayed about the same, but we've had pretty steady rain. I'm watching the patches of bare ground on our back lawn expand with every passing hour, revealing stumps and hummocks, the logs that edge our vegetable garden - scattered limbs and bent bushes emerging from under the snow.  This picture was taken early this morning.

Last night our cat, Woody, was was in and out continuously until we finally said "no more" and refused door service.  He looks forward to spring each year, we can tell.   He has been subdued today, apparently realizing even without going outside the weather is not especially favorable for hunting.  Later on when nights are really warm, it won't matter what the weather - he'll want to be outside, crouched below the protective roof overhang on the deck, or under one of the big spruces in the woods.  Sometimes he comes in drenched, as if he has no concern for rain whatsoever, and after we dry him off with a good towel rub, he usually grabs a bite to eat and then is ready to go back out into the weather.  We think he likes the rubdowns.  Today, however, he's been content to hang out, choosing various favorite lounging places throughout the house.  Sometimes he finds a new favorite spot, like on the newly laundered comforter we put down and turned our backs on just long enough for Woody to take over.  He never, ever lies on the sofa unless one of us is trying to nap there, in which case, he walks all over us, purring, knitting, poking with his paw and being a major pest.  But today we let him have the comforter - what's a little cat hair from our best friend?

We are checking the web cams regularly, but there isn't much water showing along the shore yet.  After today's rain, we expect things will begin to look different.  Without some serious warm weather, though, it's still going to be a while before the pallet sinks and the clock stops.  I talked to Larry Rossi, who said the middle pond where he lives has opened up quite a bit in the past few days.  That's encouraging.  Lots of folks will be heading back here in a few weeks from their various winter spots, and it would be nice to greet them with  open water.  Fred and I were commenting today on what an easy mud season we've had this year.  The Cabot crew were here again this morning with the big grader, and we actually believe the worst of the mud is overOnce we see a little green grass and some early leaves and flowers, we'll know things are beginning to take shape for another nice summer season.  For now, it's still pretty drab.

We have been wondering if any of our members or their friends were in Boston yesterday when the bombings happenedWe are thinking of all those people who were hurt or who lost someone close to them - it's hard to understand why anyone would do something like that to hurt innocent people.  I hope the person or persons responsible are caught soon.  



Snow & Ice Report

 W e're through another March snowstorm, and as far as I can tell, we aren't expecting more snow this month. We'll probably have...