I know it isn't true, but I have to say - I think summer is here!  These last couple of days have been every bit as warm as lots of summer days here at Joe's Pond.  We've been working outside and both yesterday and today I had to come inside just to get out of the sun.  I'm not adjusted for hot weather yet.  Another sure sign for me is that I saw my first bumble bee today!  Big and fat and probably hungry as there aren't many blooms around - just my daffodils.  But at least one bee  is ready to take advantage of whatever early flowers there are.  Yesterday I startled a frog out in the little drainage ditch on the back lawn.  I haven't heard any peepers yet, but I bet there are some.  We don't always hear them up here - the air and the wind have to be just right to hear them down on the pond.

Unfortunately, the grass hasn't greened up as you might expect with all this nice weather.  The problem is that everything is unusually day for this time of year.  There was a grass fire over in Greensboro today, I think.  I just heard the tail end of things on the scanner, but apparently some of the roads were closed temporarily.  Our woods has lots of underground springs, so it's pretty wet, but our lawn is very dry.  Things are coming along, though.  Lots of buds on the trees, and some folks have arrived back from their winter retreats to open their Joe's Pond homes.  This is also when our newsletter comes out, and always there's a transition time when some people are on their way north as their newsletter is on the way south.  Fortunately, Garey at the post office keeps pretty close touch with most of our members, so knows when many of them are expected back and will hold the newsletter for them.  The newsletter has gone to Fred to be posted on line, so you should be able to see it there pretty soon.  He's a little backed up with Cabot Chronicle work, but our newsletter is a walk in the park compared to getting the Chronicle articles posted, so I think he'll get to it soon.

The Town of Cabot has been working West Shore Road all day.  We haven't been out to Route 2, but this end has a nice coat of finely crushed rock material - almost like staymat.  It's very dusty, but after they went over it a few times with the grader, we have a very nice, smooth road.  Danville did a short stretch at their end, but for some reason didn't continue down the hill to Barre Avenue, and that hill is pretty rough and rutted.  We've been blessed with an almost non-existent mud season this year, and what mud holes there were got fixed very quickly, and that was very appreciated by all of us who have to travel Cabot's back roads.  I don't know if it was the same all over town, but I expect it was.  The few times we've been to Cabot this spring, we've heard very few complaints about the roads.  It was a pretty good year weatherwise - like son Bob said the other day, "The snow came right where it was supposed to this year - in the mountains."  He is still skiing - I think Killington tomorrow, but mostly at Jay.  He says it's been great skiing every time he's been out all year.  It's nearly time to put away the snow skis and get out the water skis.