We hope you are all having a lovely Easter

Thinking back on Easter Sundays, I remember getting all three boys decked out in suits or new sports coats, always with white shirt and tie, to go to church on Easter Sunday - and that was back in a time when a hat was mandatory for  women in church, and Easter was when we broke out the spectacular pastel beauties with flowers and delicate ribbons; and our accessories - gloves, shoes and handbags - had to match.  It was Spring, for goodness sake, and we were happy to leave the heavy coats and clunky winter boots at home even if it meant being uncomfortably cold.  It wasn't all for the sake of fashion.

I was for many years on the flower committee at South Congregational Church in St. Johnsbury.  We would fill the outdoor flower boxes with spring flowers, if the weather wasn't too cold, but very often Easter Sunday in Vermont was no time for flowers even temporarily exhibited outside, let alone frilly hats and light weight spring suits or dresses. I remember local florist and friend, Harry Chandler, cautioning us to keep the flowers indoors most Easters.

Later, when Fred and I were first living at Joe's Pond, if it was nice weather, we likely had lots of mud, so we didn't plan to go anywhere. Easter Sunday for us was a quiet day spent watching a few unsuspecting souls, having decided to "take a ride up to check camp" from Barre, Montpelier or St. Johnsbury, trying to navigate the mud bog that was West Shore Road.  Most often they'd return within a few minutes, heading back to the main road without accomplishing their goal.  We learned not to invite guests for Easter dinner or accept invitations because more often than not the road would be next to impassable. 

In later years, the road was much better and at least twice we had guests on Easter Sunday and the ice went out - in 2006 at 3:20 p.m. and again in 2012 at 5:32 p.m.  That created a bit of excitement.  Of course there is the mandatory trip to check the clock right away and the phone call to locate the ticket, then the ticket holder, and finally the media.  "Frenzied" best describes those Easters.

There's no danger that will happen this year.  The pond is solidly

frozen, but the water level seems to be back to normal.  Fred and I checked it at Walter Ruf's waterfront this afternoon.  There are cracks in the ice, but it still has some life in it.  The forecast has no very warm weather in it, so it looks as if the ice will hold for at least another week or two.  There is a channel open in both the first and middle ponds, but the big pond is holding firm.  We could go into May on this one, I think.