We had to go to Danville this morning to do errands.  It has been snowing lightly for about the last 24 hours, more or less, and I measured 3.5 in. of fluffy new snow at 8 a.m.  The roads that were bare and showing some signs of spring are back to snow pack, but that won't last very long.  These photos taken this morning show the slushy Route 2 east of West Danville, then the beginning of West Shore Road when we came back - snow covered with sanding done early this morning by the Town of Cabot.  There is just a little dirt showing, but that will change quickly.  The sun is peeking through the snow showers and the forecast is for a warming trend through this afternoon into tomorrow (unless that's an April Fool joke!) and then Thursday some rain showers.  We've mostly had snow when rain was forecast, but that's the difference between Burlington and Joe's Pond - even St. Johnsbury and Joe's Pond - it has to do with the elevation and the fact we're in a "snow belt" along with Walden.

The pictures of West Shore Road are two spots that traditionally have been problem mud holes in some springs past - the flat by the Hamilton cottage and the flat by Mason's up to about Bertrand's.   There are other trouble spots, but these two are classic.  There has been a lot of gravel put in both areas, and actually by Hamilton's wasn't bad last year.  We'll know soon enough how bad it will get this year.  Yesterday I saw a report in the Caledonian that the frost went to about 7 feet deep on roads in Vermont this year.  On February 20, Winooski officials were warning that the frost was 6 feet deep, and we had a lot more cold after that.  Whatever the depth, it means there will be a lot of moisture as the earth begins to thaw, and if we get rain in addition, that could make for very soupy roads for a while. 

The temperature last night was in the single numbers again, but briefly.  Not much melting going on that we can see, at least.  I have been curious about how much ice is safe and found this article about a study done in Minnesota, so thought you might be interested.  All the ice shanties are off the ice now, and the only traffic is either skiers or snowmobiles, and the ice will be safe for them for a while, at least - except in the narrows, which always open first and should be avoided.  A few years ago a snow machine with a man and his young daughter went through the ice at the narrows between the second and third ponds.  They were ok, but they got a good scare and soaking, and the rented snow machine stayed in the water for a few days.

If you are interested in the overall 2014-15 winter records, check this article on Wikipedia.

I have a couple of interesting things for you this morning.  I had an e-mail from a friend in Cabot with a link to e-bay and this picture.  It was a postcard sent in January, 1917 from a man in Cabot to friends in Barre.  The name on the porch, or "piazza," as it was called in those days, is plainly "Shiloh."  Why anyone would name their cottage after a very bloody Civil War battle escapes me, but I guess the owners had their reasons.  I have gathered lots of original names of cottages around Joe's Pond, and "Shiloh" is very familiar to me, but I cannot find any direct reference to it except this snapshot that seems to have been taken from a spot on the West Shore.

Perhaps the sign is still on an existing cottage and that's why I feel I know it, or perhaps it's because of this snapshot.   I hope someone will read this and help me identify where the camp was and who owned it.


Much more current is this video posted on YouTube, titled, "Snowmobiling in Vermont," made last weekend by Tim Hebert (No. Shore Rd.).  Tim takes us up to the northern end of the pond where he accesses the VAST trail and then heads down the trail towards West Danville, getting off near the beach and returning to his starting point from the first and second ponds through the narrows (!) past the boating access and then up the pond and home.  It feels like you are riding along with him - a little scary sometimes, but really interesting.  Thanks to his mom, Pam, for sending us the link, and a big thanks to Tim for making the video.  Incidentally, Pam just put a big "Vrooooom!" on the subject line of her e-mail this morning.  Indeed!  I don't know for sure, but I suspect Tim had to speed up the video a tad to get it to fit the format on YouTube, so it looks like he's going faster than he really was.  Great fun, anyway.


We are enduring a little more snow today - light snow showers all morning, but not amounting to much so far.  The temperature is hanging out right around the freezing point, and even though it isn't bitterly cold, it's still dismal outside.  Woody hasn't been interested in going out at all today.  He's been fast asleep all morning, not even bothering to come to look out the window.  I think cats have some inner mechanism that lets them know when the sun is shining.  I'm pretty sure they can't tell the temperature - Woody all too often teases to go outside on sunny, below-zero days.  He joins us, I'm sure, in hoping we're nearing the end of those kinds of days very soon.

'Tis the season - we got a message this morning that Marty's 1st stop in Danville was out of Ice-Out Contest tickets.  We collected what few we had and a few from Diane and got them to them right away.  I'm sure other outlets will run short this week, too, but there's always the on-line option as long as they are done by April 1st or if using the printed tickets, postmarked no later than April 1st.  

Fred did ticket distribution and took his trusty camera with him.  I put some of the pictures he took into a slide show - we thought you'd like to see how much snow we still have around here.

Even though it was a little colder than I thought was comfortable this morning, our cat, Woody, was anxious to test the weather.  We were amazed when he climbed over the snow bank and took a walk in the woods.  We were just a little nervous, having seen the bobcat earlier this week in the same area Woody decided to explore today, but in only a few minutes, he came meandering back through the woods and I got a shot of him navigating the snow bank at our driveway.  He was glad to get inside, but took a couple more brief trips onto the deck after that, just to smell the fresh air, I expect.  I think this is the first time this year we've had a good crust, and that made walking in the woods very nice for Woody.  I'm not sure the crust would hold much more than his 15 pounds - although it did seem to hold the bobcat ok, and he must have been at least two or three times Woody's weight.  I wonder if Woody knew the big cat had been in his woods . . . he definitely doesn't tolerate domestic cats in his territory, but I hope he's savvy enough to not tangle with one of the big guys in the neighborhood.

It's a really pretty day today, but last night we had zero degrees - again!  Right now (8 a.m.) I'm seeing 12 degrees on the shady side of the house.  The sun is beautiful, not a cloud in the sky, and I think it's going to warm up perhaps into the 30's today - may get to 40's in some protected spots, so the sap could run.  I took a few early morning pictures to show how much snow we still have.  And that reminds me - yesterday afternoon I had an e-mail from Tom Dente saying they were getting a snow storm that would deliver from two to four inches.  That's March weather for you - no matter where you are, it can be a trial.

 Click on the pictures to make them bigger.

Have a wonderful day and enjoy the weather, whatever it is.  No telling what tomorrow will be like.  Things can always get worse and we'll be glad we have the memory of better times.  If tomorrow is better, store that in your memory bank for harder times.  There's an old saying about that sort of thing that I can't remember, but you get the idea.  Be happy!

Now that April is almost here, we're finally getting some March weather.  We had a little rain late yesterday, then it turned to snow.  I measured one inch of really soppy snow on the deck this morning.  Today has been a little of everything - misty rain, fog, almost sunshine, and finally this afternoon, lovely lazy snowflakes drifting down to cover the mud and dirty snowbanks with a clean white frosting.  The wet snow clung to the tree branches momentarily, and it seemed as though some fiendish plot was afoot to release wet gobs of slush as soon as I walked underneath.  I got my usual hill climb in; the air was warm and smelled a lot like spring, but I got pretty wet between the trees unloading on me and the mix of misty rain and snowflakes, so I didn't linger.  There were breaks when the sun seemed ready to shine through, but it didn't happen.  I think there is a fair amount of melting going on, in spite of the new snow, and even though we're going to have some cooler weather this weekend, the sugar makers may get some good runs of sap with warm days and cool nights.

We are about out of Ice-Out tickets - that is, they are nearly all distributed to outlets.  We've been surprised that ticket sales seemed to pick up earlier than usual, and we've had to replenish supplies at a number of the outlets.  That usually doesn't happen until the last few days before the April 1st deadline, and we thought that the weather being so cold nobody would even think of the ice going out.  I'm guessing people have been looking for some sign spring will get here, and perhaps getting into the Ice-Out Contest is one way to believe winter weather will really end, eventually.  We still have printable tickets on line and also the option to pay on-line if you purchase 10 tickets.  On-line tickets will be available until 11:59:59 p.m. on April 1st.  Regular tickets at outlets are available until close of business on April 1st.   Please remember if you have tickets that need to be mailed, be sure they are postmarked no later than April 1st, otherwise they will not be entered in the contest.  The address is on the tickets - P. O. Box 111, West Danville VT 05873.

We took this picture as we were leaving St. Johnsbury on Wednesday - the ledges by the Route 2 ramps for the interstate.  Fred was driving and I had managed to buckle the strap of the camera into my seat belt, so missed the best shot of the ledges, but still the ice formations were brilliant white against the dark, wet rocks.  Wednesday was a pretty day with lots of sun and got the melting started.  At least we have some mud showing up a little more each day, and that's a good thing - sort of.

It's raining and not freezing onto anything!  This is the first moderately warm rain we've had since I'm guessing November.  We haven't even had very much of the cold and freezing kind right in our area - when some other places got rain, we got snow.  It will get colder later on tonight, but still, this is taking away a lot of the snow and with the temperature holding around 40 degrees, it actually feels like spring.  Actually, anything above 20 degrees feels like a spring day after all that cold.

There was a lot of fog this morning, especially over the ice on the pond.  It cleared away here on our hillside long before it did down below.  I noticed there seems to be only one ice shanty left on the pond right now - all of them were removed by last weekend, I think, except that one.  That will need to be removed by this weekend.  Another sign of spring is that our roads are beginning to show signs of thawing out a bit.  No big mud bogs yet, and we hope things will progress slowly enough so we won't have to deal with too bad a mud season, but I'm sure the frost is deep and sometimes that means a longer, deeper mud season.  This gentle rain will help start the thawing process.

I saw Doug Button in Hastings this morning - he and Margaret have only been back from Florida and other warmer regions for about three days - seems as if they timed it about right, at least they have avoided the deep cold.  I know there are several others headed home soon, and although there may be more snow on the ground than they expected, it may be we won't have any of the zero weather again.  It's time we got a break.

This message came from Helen Morrison: 
 I took in over 1000 returnable cans and bottles that folk have left in my garage to benefit Kingdom Animal Shelter in St. Johnsbury.  That is over $60.  That is wonderful.  Thank you, everyone.  If you are so inclined, it would be just great if you wanted to keep dropping them off.  If you need me to come pick them up, give me a call at 563-2488.   Helen Morrison, 936 West Shore Road.

That is such a good cause, helping the Animal Shelter.  It may seem like a small effort to make, but for them it means a lot.

I came upon an interesting tidbit about Joe's Pond yesterday.  In the February 21, 1906 issue of the St. Johnsbury Caledonian, there was an item about what is now known as Pearl Island, but what used to be the home of Simeon Whittier.  Here it is: 

“R. S. Whittier, owner of the cottage on the small island, known as Twin Island, has put up four cords of ice this winter and will in the spring turn his cottage half around, put a piazza around three sides of it, clapboard and paint it up in fine style.  It is a very beautiful location away from all noise, standing out about 60 rods from the nearest point of land on shore.”  

I never heard the island referred to as "Twin Island," but since it is next to the bigger island, perhaps it was considered a twin - at least it was one of only two. The top photo is Sim (Rufus Simeon Whittier) in his boat just north of his island, probably about 1905 or 6.  The bottom photo was taken later - we think around 1920 - after he had finished his house.  The trees are about the right size for being 10 or more years older, and indeed, there is a piazza on the main house - I can't say if it actually went around three sides or not.  He was a very clever "jack-of-all-trades" sort of man, and built not only the house, but the island it stood on.  He lived on the island for many years - some of them year around until his later years when he then spent winters in St. Johnsbury.

I'm amused at the statement in the newspaper that his island was "away from all noise."  I wonder what Old Sim would think if he could be on the island some summer day now with motor boats, jet skis and sometimes airplanes sharing the water's surface - not to mention the buzz of motor cars on surrounding highways, power lawn mowers and occasional chain saws.  One sound he would not hear would be the whistle of the St. J. & L. C., the "Lake Line," at the various crossings between West Danville and Walden, and no band concerts on Flint's Point.  He'd find that pontoon boats, also known as "party barges" have replaced the chugging steam boats that once carried sightseers around the pond, and instead of the dim glow of kerosene lamps in a few cottages and an occasional bonfire dotting the night time shore, there is a glowing band of sparkling lights from dozens of homes, some with bright yard lights in every possible nook and cranny of shoreline on the pond.  He'd have a hard time finding a place to land and tie up his boat without trespassing on private property.  I bet walking on the present rail/trail would be a lot easier than when there was a track there - especially if he'd done a bit of tippling while in town.  People who knew Sim said no matter how drunk he got, he could always row his boat straight to his island - never looked, never missed.

After another night with below zero temperatures, this is what I found in my e-mail this morning - a message saying, "It's in the 80s here," and a picture of some of our Joe's Pond gang in Tucson, Arizona!  From left to right, Joe and Pam Hebert, Barbara Pollack, Kate and Jay Chatot.   Sort of makes one want to hop in the car and head to the great southwest!

Yesterday I had a note from Camilla Dente saying she and Tom spent some time in Hawaii in February for their daughter's wedding.  They visited Pearl Harbor and enjoyed the beautiful weather before returning to a very cold and snowy Connecticut.  Here they are at the memorial for the U.S.S. Arizona.

We are glad so many of our Joe's Ponders take leave for warmer climes, and we certainly don't blame them, but I have to say, this winter has given a lot of us bragging rights for weather not at all "normal" - and tested our mettle as survivors in the cold, especially in the northeast and some of the central and southeastern states, as well. Today seems to be settling into more spring-like temperatures, but last night was below zero - again - and at some point in the past 24 hours the wind chill low was -34 degrees, according to my trusty weather station, and we don't even get as much wind at our house as some other spots, like on the pond and in West Danville! 

Now I need to get back to work.  The newsletter is nearly ready to go, except for some reports, and we are busy getting last-minute Ice-Out information to the media.  Fred is keeping watch as tickets come in on-line to be sure everything is working perfectly (it is!) and we're both keeping an eye out for our resident bobcat.  Woody is about to venture out at least as far as the deck to sit in the sunshine, but there's too much snow for him to head away any distance at all, so we aren't worried the two cats will meet.

It's been another of those absolutely gorgeous days - to look at from inside a nice warm house.  The sun was dazzling and the sky was a beautiful clear blue, but the thermometer when I first looked at around 7:30 a.m. was zero and never made it out of the single digits all day - and the wind was blowing up a gale again.  I know the earth is absorbing warmth from the sun during the longer days, and imperceptibly things are changing in favor of spring, but it sure would be nice to bask in some warm air that isn't blowing 20 miles an hour day and night.  

This is a picture Fred took Friday on his way to Cabot Village to deliver more Ice-Out Contest tickets.  It's the road that goes by the Cabot Plains Cemetery.  This is at the "T" - the cemetery is on the right, Dubray Road on the left.  Of course the wind always blows up there - it's kind of like West Danville that way.  And the snow is always deep - except where the wind has blown the ground bare - that happens, too.  The road seems to be softening a little right there at the turn.  A glimpse of things to come, we hope.  Even mud would be welcome right now.


We had a visitor pass through our property today.  We were getting supper ready when Fred caught a glimpse of an animal crossing the road by the mailboxes at the end of our drive.  We realized it was a bobcat.  It was just inside the woods and that made it very hard to get a picture, but Fred got this one - you can barely make out the figure of the big cat, but it's there, a little left of center.  We watched him walking slowly through the trees and underbrush between us and our neighbors, but lost sight of him after he got up the hill in back of our house into the thicker forest.  I thought it was unusually large, but then, I haven't seen many bobcats roaming around, although we've seen tracks and know they are in the area from time to time.  We were glad Woody was inside.

One of the many interesting bits of information I've come across while searching in one of the old newspapers on line is about the West Danville school - the building that was Larrabee's Building Supply a few years ago, across from the public beach.  Originally it was on the other side of the bridge next to what is now Richard Fortin's house on Route 2.  The two-story building was built in 1903 to replace a much smaller one-story school.  The old school  was sold to one Charles Hunt, who moved it to his lot and proceeded to make it into a "tenement."  We will try to find out where Charles Hunt lived in 1903 and if perhaps the old school building still exists in some form.  

The fall after the school was built there were expected to be about45 pupils for the school.  There were two teachers, Miss

Lillian Bishop of McIndoe Falls had the primary school downstairs; Mrs. H. H. Moulton of St. Johnsbury taught upstairs in the "grammar grade" school, which I expect were the older children.  Having the new school seemed to improve the quality of education, at least from the viewpoint of the school directors, who proclaimed the teachers in the new school had "done much in bringing our school onto a graded system, which has been the wish of the school board for a long time."  The children earned good marks and "nearly all pupils passed to the next grade" in 1904. 

It's hard to imagine that a building that size (the white building at the far right of the picture above) could be constructed and finished in a few short months during the summer.  A. L. Bragg of St. Johnsbury was awarded the contract to build the school, and work commenced in mid-July and was completed four months later, in November.

The building was moved about 20 years later when the road through town was being widened and paved and the new bridge was built to replace the old covered bridge that had served until then.  When it was moved, the windows were changed to the south side of the building.  In the above picture, windows were along the north side.  The secret of the fast construction in those days was that there was no insulation, probably no running water or toilets, and no electricity to install.  I think they did have some sort of central heating, but even that was a wood-fired furnace with a big single register in each of the two rooms.  Pretty basic, but it served them well.

Just because this is the first full day of spring we need not think we are out of winter mode.  It has been snowing, first lightly, and now quite intensely, since a little after noon.  I don't know how much we should expect, but it looks to me as if it's settling in to be another few inches, at least.  I don't like to check the weather forecast any more.  There's no good news there.  

The only person I've talked to recently who hopes winter will last as long as possible is Ted Chase - he hates to see snowmobiling over with.  I don't think he has to worry - it's going to last a while.  

Some of you will remember that we saw Ted on the web cams skating by Rossi's house back in the fall with his dog.  Well, if you watched the WCAX clip last week - that was Ted with his chocolate lab whizzing by on his snow machine.  Ted finds something wonderful about Joe's Pond no matter what season it is or what weather we're having.  He and Barbara are off on their snow machines like the rest of us go for a ride in our cars.

I do believe the average temperature is beginning to be more normal in the past week or so - not nearly as many zero or below zero nights, but the wild wind has made it feel like below zero some of the time.  We are making progress, though, and people are beginning to think about the Ice-Out Contest - not that they expect the ice to be gone any time soon, but they know the contest will be over in just 10 days.  April 1st is the last day anyone can buy tickets on line, and if you are mailing in tickets, be sure the postmark is on or before April 1st.  Outlets can sell tickets until the close of business on April 1st.  No April fooling about it - after that, we just won't accept tickets.  Tickets are flying out of the stores - we're having to make quick trips to replenish supplies in Cabot and St. Johnsbury - I haven't heard that Diane's outlets over Barre and Montpelier way are short of tickets yet, but I bet they will be.  That's all good news - someone will get a nice check if they guess the right date and time.  Last year it was split between two winners, and we've had up to four in years past who all got the exact date and time right.  It's always fun to see how it turns out.
Tickets are on line, and will be available until 11:59:59 p.m.

April 1.

While we are lamenting the long winter, little guys like this are happily scavenging whatever food they can find to supplement their winter's store, which may be running a bit low by now.  We haven't seen much activity of any kind until the last couple of days when this guy showed up.  He was entertainment for Woody, the cat, for at least a few minutes as hef feasted on the frozen apple; but then he scampered off with it, probably to his den in hope it might soften up a little if he kept it warm - or maybe there are babies he/she needs to feed.  The apple supply is lasting pretty well, unless some partridges or turkeys come through.

So.  How was the first day of spring for you?  Snow?  Clouds? Rain?  All of the above?  I think that's what we may be getting tomorrow.  Then Sunday we're back in the deep freeze.  The day started off with some weak sunshine this morning, but it didn't last.  We talked to our three-year-old granddaughter, Tangeni, at supper time and she told us she didn't have a good day at school because "the sky was white."  Of course it was.  I tried to convince her we'd see blue sky and green grass pretty soon, but she insisted the grass and the flowers are all covered up and white, too, and I got the impression she believes they are gone forever.  Try convincing a three-year-old when you barely believe what you're saying yourself.

Actually, just to prove we here at Joe's Pond do believe, Larry Rossi put the block and flag out on the ice this morning and the Lyndon State Channel 7 TV guys were on hand to film it.  That's a true sign of spring approaching when we get the flag out for Ice Out.  You can see the very short piece the students put together by going to Lyndon State News 7.  On the little screen that comes up, there will be a menu on the left listing archived newscasts.  Click on tonight's, March 20, at 5 p.m. and move the little arrow at the bottom of the screen about half way along the bar to skip to where the interview is, right after the weather and a piece about northern lights.

This is a closeup of the new streamlined block and flag setup.  Fred was there just after Larry left, but before the TV crew left, so was able to take   pictures of them taking pictures.
The middle picture is looking towards West Danville.  That shows the extent of the sunshine we saw today behind the clouds - just a pretty glow.  Looking in the opposite direction the bottom picture  shows there was a little more blue sky in the west, but that didn't last.  We don't usually see the flag from this perspective - looking back at the Rossi's where the clock is located.   The clock isn't hitched up yet, by the way - it was too windy and cold today and Larry said he'd be back when it was warmer.  We aren't in a rush to get the clock going - there's nearly three feet of ice and near zero weather expected on Sunday night, so no melting going on yet.  We'll keep you posted.  The weather could turn on us any day now.  In the meantime, I really like the Henry Van Dyke quote on the picture at the top of the page, "The first day of spring is one thing, and the first spring day is another.  The difference between them is sometimes as great as a month."  I just hope it isn't greater than a month.

Winter is surely not giving up with a whimper.  We've had blustery northwest winds all day and even some snow in the air from time to time - I mean other than what the wind is blowing around.  We had about an inch of new snow early this morning and flurries until about noon, then just the incessant wind.  I don't think the temperature rose out of the teens all day, and with the wind it felt like well below zero.  I did my usual walk, and most of the way was fairly protected from the wind, but at the end of our driveway by the mail boxes, it was bitterly cold.  Although "spring" is only two days away, I'm not very confident anything is going to change dramatically.  I think we're permanently stuck in winter mode.

Like every other year, plans are being made to take advantage of whatever warm weather there is ahead and Vermont highways will be cluttered with renewal projects.  Work will begin as soon as possible repaving, rebuilding and reworking our roads, both paved and unpaved "back" roads.  One such project we know about is the old bridge on Rte. 15 in Walden.  That job was either delayed or abandoned a few years ago, I don't know which.  This year it's a "go" - or rather, a "must do" as the bridge is in bad shape and the hope is to get done as quickly as possible - within about 30 days, is the plan.  This link will tell you about it.  If you have questions, there is a meeting in Cabot on April 6th at 7 p.m. that may be informative.

Speaking of roads, as I go through newspaper archives looking for West Danville items, I found some interesting stuff about early roads.  At one point "saw dust" was used for fill; later granite chips were used.  It wasn't until 1902 that there was any mention of a "road machine," and it may have looked a lot like this one built in the 1880s by the American Champion Company in Pennsylvania.  These machines were drawn by horses or oxen.  The later models were drawn by tractors.  The above picture is from an ad for the machines back in the day.  In the winter, roads were rolled and during storms such as we've had lately with lots of snow and wind, roads were impassable for days at a time and business at the mills and stores ground to a halt.  The logging industry depended on snow to draw the logs to the mills and if there was a thaw and bare ground, sleds were useless, just as when there was too much snow teams couldn't get through.  March storms were the worst, not only stalling road traffic, but often drifting so the trains couldn't run until a small army of men with shovels broke through the drifts.

This picture was taken just north of West Danville village in 1884. It is from the collection of Jane Larrabee, loaned to the Danville Historical Society.  Click to make it larger.  March in Vermont has always had a reputation for massive storms.  Still, we should "think spring."



 

Winter persists, but Spring is inevitable - eventually.

I've had the scanner on most of today, listening to the chatter about fender-bender accidents and drivers of plows with salt/sand busy trying to keep the roads safe.  We have had snow falling all day long.  Part of the time it was almost rain with the temperature in the 30's, but mostly it was wet snow that was very slippery on the roads.  Some of the snowfall could be termed "horizontal."  It's been very  windy for the past 24 hours or so, but around noon the wind really picked up and I began hearing reports of limbs and trees blocking roads, power lines sparking on trees or down in the road.  Some of the time when I looked out my office window I couldn't see the trees in the back yard it was a complete whiteout.  The wind has calmed down now, and the temperature has dropped into the low 20s.  I haven't checked to see if it's still snowing.  That's old news.

Woody, our cat, enjoyed those two nice days we had and today has been going outside, testing the weather, hoping it's spring, but five minutes has been his absolute limit, and several times when we opened the door for him after he teased to go out, he changed his mind when the blast of cold snowy air hit him.  Tonight he's testing the weather in the garage, but not finding that very interesting or comfortable, either.  It's been a long winter for all of us, Woody!

We have word that the Ice-Out contraption is going out this weekend - if the weather permits.  It's almost time for the fishing shanties to be taken off the ice - I think it's March 28th they have to be off.  In spite of the prolonged winter, everything moves along pretty much as usual - the days get longer, more daylight means the earth around us is gradually warming, in spite of the cold air swirling around us, the days go by, ice shanties get hauled off the ice and Easter will slip into place, right on schedule, and there will be rain and sunshine and warm winds and finally green grass and blue water.  It's coming!
 
Here's another indicator that spring is waiting in the wings - it's time for Cabot's Maple Festival.  This post was on Front Porch Forum tonight:   This Saturday is Cabot Maple Fest at the school gym, from 9-3, and the National Guard is bringing a brand new climbing wall. Cabot will be the first to use this new equipment. Come check it out, as well as the bounce house and the inflated slide inside. Keep the kids occupied while you enjoy the pancake breakfast in the dining hall, vendors in the gym and entertainment in CSPAC.

These pictures from the Cabot Historical Society collection show a different era of Maple Festival, the 1950's, and there was no snow - it was held in mid-April - there was a big band for the festival in 1955, if the dates are correct - it looks suspiciously like the same day to me - it could be someone labeled one of the pictures with the wrong year. The Tri-Town band I'm guessing was Cabot, Marshfield and Plainfield.  This year there will be different people, different entertainment, but still lots of fun for everyone 60 years later.  The Maple Festival hasn't been an annual event all these years, but was brought back a few years ago after having been dropped for a few decades.  Plan to take a trip down to Cabot Village on Saturday and enjoy the entertainment.  Maybe we'll see you there.

Just a quick note this morning to say "Hello" on St. Patrick's Day, and to share with you a video from Bob LaBrie who chairs the Annual Goshen Meltdown in Goshen, Mass.  Bob said in his newsletter this week they estimate the ice is 35 3/4 in. thick in their pond where they have a contest very similar to ours every year.  He and his fellow fire fighters did a drill recently on the ice and he made a video which gives you a great idea of what it's like under all that ice.  Take a look:  Bob's video.

If their ice is nearly three feet, I suspect ours is at least that.  But the best estimate we've had so far is from Ralph Bissell in Walden who judges it's about 33 inches.  With more snow and cold weather in our immediate future (it's snowing steadily this morning, for those of you basking in the sunshine) we won't be seeing open water for quite a spell.  Enjoy the day, green beer and all!

March is being typical again - we've had snow all day.  Early this morning I measured 2.5 inches, and we've had another two inches or so since then - and it's still snowing.  I took a picture this noon when I thought it was beginning to let up, but that hasn't happened.  The temperature has dropped a few degrees (22 degrees down from 31) and the wind is gusting and swirling so I can't really tell what direction it's coming from.  My weather station indicates NNE and E, but then switches to SE, so I'll just call it "changeable."

You may remember that around February 22 or 23, Fred took a picture of a couple of barrels at Jamie and Marie's house, sitting a little way from their driveway in the snow (top picture.) They have remained about the same until this week when we had a few days of pretty nice warm weather.  Fred took another  picture yesterday, just to show how the sun and wind has diminished the snow pack.  Same barrels, way less snow.  Of course, today we are building the snow pack again, but even so, every little bit of melting helps.

I was surprised that on Front Porch Forum yesterday there were messages from two different sugar makers, one in Cabot and one in Hardwick, stating they had "more sap than we can process," and offering to sell their over-supply to anyone who could use it.  It seemed to me we haven't had enough warm days to have had much of a sap run, but apparently the trees are responding anyway, coming to life in spite of the weather.  Or because of it, if the sugar woods is in a protected spot.  Just because we're still having cold, snowy, miserable weather at Joe's Pond and on the north facing hills doesn't mean it's not better in other sections of the region.  

I've been seeing more about "designer" beers lately, and some are using maple syrup to add special flavor.  I remember my family talking about "sap beer" years ago - I doubt they made any, if it had alcohol in it my Grandfather Bolton would probably not have allowed it.  However, I'm sure some of our neighbors probably did, and today it is being brought back.  Like they say, "What goes around comes around."  So, knowing how there is a wealth of information, some reliable, some not so much, on the web, I did some searching and found this site about sap beer that seemed to be pretty realistic.  In addition, I began thinking about "birch beer," and sure enough, I found lots of information on that, too, including an old birch beer recipe.

Part of what started me thinking about these old time, now exotic beers was when Henretta Splain came to pick up Ice-Out tickets one day last week.  We were talking about "Spirits of Vermont," the wine tasting fund raiser event coming up in July for the benefit of Pope Library, and Henretta was telling us about some of the unusual beverage makers they will have there this year.  We also talked about Vermont Switchel Company, which I'm sure I've mentioned here before since they are based in Cabot. Switchel was commonplace on farms in Vermont every summer not too many years ago.  I remember my folks talking about it, and I think they made it sometimes, but I never tasted it.  My father liked to keep root beer in our cold spring during haying season.  My mother made it using Hire's extract, but I wasn't allowed to taste it. 

Yesterday was "Pi Day" - I expect most of you knew that - 3-14-15, corresponding to pi, 3.1415 and on to infinity.  It won't happen again for 100 years.  I hope you celebrated in some way.  Today is the Ides of March, and that comes around every year - plus there are ides in other months, if you use the old Roman calendar.  However, what makes the Ides of March different is that Caesar was assassinated on that day, thus the warning, "Beware the Ides of March."  I hope it was a relatively uneventful day for all of you.