I think summer is officially here, finally.  Today has been hot and humid, like July is supposed to be.  And there's more and hotter to come!  For those of us lucky enough to be at Joe's Pond, that's about as good as it gets.  This weather feels really hot to a lot of us, mostly because it's been in the 40's and 50's most nights until now and the days haven't been warm enough to really get the frost out of our bones.  With some parts of the country experiencing triple digit temperatures and wild fires, and other parts of the nation having snowstorms, or tornadoes like in Canada, we realize how fortunate we are to live here. 

Traffic on West Shore Road:  We are coming to the end of the "detour period," and wouldn't you know, Ray Rouleau got word yesterday the state is going to set up a speed cart for us - any day now.  Ray has been patrolling, thinking they would come Monday, then today; but nothing yet.  That's probably ok because even though the bridge is scheduled to be open to one-way traffic next week, I expect a lot of folks will opt for West Shore Road instead of waiting in line to get over the bridge, and speed will still be a factor to recon with.  If traffic delays are anything like when the work was being done in Danville a couple years ago, you can hardly blame people for avoiding the bottleneck and continuing to use West Shore Road.  So we will hope the speed cart does show up one day this week and will be left in place for the rest of the summer.  

Here's something to put on your calendar - the Cocktail Party at the Joe's Pond Association pavilion.  It's always a fun party, and everyone is welcome.

A couple bits of Joe's Pond news:  We learned recently that Dot Temple has moved to an assisted living facility in Wilder, Vermont.  The family gets to camp whenever they can, but we'll certainly miss Dot.  If you'd like to send her a card, send it in care of Jeff Temple, 20 Edgewood Dr., Rutland, VT 05701.  Dot recently turned 90 years old!

Some of you have missed seeing Don and Audrey Walker at camp this year.  I spoke with Don last week and learned Audrey has been having some difficulties walking, but Don said they still go out as much as possible; it's just that it's easier for both of them to be at their home in Montpelier than at camp.  He said he misses his daily swim in the pond, but he's feeling chipper as usual.  If you happen to be in the area of the Wayside Restaurant on the Barre-Montpelier Road, you just might find Don and Audrey having breakfast or lunch there, and they'd both enjoy seeing friends.