Ok - I want to start you off with a good laugh.  Turn on your speakers and click on this video:  Dog video.  Jamie sent it to us this morning saying he'd just watched and got a big kick out of it - I think you will, too.  Clever.

Back to serious stuff.  We've all been wondering what is going on at the old Joe's Pond Country Store site and today we saw that someone was working there, so Fred and I stopped.  It is going to be beautiful - an eatery serving breakfast and lunch, and they plan to be open sometime in March.  The proprietors will be Caleb Clark and his mom, Lynda Markison.  Caleb told us they will be calling it "Three Ponds . . ? . ."  - they haven't decided on what will come after, choosing from "eatery," "diner," "Good Food,"  or something else.   There will be a counter, hi-top seats and regular tables that will accommodate 17 customers, plus take outs.  Caleb has worked about 16 years in various restaurants. He told us after graduating UVM, he went to Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY, so he has a good foundation in food preparation and service, and the plan is to focus on comfort foods.

Caleb grew up in the Danville area, so many of you probably already know him and his mom.  We were impressed with his friendliness and enthusiasm and wish them well.

The north side of the building is not rented yet, but we stepped inside and it's very nice.  We didn't have the presence of mind to take the camera to get pictures, but we'll try to do that some other time.  For now, it's good to know the building will once again be occupied with a business.

We've had a little more snow today, but the temperature has been quite mild - about 30 degrees.  We had a little sunshine this morning, but by noon we could see the snow coming down from Walden and it was very pretty - big white flakes, no wind.

We enjoyed having our granddaughter here today.  Both Woody and I are tuckered, and I think Otto may be, too.  We were kept busy - Woody in particular.  He is always very patient and puts up with all sorts of enticements to play.  Sometimes I thought he looked a little bewildered, and perhaps pleading "Help me!" but he didn't complain and he hung out like a real trooper.

We did cool stuff.  We made jello right away.  Grape is my least favorite flavor, but except for Tangeni's mom having a small dish when she came this evening, Tangeni finished it all before she left.  She had a lot of it while it was still liquid - remember how good warm jello is?  Lime is my favorite.  Tangeni is a good eater.  She and Grandpa had clam chowder for lunch, but I had a sardine sandwich.  I really like sardines and Tangeni wanted to know what they were like, so I opened a can.  No problem if she didn't like them - I was happy to have them.  She looked at them but decided Woody would probably like some more than she would.  Of course, he was delighted.  He rarely meows for food, but he did for some sardine.


After lunch we walked up to see Otto at  Uncle Jamie and Aunt Marie's.  Tangeni wanted to see Rico, too, but he stayed out of the way.  Otto, though, was really happy to have a playmate.  They are a good match for energy.  I guess I had that much energy when I was five, but that's so many decades ago, I don't really remember.

Tomorrow I get back to business.  Not much history got written today, but we all had a good time, and it was fun to take a break from the computer. 

We awoke to 8 inches of new snow this morning.  I measured almost 4 inches yesterday (Friday) morning, so this storm has dumped at least a foot of snow on us.  This is not troubling because the snow is light and although it's sticking to the trees, it isn't weighing them down, so more power outages are not likely.  This is a fairly typical January snowstorm that makes skiers, boarders, snowmobilers and a few other people really happy. 

The snow has stopped falling for the time being, but I believe we are expecting more tomorrow.  The wind blew some last night, but today it's been fairly calm.  Fred took some pictures when he was finished clearing the snow from the driveways.  Jamie had plowed with "The Peach" so all Fred had to do was cut those nice vertical sidewalls to keep the driveways nice and wide.  The top picture is the driveway to our neighbor's - Jamie and Marie's splits off of that on the left about half way up, and Fred did that, too.  You can see the approach to our deck is looking more normal for January.



Yesterday Tom Dente called my attention to the news release about  Richard Leblanc drowning at Willoughby Lake this past week.  Lake Willoughby is like a fjord, long, narrow and very deep and is one of the last lakes in our region to freeze over each year.  Add to that Mr. Leblanc was on the ice near the outlet at the north end of the lake, where the more rapidly flowing water which means the ice would be thinner there.  He was ice fishing, so it's curious he wasn't aware he was literally "on thin ice."  It's tragic when something like that happens.  He was 62.

We have been so very lucky that we've had no such accidents here at Joe's Pond.  With the constant temperature swings and rainy periods, the ice here could be compromised, so anyone going out on this pond, or any other body of water, should be extra careful.

This month's Cabot Chronicle has some very useful information for Cabot voters.  The current issue isn't posted yet, but keep checking www.cabotvermont.org/cabot-chronicle.  The information posted there will help voters make decisions before the March meeting.  

Also in the Chronicle this month is an article on page 4

by Joe's Ponder, Andy Rudin.  I was able to scan the article to include here - click to make it larger.

We were very happy Andy did this for us, and urge anyone who has memories of people or places in Cabot (or the Cabot side of Joe's Pond!) to get in touch with either the Chronicle or with me.  I happened to have in the Historical Society collection several pictures of the Thompsons at an auction and was able to pick one that fit perfectly with the story.  

I'm interested in finding articles or newspaper clippings about the 1927 flood in West Danville.  We've found only one short reference saying water was three feet over the road and nearly took out the bridge - so surely someone must have taken pictures or saved newspaper clippings, and we would like to include information about that in the West Danville history book.  That was the same year work was completed improving and paving the road through West Danville.  If you have anything about any of the above, send an e-mail to:  janebrowncabot@gmail.com, or give me a call, 802-563-2381.  Many thanks.

We've had a really nice day with temperatures in the low 40s and even some sunshine.  The ice is mostly gone from all the trees, ready for the next "winter mix" heading our way tonight.  We've already had a little rain, a little snow, and the thermometer is slipping downward gradually.  At 4:30, we're at 34 degrees, and it will no doubt go below that before morning.  The weekend is going to be much colder, so all the warm surfaces will ice over and folks will be slipping and sliding again if they aren't careful. 

We went to St. Johnsbury for groceries and haircuts this morning.  It was like spring everywhere we went.  As we drove out of our driveway, it was like a heavy rain shower when we passed under the branches of one of the big spruces next to the driveway.  All the way down West Shore Road we were in and out of "showers" and I had to turn on the wipers.  Everywhere we went in town there was lots of water in the streets from all the ice melting.

We heard this week about some fellow in Maine that had tapped some maples and was getting a good run of sap.  He said he was actually making some very good quality syrup.  This morning when I was outside checking my rain gauge I could hear some crows in the distance making quite a racket.  They probably have a roosting spot nearby and were excited to have awakened to sunshine after so many dreary days.  Just guessing!

We took pictures as we were rolling down West Shore Road.  It was really pretty.  By the time we got back about 3 hours later, the ice had almost all melted from the trees, the town truck was pushing snowbanks back to make room for runoff and more snow, and it felt way more like late March than late January. 

The top picture is down the road from our house, the second is at the top of the hill by Talbot's looking towards Route 2.  Then Fred got this closeup of the ice formations.  There was a little more buildup of ice on things this morning, and just a skimming of snow that helped define each branch and twig.  We got only a trace of snow, but enough to take a little of the sparkle off the ice.

In case you haven't noticed, on home page you'll see a comment from someone who is looking for a cottage to buy at Joe's Pond.  

We're literally coated with ice this morning - but it's gradually warming and melting in at least some areas.  There was a gusty wind earlier this morning, and that set the trees to rustling and crackling as their ice-laden branches swayed. 

The top picture is of our living room windows when we first got up this morning.  The ice is just now, at noon, melting off on the windows on the south and eastern sides of the house.  I couldn't make out the temperature on the thermometer outside the kitchen window (2nd picture) but the weather station was registering 27.6 degrees.  Now it's up to 34, and the windows have cleared enough so I was able to take pictures.  

I measured 1 inch of new snow and .84 inch of precipitation in the gauge this morning, but there was a crusty frozen layer under the snow, and at 9 a.m. we were getting sleet and pretty strong gusts of wind that made the icy branches rustle and crackle.  We haven't had any power outage so far, but can't rule it out as there's still some wind and lots of ice weighing the branches down.  Click photos to enlarge.

We had a message today from our friend, Mike Wiedmer in Alaska.  He has quite a collection of antique cars, and sent us this from an article he did for the Hupp Herald, the journal of The Hupmobile Club.  Click to make it large enough to read.  Apparently Alaska is getting a good amount of snow and weather - looks like Vermont but with more snow!  Mike  is our neighbor Elisabeth's son.  Elisabeth is spending the winter with him and his wife, Gwyn, in Anchorage, Alaska.  Elisabeth is such a great sport, and she enjoys going to the various auto shows and rallies with Michael, so I expect she'll be a big part of all the winter celebrations in Alaska.  Having been brought up in Switzerland and living in Alaska many years before she moved to Vermont, she's no stranger to snow and winter weather. Above is another shot of the Hupmobile.  That's Elisabeth in the passenger seat. 

It seems the enjoyable part of our January thaw is over and we can expect nasty weather tonight and tomorrow.  The usual mix of wet snow, possibly some rain, icing and of course, wind.  It's a pattern that doesn't seem to change.  It was pretty nice outside today, but there was a thin film of ice this morning, and that could have been very slippery on the roads.  There has been a lot of fog, and when the temperature began to go down, everything was wet from the fog and mist and then froze.  

We have noticed activity at the Ken and Nancy Mason home here on West Shore Road.  We knew both Ken and Nancy have had health problems, so today I contacted their daughter-in-law, Cherese.  She told me Nancy is in a nursing home and Ken, who has been recovering from heart problems, has been with her and Kent.  She and Kent have their cottage on Edgewood Rd. on the market, as well as their home in Barre, and will be moving to 1581 West Shore Road, Ken and Nancy's home, year around.  She said they are making some repairs on the house now, but it should be ready by spring.  It's nice to know they will be moving there - it's a lovely location and a very nice home.  I'm sure Ken will be spending visiting during the summer as well, but it's good he has his own place, too.  He is feeling very well, Cherese said, and that's good news.

We can probably expect some blips in our electric power tonight if the storm develops as the weathermen are predicting.  This is the same storm that has spawned tornadoes in other parts of the country, but we don't expect anything like that here.  Too many hills to break up the force of the wind.  As of this morning, my wind gauge is frozen again, so I'll need to go outside if I want to find out how hard the wind is blowing.  I probably won't go out until tomorrow morning when I have to get precipitation measurements. The snow is going to be very wet, according to the forecast, so perhaps it won't blow around and cause quite as many white-out problems on the highways.  But still, it is a good night to stay at home if you don't absolutely have to go anywhere.

We are experiencing another "January thaw" for the last couple of days.  It's nice to have the temperature in the high 30s and 40s, but there's good and bad about that.  The good result is that the really hard ice that formed especially on the back roads is softening so the sand and salt the towns spread is able to work.  The not so good result of the warmish weather is that we've lost several inches of our snow cover.  I measured 11 inches this morning, and even took a core sample, coming up with 3.03 in. of water after it was melted.  Otherwise, I doubt there's been much good or bad about this warm spell, except sometimes when it warms up after a really cold, below-zero period, water pipes get frozen.  Something about the thawing making the ground temporarily colder.  I'm sure there's a logical explanation, one way or the other.  I know there is debate about that. 

Here's some interesting news:  We've just learned there is definite activity at the building that was Joe's Pond Country Store and is now owned by James and Sara Stinson, of Danville.  Restaurant equipment was delivered there this week.  No other info yet, but we'll keep you informed.  Having the place occupied will be good news for West Danville folks.  A new business opening means more traffic in town, and that should be good for other merchants in the area, as well.  The above picture shows the renovated building on the left.

We were in Burlington today - Fred visited Bill Rossi while I had an appointment with my eye specialist - no shot(s) today!!!  We were surprised at how little snow there is in Burlington.  The ground was bare in lots of places along the way, and in the city there were a few spots where snow had piled up from being plowed, but mostly it was bare streets.  

Weather here is spring-like - more like late March or early April than mid-January.  Regardless, I can't help feeling uneasy.  There may be a big, nasty surprise lurking just off the present weather charts.

Is everyone ready for the big inauguration tomorrow?  I hear promos that coverage will start at 9 a.m.  An elderly woman in the doctor's waiting room today said to me, "Think of all that money they could spend on something useful."  Well, she's right, but think of all the businesses getting a boost providing services to produce this ceremony.  Curious, I tried to find out how much money we were actually talking about.  According to information published by the N. Y. Times, it will likely be in the vicinity of $200 million.  Congress gets to pay about $1.25 million, for the ceremony itself, and the rest is covered by private donations.

I recall that during the campaign Mr. Trump declared he wouldn't be taking any pay while on the job.  Turns out, he's not the first to do that - George Washington, J. F. K., and a few others also declined the salary; however, the way our government is set up they pretty much have to take it.  If they are serious about not wanting to be paid they can donate the money to charity, which is what several presidents have done in the past.  This will be interesting.  

Curious again, I found this site listing the wealth (in today's dollars) of our presidents.  

Right now, Woody is requesting some attention, having been left alone for most of the day.  If he didn't have a pesky habit of knitting in my hair at night, he could probably sleep on our bed on special occasions like this, but since he has failed to understand boundaries every time we've tried, he's officially banned from the bedroom at night - door closed, no meowing or scratching allowed.  He has learned to respect the closed door thing, but every night he makes a game out of racing us to the door when it's bed time, and frequently makes it past us to hide under the bed.  It's easy to trick him into coming out, though.  All it usually takes is a belt trailing past the end of the bed or some unusual noise in another part of the house he can't resist investigating.

We learned last night that granddaughter, Tangeni, who has been wanting a pet - preferably a cat like Woody - most of her five years, is now going to realize her dream.  It can't be a cat because sister Jo-Ann is allergic to them, but Tangeni and her dad will be picking out two fish and setting up an aquarium.  The fish already have names - Bill told me, but I don't remember.  I'm sure we'll be formally introduced the next time we visit.  We had a fish tank  when the boys were young - one, "Big" out grew several aquariums and was part of the household long after the three boys had moved out on their own. I think we had him 8 or 10 years.  He flipped out of the large tank we had for him a few times (it had a top, but he was BIG) and we heard the commotion and each time we were able to return him to the water unharmed.  But one day made the leap when we were at work.  End of story. He was a legend.

I received from Andy Rudin a link to a story on billy barr.  No, I didn't forget to capitalize his name - that's the way he wants it.  I read the article and it was very interesting.  I don't mind being alone - sort of; but I'm sure I would never have managed being in the back country of the Colorado Mountains all by myself - ever!  I do understand his fascination with recording weather and other natural trends.  I've done a little of that, but decades of it?  Amazing.   My once-a-day recording of precipitation pales by comparison.

After I finished the article, I searched the internet as I often do when I find something or someone that interests me, and I found a short video made of billy barr.  I enjoyed hearing what his voice is like and seeing more of his home and surrounding area. 

As usual, I trudged out a little before 9 a.m. to measure snowfall this morning.  Fred had already been out shoveling and snow blowing, so I had very little snow to clear - when he shovels the deck, he is careful to leave the patch where I measure snow. 
It's been warmer today - mostly in the high 20s and low 30s.  We got 3.5 inches of snow during the night, and have had snow showers today, but not much buildup.  So far, no rain.  We're due for a warming trend tomorrow, I guess, but hopefully it won't take away too much of the snow cover.  I saw 13 inches at my back yard stake this morning - but I haven't actually gone out and poked a yard stick into the snow to get a more precise measurement.  Maybe this weekend . . .

Can you believe January is nearly gone?  Seems like we just had Christmas, and here it is almost a month past.  We'll be mowing lawns again before we know it.  One harbinger of spring is seed and garden catalogs.  I was reminded of that because one was put in the Joe's Pond Association mailbox by mistake, so it's here on my desk until we can get it back down to the post office.  The photos of perfect vegetables - tomatoes, peppers, summer squash - give me a little twinge that says, "Maybe I should plant a garden this year."  But if I do, it will be a tomato plant in a tub, or something simple.  The idea of a garden always appeals to me until I remember all the work it takes to make it successful.  And the even more work it takes to preserve the harvest if it is successful.  When I get real again, I prefer farmers' markets or the grocery store.

There isn't much to report except we got about an inch and a half of very light, fluffy snow early this morning.  It was cold and blustery for a while, but then the sun came out a little while, too.  Tonight is cold again, 10 above; but true to the recent weather pattern, tomorrow is supposed to warm up and there may be snow or rain Tuesday into Wednesday.  There's still plenty of ice left from the last rainy period.  The back roads are very icy under the sand, and because it's been so cold there hasn't been much impact from the salt the towns have laid down.  The main roads are fine.

 This top picture was taken January 13, 2016, but it could have been taken this morning. The next one was taken on January 13, 2015.  It looks like we had quite a bit more snow that year, and what a pretty day!  The next one down was taken on January 14, 2014.  We were having a "January thaw" that year!  I went back a few more years, but didn't find any very unusual snow pictures in my files.  I was surprised at how many years I took pictures on almost the same dates, though.

 I was contacted by someone from Lyndon State College last week asking if I would be interested in gathering data about ice storms.  Apparently there is a new program associated with NOAA and with CoCoRaHS that I've been reporting precipitation for since 2009.  I'm not enthusiastic about the prospects of measuring anything more than I already do, but on the other hand, it might be interesting, depending on what method they come up with to do it.

It's still in the planning stages, but I may get more details later on.  I can't imagine how one could get a good measurement - ice isn't as cooperative as snow.  I'm sure they'll figure something out.

We've heard lots of gun shots during the day today.  They seem to be coming from the woods below our house - or perhaps across the pond in the area of the channel.  I'm guessing it's rabbit hunters.  Sometimes we can hear the hounds as they are running the rabbits, but we weren't outside that much today.  I heard shots when I was getting the snow measurements this morning, and there were more this afternoon. We used to have lots of rabbit hunters in the area, but not so many recently.  We haven't seen many rabbits, either.  Perhaps there isn't enough cover for them since we and our neighbor had some logging done.  

Today has been cold and blustery, and it's getting colder.  I can't tell what the wind chill temperature is because my wind gauge is frozen.  It's high on the roof of our house, so not easy to get to, therefore it'll stay frozen for a while.  It doesn't make much difference - the wind is blowing hard enough so I'm pretty sure the wind chill is below zero even though the air temperature is 15 degrees.  It will be a cold night.
 
Fred just went to check Jamie and Marie's driveway - it was very slippery this morning when they went to work, but Marty Larrabee was coming to sand it, and Fred wanted to see if it had been done before Jamie and Marie got home.  It was well sanded and much better.  Fred got some pictures while he was out there - too bad cold doesn't show up in these, but you can see the sky was looking a bit threatening - those clouds have been scudding by along with swirls of snow most of the day.  We had some snow showers earlier, but later this afternoon the sun peeked through and the wind picked up even more.  It could be a wild night.  The top picture is looking southeast down West Shore Road.  The sky was pretty clear in that direction - all the storm clouds were coming from the northwest, as you can see looking in the opposite direction in the bottom shot.  In between is Jamie and Marie's driveway, nicely sanded.  Jamie said it was a little tricky getting down their steep driveway this morning.  Fred has a solution for ours, as you can see. He kept wheel tracks clear of snow and used salt when it started to freeze last night.  Now it's rough and crispy, but not glare ice, and the wheel tracks are down to the hardtop, so we're in fairly good shape.  Jamie and Marie's driveway is crushed rock and was snow packed when the rain came.  The snow pack turned to ice and not enough of the rock poked through to give much traction.  

Keep your animals inside and safe from the cold tonight, and if you have elderly neighbors, or know someone living alone, it's a good idea to just check in on them to be sure they are ok.  The forecast is for this weekend to be sunny and cold.  

According to my back yard measuring stick, we lost about half our snow pack in this last warm spell.  The stake shows 9.5 inches now, down from a high of 18 inches.  I have no doubt we'll replace it.  In the meantime, we're making ice.

We went to the special town meeting in Cabot this evening, and Diane Rossi went with us.   We've had spring-like weather today, temperature in the high 40s and even now at 9:15 p.m., my thermometer is registering 45 degrees.  We've had off and on showers and dense fog.  Diane's driveway was icy, so she told us not to drive in and met us at the top of her driveway.  She was wise to wear her creepers. We could barely make out the road on the way to Cabot because of the fog, and it was nearly as bad coming home, although there seemed to be some wind that was moving the fog a bit - but with the snowbanks and the fog close to the ground, everything was just white in the headlights.   We made it ok, in spite of the road being slippery in places.  Diane and I were glad Fred was driving.  Tomorrow the forecast is for a high of 29 and a low of -5!  Hard to believe things can change that quickly.  

There was a large attendance at the meeting - nearly 200 people.  The meeting was brief and to the point.  R.D. Eno gave a lengthy and impassioned plea in favor of rescinding the previous vote taken in October.  As soon as he finished, there was a motion to call the vote.  It was necessary to have 2/3 of those attending in favor in order to vote without further discussion.  Voters were asked to stand, first those in favor of calling the vote and then those opposed.  The count showed more than 2/3 of the voters wanted the vote immediately. Voting was by paper ballot.  The result was 102 to not rescind the vote; 79 voted to rescind.  The October vote stands and articles regarding Town, Highway and Special Service Appropriations will be by Australian ballot.  These articles will now also be on absentee ballots.  

As far as I know, there has been no opposition to having the school budget voted by Australian ballot as was decided in October.  That was not an issue at this special meeting.  

The meeting was very congenial - and very short.  Apparently there are a lot of people who want to at least try making it easier for more people to have a say in how the town's money is spent.  I'm sure those who can will still go to town meeting - it is a worthy institution and I doubt anyone wants to give it up entirely.  It will be interesting to see how it all works out in March.

I want to remind people who live on the Cabot side of Joe's Pond of the special town meeting tomorrow evening, Thursday, January 12, at 7 p.m. at the Cabot School Gym.  This is to vote on whether to rescind the vote passed at a special meeting on October 20 which would allow big item budget articles (Town, Highway, Special Appropriations and the School Budget) all to be by Australian ballot.  

This is important, especially for people who are working and may not be able to attend Town Meeting, or people who are away when Town Meeting takes place in March.  A "No" vote tomorrow night will uphold the October 20 decision to allow voting those articles by Australian ballot in March and therefore will also be included on absentee ballots.  These articles represent the largest expenditures by the Town and subsequently what you tax bill will look like.  

The results of the October 20, 2016 Special Meeting as reported on the town's website are shown below:

Special Town Meeting [October 20, 2016]

–

Australian Ballot Outcome

–

Betty reviewed the totals. The school and the town budget

articles will be Australian Ballot. The town 183 cast 95 voted yes, 88 no. The school was 174 voted 100 yes and 74 no. We will have fewer articles and fewer Australian votes. The flags, library, fire department, etc. will no longer be voted on individually.

It will be the whole budget voted on. The service appropriations, highway budget and general fund budget will all be Australian Budget [Ballot].

We will need to have this informational meeting for the voters to see what

the budget consists of.

 

Unfortunately, you have to go to the Thursday night meeting in person in order to vote, so it's important that all registered voters who are here go to this meeting. 

We're headed into a warming trend after several days of bitter cold.  We went to Franconia, N. H. yesterday to have lunch at Polly's Pancake Parlor.  We enjoy going there - Fred especially for the pancakes (we were belatedly celebrating his birthday), and although I've always enjoyed their pancakes, their new menu since they redid the place and are staying open during winter months, is excellent, too.  I had a very nice homemade vegetable soup and a turkey sandwich - sooooo good!  And the tea was HOT!  I was reminded how much my mom would have liked that.  I don't know how many times she sent tea water back at restaurants because it wasn't hot enough.  Polly's served my tea in a lovely pewter teapot and it was piping hot!  The water stayed hot enough for a second cup before we left.  

You'll notice in the picture above there is not much snow in the field or along the roadsides.  We were surprised that they don't have as much snow there on Sugar Hill as we have at Joe's Pond. The weather wasn't great - there were a few clouds along the mountain tops that I think may have been frost - and the temperature stayed in the single digits above zero until afternoon when we were heading home and I noticed we had 13 degrees on the car thermometer.  There weren't many people at the restaurant, but that was nice, too.  We've been there many times when we had to wait for a table.  The waitress (we've had her before and she's great fun and exceptionally good at what she does) told us they were very busy during the weekend.  She said business always picks up during school breaks when families are skiing.  This is their second winter being open.

We stopped in Littleton at the food co-op where we enjoy browsing

.  We were there in the fall and they were just starting an addition on the north end of the building.  It should be finished by warm weather, and will expand the store by a lot.  They are rather cramped now, so it should be a big improvement.  In the meantime things are a little chaotic, but the food and staff are great. 

Speaking of building - this is Lauren VanDeren's new house on Otis Drive here at Joe's Pond.  Larry Rossi's crew is working on it.  It looks like it will be very nice, and I really like the style.  It is where the Begin camp was, and is next door to Lauren's brother, Larry Rossi.  There are other year-around residents in that area now, so I'm sure Lauren will enjoy living there.

Ice-Out ticket sales are picking up again.  There was a lull immediately after the holidays, but Terry Powers, owner of Natural Provisions stores has just taken another 250 to the Williston store, and I'm sure he'll need more before the season is over.  Hastings Store has plenty of tickets for the present, and we'll keep them well supplied.  There are also tickets at Cabot Creamery Visitors' Center in Cabot.  Diane and I will be getting tickets more widely distributed in a few more weeks, but in the meantime, contact any of the merchants mentioned above or go to the ticket page on line where you can fill in and print tickets and mail them with your money to:  JPA, PO Box 111, West Danville VT 05873.  

This promises to be another really good year for our Ice Out Contest.  It doesn't matter if you aren't local or even in Vermont.  Everyone has an equal chance.  People from lots of states have won. Some spend lots of time and thought picking a date and time the clock will stop, and others make totally random guesses, but so far nobody has discovered a formula to outwit Mother Nature.  It's totally just plain luck.  Usually we have one winner, but one time five people picked the correct date and time.  At only $1 per ticket, the contest can be fun for lots of people, and the winner could get a check for around $5,000.  It's definitely worth a try!

The temperature is below zero again tonight - it was something like minus 5 last night and may be slightly colder tonight.  I didn't venture outside all day.  I was busy at my computer, so that was a good excuse not to have to go out.  I was tempted when the sun was so nice in the morning, but shortly after lunch time we began to lose our nice day.  The temperature continued to move downward from then on.

Woody, our cat, has not teased to go outside at all today.  He usually at least goes into the garage a few times, but I think he senses it's really cold.  When it warms up even a little, he'll be pestering again.  He hasn't caught on that the kitty door is locked at night now so he can't roam further than the garage after dark.  We are especially glad we don't let him outside at night now because our neighbor has seen a bobcat at least a couple of times recently and thinks there were tracks where two crossed the road about by Randall's driveway.  There have been other reports of bobcat sightings in Cabot recently.  They are looking for food like all the other wild animals, and will definitely take house cats or small dogs, given the chance.  We have no intention of letting Woody become some animal's lunch.  I really wish I could somehow make him understand we are protecting him, not punishing him.  

Keep warm and safe yourself, and do the same for your animals.  It's going to be very cold for the next few days and nights. 

Today started off with gorgeous bright sunshine.  The air was cold - about 13 degrees at around 8 a. m., and it never got much above 20 degrees all day.  The sun faded in the afternoon, and tonight the temperature has already dropped to 8 above.  It's going to be a cold night - and cold for the next several days.

I measured 1 inch of new snow this morning.  It was feathery light - like angel dust, and dry; it measured only .03 of water content.  The snow sparkled in the sunlight and everything looked brilliantly clean.  Fred got these pictures.

Later today he went to West Danville to pick up the mail and other items and stopped at the fishing access on his way home.  He talked to some ice fishermen and found out the ice is about 12 inches thick.  I'm guessing that will change in the next few days with below zero temperatures forecast for some nights.  I'm still surprised the pond froze over only once this year - no thaws and refreezing at all.  We're making new lore in some areas, it seems.

The obituary for Doris Demick, Evelyn Richer's mom, is in the Caledonian Record this morning.   If you wish to send a message to Evelyn, their address is:  Mr. & Mrs. Ray Richer, 104 Harleyview Dr., Monroe NH 03771.

We are also saddened to learn of the passing yesterday of George Bennett (Edgewood Ave.).  George was 92.  The Bennett family has owned a cottage at Joe's Pond for many years, and George enjoyed many wonderful summer days there.  George was a special friend and a gentleman.  Our family knew him well when the Bennett family lived across from Dot and Bill Dimick on Webster Street in St. Johnsbury. He worked at Hovey's Shops on Railroad Street and always walked to work - I doubt he ever missed a day.  In more recent years, George made his home with his nephew, Stephen.  Condolences may be sent to Mr. & Mrs. Stephen Bennett, 78 Laurel Dr., St. Johnsbury VT 05819.

Snow

 

by Frederick Seidel

Snow is what it does.

It falls and it stays and it goes.

It melts and it is here somewhere.

We all will get there.

This poem was sent to me by Andy Rudin.  The snow here has fallen and it stayed - but now some has melted and gone, presumably seeping into the earth "somewhere,"  which for me, makes the last line a bit depressing.  Perhaps there is deeper meaning I'm missing?  Thank you for sharing the poem, Andy.  I'll have to think about it more.

Today was not the day to be in the woods or for finding refuge under a tree.  All the snow and ice and slush on the tree branches was melting, and when I walked at noon, the only showers were where there were branches overhanging the road - which was much of the way.  Even the power and telephone lines were dripping.  Now there are alternating rain and snow showers as the temperature begins to lower and a new front begins to move in.  We can expect some wind, too, according to the forecast. 

I haven't seen an obituary for our friend, Doris Demick, Evelyn Richer's mother, but if you would like to send a note or card to Evelyn and Ray, their address is:  104 Harleyview Dr., Monroe, NH 03771.  I'll post the obituary as soon as it is available.

Here's a new business in our area you may like to explore:

Click on the image to make it large enough to read easily.  You can also go to Angela's website, www.moonshadowherbals.com for detailed information about her services and products.  I've never experienced aromatherapy, but it sounds wonderfully relaxing - perhaps an excellent way to escape momentarily the harshness of winter - and take home your own blend of herbal essence.

January Thaw!

Here we are in a nice new year with foul weather coming at us like an angry bull with attitude.  I have been listening to the scanner to find out what the road crews are preparing for, and it's everything.  They expect rain, freezing rain coming in from the west creating varying degrees of slippery roads.  All this is starting in the Champlain Valley area about now and will arrive in our area at about 4 p.m., according to the VTrans report.  Conditions will vary from rain to snow and everything in between, making driving hazardous especially tonight into tomorrow.  The rain will be turning into snow and temperatures will drop dramatically by Thursday and aren't expected to moderate until Tuesday.  The kind of precipitation we get will depend on elevation.  Some places are warmer than others so it will be rain, but the temperature is going to drop at night making conditions more hazardous. This messy weather will continue through the weekend and there will be some nights below zero and days will remain in the teens or single numbers above.  It seems there could be a little snow each day, except freezing rain on Wednesday.  None of this will be hitting southern New England.  This is good news for Massachusetts and Connecticut folks who have been burdened with more snow and bad weather the past couple of winters than they deserved.  I heard from Tom Dente this week and he said there is no snow in Connecticut.  There's still lots of time left before this winter is finished - they may still see some snow.

It's been mild today - low to mid 30's - so it's possible we'll get more snow than rain.  We'll hold onto that thought!

 

I hope everyone had a fun, safe New Year's celebration.  I heard some fireworks early in the evening that seemed to be coming from down on the pond, but I didn't happen to see any of them.

We heard from Evelyn Richer a week ago that her mom, Doris Demick, who had an apartment over their garage when they lived on Sandy Beach Road, had fallen on Christmas Eve and broke her hip.  She was residing at St. Johnsbury Health and Rehabilitation Center.  She was operated on the day after Christmas.  Today I received word from Evelyn that her mom passed away on New Year's Eve.  She had survived the operation on her hip, but then had a heart attack.  She was 95.

I had known Doris for a long time, having worked with her at the St. Johnsbury School System in the 1970's.  She and her late husband, George, lived in Woodsville, N.H. at that time and then moved for a short time to St. Johnsbury.  Doris was curriculum coordinator for the school system when Ted Sargent was superintendent; I was her secretary.  It was she who took a chance on hiring me when I needed to get back into the workforce after ten years as a homemaker.  It was often confusing for people because of the close similarity of our names - only the spelling was different.  She spelled her name Demick, mine was Dimick.  As far as I know there was no direct relationship between our husbands' families.  Those were good years, we had a close-knit group of teachers, administrators and staff that continued to get together long after some of us moved on or retired.  Doris always loved a party, and cherished her friendships.  We'll miss her.   Our sincere sympathy goes to the Richers and their family.

Our weather today has been absolutely beautiful.  The bright sunshine and 30ish temperature was so welcome I didn't even mind trudging up Jamie and Marie's hill this noon.  Fred did his usual runs up the hill, and he couldn't resist going back out to get some snow pictures this afternoon.  I was busy here at my computer focusing on dealing with a pesky e-mail problem - I've been getting messages showing names of people I know from a website called Zorpia - the Chinese version of FaceBook. The messages aren't real, it's just to get me to sign onto the site. I have neither signed up for nor want to be part of that site.  Fred got a notice that I'd sent him a message (I didn't) and Jack LaGue got a similar one that I also didn't send, so apparently this website somehow got into my gmail address book.  I have no idea how many others got a "message" from me that I didn't send.  I can only guess that it happened when I imported addresses from Fairpoint to my new gmail account.  I HAVE NOT joined Zorpia, so no legitimate messages will come from me to anyone from that address.  There is a place to click if you don't want further messages from that source.  Here's more information about the site:   Zorpia.   It isn't a virus, just an irritating social network that will clutter inboxes with junk. 

Here are some of the pictures Fred took this afternoon.  You can see we have a fair amount of snow - about 18 inches on the level - and snowbanks are building up.  Jamie is ready with "The Peach" on the right and his "new" tractor on the left.  Fred does a nice with the snow blower keeping the banks neat and the driveways wide,  but when the snow gets too deep or the banks have to be pushed back, it's great to be able to call in "The Peach" or the tractor.  The last two pictures are Jamie and Marie's driveway that we run/walk up almost every day.  I don't know the exact pitch of this roadway, but it's steep!  I am still wary of the ice that I know is under the snow pack, especially when I'm coming down that hill.  I wear my creepers, but sometimes when conditions are just right, they can be very much like skates.  Oops!!!

The weather is going to change tonight and there will be a messy rain/snow mix starting late tomorrow into Wednesday.  It may be more snow than rain in the West Danville/Walden area, and lots of folks hope that's the case and we don't lose too much of the snow cover we have.  We've seen a few snowmobiles (even though they aren't supposed to be on this road!)  I think the trails must be in pretty good shape with the snow we have now.  There is a crust under three or four inches of snow and there was a single turkey track across our lawn this morning. The turkeys had been having a hard time in the deep snow before we got a little rain a few days ago and the crust formed.  Now it's easy for them to get around, but harder to find food under the layer of crust.  There were a couple of turkeys still hanging out here, but now just this one; perhaps it was this one's mate that something killed and Marie saw by the brook last week.  We haven't seen the big flock for a while.  We heard some crows making quite a rumpus today on our walk.  Perhaps they are in competition with the turkeys for food.