I had a nice note from Mary Whitcomb - haven't heard from her for a while, and it was great that she got in touch.  Mary said the little poem I posted about how sap runs best reminded her of one she enjoyed, so she shared the link with me.  Turn on your speakers.  POEM.

That was funny, and it reminded me of the first year Fred and I lived year around at Joe's Pond.  Come spring, we decided it would be fun to make our own syrup.  It wasn't about the cost of syrup - well, maybe a little - I think it was really more that the farmer in me took over, and all those maple trees on the hillside where Chatot Road is now were an irresistible challenge.  We bought a few used buckets and some spouts and tapped half a dozen trees or so.  It all went very well except it was a really good year for sap and I don't think Fred appreciated having to gather sap every night after we got home from work.  The snow was deep and we didn't have snowshoes - he just waded through the deep snow with a big pail sloshing sap.

We boiled it on the electric stove and even with doors and windows open, the steam collected in the camp so everything was moist - there was wall paper that loosened and the furniture got sticky.  I'm sure it cost far more for electricity to boil that sap into syrup than it would have cost to buy it.  I don't remember how much we made, not a lot but enough to give a little taste to our parents and we had some for ourselves.  We never did it again, though.  I don't think we even discussed it - it was just understood.  Neither again.

Mary Whitcomb said she's enjoying watching large flocks of grackles, starlings and red-winged blackbirds at her house.  I haven't seen any of those, but I did hear the crows making a big fuss this morning when I went for my walk.  I suspect mating season for them is coming soon.  They're a raucous bunch almost any time of year except when on the nest - then they keep pretty quiet so the nest won't be discovered by predators.  I remember when I was a kid looking forward to the first crows, usually during sugaring; but now I see crows around all winter.

Anyway, thanks to Mary for sharing. 

Another beautiful spring day.  We're starting off with lots of sunshine and temperatures in the high 30s, apparently moving up.  If it warms up sufficiently, this should be a good sap day.  There is a nice wind out of the west - I'm reminded of the old poem,
 "The Winds of Maple" 
When the wind's in the west, the sap runs best,
When the wind's in the north, the sap runs forth,
When the wind's in the south, the sap runs drouth
When the wind's in the east, sap runs least. 

And there you have it - the sap maker's rule.

We didn't get any snow or rain yesterday - perhaps a flake or two here and there, but no buildup.  We are so far retaining the 18 inches or so cover we still have, down from about 3 feet, and that keeps everything looking good and most ski and snow machine trails are still pretty good at this elevation.  South of us - probably not as good.

I've been hanging out inside mostly this past weekend, trying to beat a mean cough.  I got some sort of bug a little over a week ago that has me sounding like an ancient bullfrog.  Fortunately, Fred hasn't picked it up, and today I'm beginning to feel better after a good night's sleep last night.  This sort of thing limits my talking, for sure.  I mostly can't get through a complete sentence without coughing.  Fred might say that's a blessing - but since I'm the main chef around here, he wouldn't dare. 

We've been watching a sheriff's car patrolling here on W. Shore Road this morning. It's been by and back at least twice.  I don't know if they are looking for someone or something specific or if it's just routine.  The car was at the south entrance of Cabot Village when we were down there the other day - so perhaps he/she is just fulfilling a policing commitment to the town.  Town Meeting is coming up right away, so it may be an effort to look good to voters.  I'm not sure how the sheriff's contract with the town is negotiated, but it's nice to see law enforcement out and about, whatever the reason.

Another spring day and again we've had a bit of everything.  Not much sunshine, but the temperature got well into high 50s.  On the news tonight it was reported to have reached 70 in Burlington, setting a new record.  Here at Joe's Pond we had a little rain during last night, then this morning fog and brief sun, and tonight it rained very hard around dinner time and then the temperature dropped to freezing and everything got coated with ice before it began to snow.  It's snowing now.  I'm hearing on the scanner (10:30 p.m.) that we have had about 3 in. of snow in this area.  I'm not going out to measure anything.  It will keep until morning.

I was reading in the paper today that Alaska has had less snow in the Anchorage area than normal so the Iditarod race starting point will be in Fairbanks.  I guess more snow and colder is better for that event.  We'll have colder weather here by next weekend, but the week ahead is going to be interesting - hopefully there may be some good sugarin' weather in the mix!

   

 We've had quite a bit of spring weather today - sunshine this morning and temperatures in low 50s,  then around noon we had some rain, and now the fog has closed in on us.  The temperature is going down (now 45F) but I don't think it's going to get very cold tonight.  The rain and warm weather is going to continue through the weekend, I believe.  Then what?  Possibly some flooding.

We went to Cabot Village this morning to deliver Ice-Out tickets to the stores there, and the road was slimy and muddy, even slippery in spots - I suspect there's still solid ice underneath the muck.  We had no trouble anywhere, but our car was dripping mud when we got home.

Cabot Village was quiet, but I was impressed at the amount of stock the hardware store has now.  It seemed to me to be very well stocked.  It smelled good, too - the little diner at the back of the store smelled like breakfast - bacon and coffee.  We had more stops to make, otherwise I would have been tempted to hang out over a cup of coffee.  

We took tickets to the Visitors' Center at Cabot Creamery and we're hoping they will sell some for us.  Then to the Corner Stop Inn Shop in Walden.  It's always good to see Diane Cochran who owns that little store.  Diane does a great job selling tickets for us every year, too.  I think gets some good natured ribbing going so her customers want to get in on the fun. 

Yesterday we delivered tickets to our usual outlets in St. Johnsbury, Caplan's, Natural Provisions, Aubuchon Hardware and Thurston-Dimick Auto.  There will be tickets at The Tower in St. Johnsbury Center, too.   Diane Rossi has distributed to Barre Optical, Dente's Market in Barre, the Marshfield Village Store and Marty's and Barrel to Bottle in Danville.  We are happy to welcome new ticket outlets Cabot Creamery, Aubuchon's and Barret to Bottle to our group.   We also have a big "thankyou" for Shelly Walker who will be helping her dad, Don Walker, distribute tickets in the Montpelier area this year.  It's wonderful to have enthusiastic new folks on board.

Now we have to think about getting the block and flag out there before the ice gets dangerously punky.  Larry Rossi will take care of that shortly, I expect.  Our input specialist, Henretta Splain, has been on vacation, but is now back on the job, and we have a few hundred tickets waiting for her.  Fred has the spread sheet tuned up and pay-on-line tickets will be available on March 1st.  Printable on-line tickets have been available all year - but next week you'll be able to make out and pay for your tickets on line.  We're looking forward to another great year for our Joe's Pond Ice-Out Contest.  The surest sign spring is coming is that the Joe's Pond Ice-Out block and flag are up.

It was a big day for our family - Monika became an American citizen.  We were in Burlington for the Naturalization Ceremony at the Edmonds Middle School this afternoon.  It was a very nice ceremony and the 23 new citizens were enthusiastically greeted by friends, family and the young students at the school.  Of course we got some pictures.  Top picture is the group, Monika at the far right; next, a view of the auditorium audience; and the third photo is of the officials who presented Certificates of Citizenship to each petitioner.  Honorable John M. Conroy, U. S. Magistrate Judge presided, and other dignitaries present were representatives from Sen. Leahy's and Sen. Sander's offices, Rep. Peter Welch's Office, U. S. Immigration Services, the DAR, Vermont League of Women Voters and Mayor Weinberger, who welcomed the new citizens on behalf of the City of Burlington.  We were disappointed that nobody from the governor's office came.   

Monika was radiant.  It's been a long process for her, eight years.  For some of the others it had taken longer.  The process is rigorous; there are certain criteria that need to be met  and a lot of studying and rigorous testing to go through.  It is not an easy task, becoming a U. S. Citizen. 

After the ceremony, we went to a restaurant at Taft's Corners and continued the celebration with a great lunch.  This is Monika with Bill and their daughters, Jo-Ann (17) and Tangeni (5).  Friends of the family, Doug and Deb Haselton, were on hand to celebrate with us - pictures here from lert to right, Bill, Fred, Jane, Monika, Deb, Jo-Ann, Tangeni and Doug.  We had a very nice time and we're all very proud of Monika's achievement.  We are planning another celebration this summer when more of our family can be present.

It was very spring-like in Burlington.  Almost no snow at all.  The sun came out during the latter part of the afternoon and that sent the thermometer into the 50s.  It may not have been quite that warm here at Joe's Pond, but by the time we got home this evening, West Shore Road was slightly muddy - nothing serious, but we could tell there was some thawing going on.  The temperature tonight is 35 - a little too warm for a good sap run tomorrow, actually, but Deb was telling us that friends of theirs have tapped their trees and the sap was running well today.  It's going to be nice for a few more days and then the temperature is going to drop again, but that's normal springtime weather.  We'll just enjoy these lovely spring days and take the rest as it comes knowing spring is on the way.

These cold nights and warm days we're going to have for the next several days should start the sap in the maple trees!  Daytime temps today were 40ish, with plenty of sunshine this morning, but clouding up this afternoon.  It hit single digits last night (above zero), and I think that may be a little too chilly to stimulate sap runs, but tonight it's going to be warmer.  We'll probably hear of producers who have tapped early and will benefit from this spring-like weather.  Actually, this isn't unusually early - after all, town meetings are coming up in less than two weeks (March 7th).   It may be all this recent snow is slowing things down as far as getting the trees actually tapped and the lines up, but there have been seasons when producers had far more snow to deal with.

There is still a fair amount of ice under slush, snow and gravel on roads and driveways.  The ice now is softer than a week ago when it was so cold.  My creepers bit in just fine today when I walked up Jamie and Marie's hill at noon.  there were a few spots where it looked pretty glare and I was concerned, but I found if I came down hard with each step, the creepers dug in and held.  I couldn't do that when it was so cold.  The ice on the roads now is punky.

That's not to say the pond ice is punky - although there are daily warnings around the state to beware of thin ice on lakes and ponds.  We haven't heard from any fishermen lately about how thick the ice here at Joe's Pond is, but perhaps someone will contact me with that information.  Kevin?  Kyle?  Kyle is probably too tired from clearing roofs to want to go ice fishing these days.  We'll see.

Fred stopped in at Three Ponds today.  That's the new eatery that will be opening up soon.  There's still no official opening date set - Caleb (Clark) told Fred it is hard to predict.  There is no remnant of the old Joe's Pond Country Store there at all.  You won't recognize the place - it's very nice, clean and new and will be configured very differently than the old space.  We'll keep you posted.

    It's always fun to see what our friends are up to during the winter months away from Joe's Pond.  This picture and a short e-mail came from Butch and Susan Bouchard today.  They did their annual get together with Tom and Camilla Dente today at the Publick House Tavern in Sturbridge, Massachusetts.  Butch said he and Susan and "JPA's President and First Lady" enjoyed not only mild weather but also warm friendship - a ritual that tides them over until the summer social season begins at Joe's Pond.  From left to right, Susan, Butch, Camilla and Tom. 
     Thanks to Butch and Susan for thinking to share the photo with us. 

Spring continues in the north country.  We have temperatures in the 40s and this morning bright sunshine, but now it's clouded over and looks like it might rain.  The forecast isn't predicting rain until Thursday now - earlier it was saying Wednesday.  In the meantime, tomorrow and Wednesday are predicted to be nice again.
   Although we have springlike conditions here, it's nothing like Philadelphia.  I had an e-mail and pictures from Andy Rudin this morning saying it was 63F and snowdrops bloomed this morning.  He was out on his bike.  
    All our flower beds are buried under about 5 feet of snow.  We have close to 3 feet still on the ground (in spite of some melting going on) and then there's the snow from shoveling the deck and snow-blowing the driveway - it all adds up and it will be a while before we see bare ground again around our house, let alone flowers.  It's nice to know spring is arriving as scheduled in other parts of the country - Andy is always weeks ahead of us, but it's a very nice preview of what's to come here.  I'll be looking for pussy willows soon, and then spring might seem to be a possibility.

    

I just read on Front Porch Forum that Walt and Julie Ackermann, who live just up Cabot Plains Road from the intersection with Brickett's Crossing Road, had cash, jewelry and guns stolen from their house yesterday - Friday the 17th.  Apparently they were broken into around noon.  We should all be warned to keep our doors locked and be watchful for anything unusual in our neighborhood or strangers lurking around.  Surveillance cameras and/or a security system with a very loud alarm may help.  

For people who have homes here at the pond, it may be a good idea to have someone you trust check your home from time to time if you are away for the winter.  I haven't heard of any camps being targeted, but we have had problems here from time to time.    
 

It's been like spring today!  Beautiful sunshine all day, not a flake of new snow in the air, the temperature actually hit 40 degrees at about mid-day, and it was gorgeous.  The snow pack has probably compacted a bit, but I don't think much melting took place. 

Some of you may know one of our local newspapers, the Hardwick Gazette has been for sale for some time, and this week that happened.  Owner Ross Connelly's last day at the help was yesterday.  The new owners, Ray and Kim Small, from Connecticut, have not owned or operated a newspaper before, but they both have a good deal of business experience. so the Gazette will be in good hands - and the staff will stay on, so the change will probably go unnoticed by those of us who read the paper.  

I have known Ross Connelly for quite a number of years.  He was always receptive to publishing without charge the many notices about Ice-Out or other goings on I've submitted.  He was also generous about publishing my articles, and over the years became a friend as well as mentor.  Ross usually drops by the Cabot Historical Society building on the Fourth of July, and I always look forward to chatting with him.  He says he wants to travel and write;  I wish him safe travels and endless inspirations.  I know he'll find his niche away from the Gazette, but it won't be the same knowing he's not at the ancient building that balances on the narrow piece of land between the Lamoille River and Main Street in Hardwick.  

I just chatted with Shelly Walker who lives down the road from us, and she told me her dad, Don, turned 90 on Feb. 8th.  The family did a little birthday breakfast party for him at the Wayside Restaurant on the Barre-Montpelier Road.  Don is spry as they come and will be selling Ice-Out tickets again for us this year - how many years has it been?  Actually, Don Walker was one of the originals who came up with the idea for the Ice-Out Contest in 1988, so it's been almost three decades.  That's a lot of tickets sold, Don!!!  Congratulations on turning 90 - and we wish you many more great years.  

Our weather has finally turned around.  We started off the day with more snow showers and a mean wind with the temperature in the teens - just like every other day this week.  By noon we had brilliant sunshine and temperatures in the 20s - still some wind, but not as strong as it has been.  Really it's been a very pretty day.  Still a little cold with the wind, but the sun makes everything look beautiful lifts people's spirits.   I couldn't help smiling as I tromped up Jamie and Marie's driveway this noon.  Everything fresh and so pretty it was fun to be outside.
     Fred went with Jamie this afternoon to get some pictures of our camp after Kyle Johnson finished shoveling off the flat roof for us.  The rest of it has enough pitch so we don't worry much about that.  Kyle said the snow was eight feet deep where it had drifted off the main roof onto the flat one.  That was a lot of shoveling!!  I wish we'd thought to take a picture yesterday before Kyle shoveled it.  The pontoon boat is parked on the lawn by the boathouse, and that is unrecognizable under the snow.
     I noticed yesterday that there was a big overhang of snow from Talbot's cottage, and Fred took a picture of it today - you can see that some of it has broken off.  When the wind is predominantly from the north, as it's been recently, the south sides of buildings tend to get drifting and snow buildup.  Where they are more exposed to the wind, the snow is swept off and piles up at some other house.
     Notice in the pictures how clear and blue the sky is.  We haven't seen that in a while!  The forecast is for sunny weather through the weekend and nothing going on until about Wednesday.  Then we may get either snow showers or rain showers - depends on all the variables - but it looks like everyone can get outside and take care of clearing away snow and not worry about it piling up again right behind them.  

    

Another six inches of snow overnight and still snowing lightly.  We

are just seeing the sun peeking through the clouds (top), even as the snow is still falling.  Very pretty.  The temperature is staying in the low to mid 20s, and the wind is gusting to about 25 mph, so there's lots of snow swirling around today and the trees are covered - again.  This is a shot of our trees along our driveway.

We had to go to Danville today and there's lots of snow there, too.  I understand this time around there's more snow as you move east, so St. Johnsbury has had more from this latest storm than we have.  Wherever we went today people were talking about our "old fashioned winter" and lots were even saying how good it seems.  Really!  However, some of us are beginning to think enough of this, already - time to think about spring.  Winter got started a bit late this year, so I suppose there's a good chance spring will be delayed, as well.   Fred got some pictures  while we were in Danville today.  That's Marty's parking lot, and I'm sure you'll recognize the church and post office at the "Green." 

When we got to West Danville, I took a shot 

 from in front of Hastings store - compared to some of those Danville pictures, it looks fairly moderate in West Danville for a change.  The wind was blowing, as usual, and there is still plenty of snow at Joe's Pond - I think we're just used to seeing piles of snow there so we don't get as excited as when it piles up in other places. 

There is a lot of snow on roofs everywhere, so that will be a concern, especially if we get the rain that is in the forecast.

In the meantime, Ice-Out ticket sales are picking up and in a about a week we'll have numerous outlets armed with tickets and the website will have a page up and running with pay-on-line tickets starting March 1. With all this snow to insulate the ice, we could have a more normal Ice-Out this year where we won't be biting our nails for fear the flag will go down before the April 1st deadline for buying tickets.  On the other hand, we have five plus weeks to go, and anything can happen.  Like rain possible this weekend.  It's going to take a lot of rain to wash away all this snow, so I doubt spring will happen any time soon.


If you have to travel, be safe, slow down and don't take chances.  If you plan to visit the north country to snowmobile, ski or ice fish, be extra careful.  We've had altogether too many accidents this year - people going through the ice with trucks or snowmobiles, and also people losing control of their machines, going off trails and getting hurt, or skiers being hurt and/or lost because they went off trails.  Let someone know where you're going, and whatever you're doing don't do it alone - and be prepared for any emergency.  

Snowing again - I measured about an inch early this morning and it's been snowing steadily, sometimes fine flakes and other times big fluffy ones, but it's building up slowly.  Our temperature has risen to 33 degrees, and that probably means the snow will become heavier and perhaps turn to rain at times.  We'll see how that goes.  This is real winter around here this year and may have taken some of us by surprise.  We'd forgotten what it's like to have mounds of snow piling up and having to deal with it.  

Ski resorts are thunderously happy with all the snow, and so are the merchants, restaurants, hotels and motels that support them and the snow machine crowd.  Trails are good and there are lots of happy people on them.  However, this means more accidents, both on the snow machine trails and the ski trails - not to mention the people who have gone through the ice on our lakes and ponds this year.  We welcome people to the north country for recreation, but please be careful.  The same goes for those who live here - don't take any chances, please.  Enjoy the snow, but be safe.

Just a quick update - I just heard the weather on WCAX and the next storm is starting tonight!  It will continue snowing through Thursday, so there could be significant additional snow accumulation.  

I also had this from Kyle Johnson: 

I just got done shoveling a roof on West Shore Road and it had 3+ feet of snow on it and the bottom part of it was extremely heavy. So I'm hoping no roofs collapse around the pond!  

Thanks to Kyle for alerting us of the danger from all this snow.  The last few winters with little snow have lulled us into a state of complacency, and we need to be aware this winter is the real deal. 

Ok - we got another four inches of snow yesterday and last night, so that puts us in the 16-18 inch range total for this last storm. At

least have Kyle or someone else reliable take a look at it. Although this was lighter than the storm before this - a foot or more of snow is heavy - plus there's a layer of ice that never gave up on many surfaces, like

our deck.  Here's the thing - we have another storm aiming at us in a couple of days - due here Thursday, so lots of you should probably have someone take a look at your cottage roof here at the pond.  Above, looking across towards Route 15 from our living room; and the trees in back of our house - tops fairly clean from the wind yesterday, but lower branches heavy with snow.

I've just had this reminder from Kyle Johnson:
 

Hey everybody! With the foot of snow we got the other day most roofs will need a good snow shoveling. I am offering a roof shoveling service around the pond. To reach me call me directly at 802-535-6735. 

 
At least have Kyle or someone else reliable take a look at your camp.  Kyle knows the cottages around the pond, and knows from living here all his life what winters are like and has a good take on whether a roof can withstand the weight or not. The wind may have swept some pretty clear of snow - or could have piled it in big drifts where you wouldn't expect.  Better to be safe than sorry.  Even decks can take a hit when the snow gets too deep and heavy. 

We are apparently in line to get another 6-8 inches from Thursday's storm unless the storm heads further east than is now predicted.  This is the first winter for some time we've had to worry about our roofs being overloaded with snow, so some of you may not have thought about the impact this "real" winter could have on your property here.   I just took this picture of our little back-door deck that we haven't shoveled off - it's small enough so it weathers the snow ok - but you can see how deep it is. 

Today we're enjoying temperatures only around freezing, and the wind we endured yesterday has calmed down  We even saw a little sunshine this morning, but now it's clouded over and looking like snow again.   It's very pretty, though, and I really enjoyed my hike up Jamie & Marie's hill this noon.  




Happy Valentine's Day! 

It's been a busy day around here.  We got about a foot of new snow - nice and light, but still lots of work to shovel and plow.  Walden reported something like 18 inches, but that's not unusual for some spots up there.

Fred has been out twice today with his snowblower.  The wind picked up this afternoon and unloaded the trees into driveways and paths, so that all had to be cleaned up again.  I intended to get some pictures, but forgot to take my camera when I walked at noon - and didn't think about it again until just now, and of course it's dark already.  It was pretty this morning with all the snow on the trees.  It got kind of blizzard-like this afternoon.

The road crews have been busy all day, but I think they'll get some relief tonight.  It's still on the cold side - 17 degrees right now - but there's a promise of warmer weather this weekend.  That will be nice as long as it doesn't rain. 

Schools were mostly closed today, so I imagine kids everywhere were happily playing in the snowbanks, glad to have a day off when it wasn't bitterly cold.  

Happy Valentine's Day tomorrow - do something nice with someone special! 

It's been another cold and windy day.  We finally got out of the single numbers above zero, but not by a lot.  I have 17 degrees tonight, and that's better than last night when it was just a little above zero and the wind was whipping.  We'll be getting a pretty substantial snow storm beginning tomorrow into Monday, 8 inches or so, or up to two feet in "higher elevations," according to the forecast.  That doesn't always mean West Danville and Joe's Pond, but we are considerably higher than St. Johnsbury or Burlington.  We'll deal with it, whatever it turns out to be.  Since February has turned into a "real winter" experience, I'll be interested in what March brings since traditionally it can produce some pretty nasty weather. 

There doesn't seem to be a lot of news here in the north country.  That's a good thing, I think, although it's a lot like it is with kids - when things are too quiet, that's when they're into something they shouldn't be and parents begin to worry. 

In the meantime - are you thinking about Valentine's Day?  Hopefully we'll be dug out from the snow storm by then so you guys can go get some flowers or candy for your sweetie and maybe take her out for a nice dinner.  I imagine the ladies have already made appropriate plans - women are more tuned in to things like Valentine's Day than most men - but if the flowers and candy aren't forthcoming, you better watch out, dude - the day might turn out to be a big zero for you.  So have fun with it, and try to surprise someone special in your life with something nice.




 

 

We had a very cold night last night - my weather station recorded a low of -14 degrees.  The wind howled and is still blowing this afternoon, but not quite as hard - still we're only at 5 above, so it's bitterly cold even though the sun is bright.  I measured 2.5 inches of new snow, but that is just what was on my snow board at 9 a.m.  The wind was blowing hard from different directions.  The snow was swirling in mini tornado-like patterns, and I watched a dry maple leaf fly around the corner from one of the trees near the driveway and dance under the apple trees as the wind carried it up and down the hillside first one direction and then another, sometimes flying high in the air and then scooting along the smooth surface of snow.  The needle showing wind direction on my weather station was more than unsteady - it is still all over the place.  I think "variable strong winds" about covers it. The forecast is for the temperature to moderate into the 20s, more seasonal, and snow will start again late Saturday - this time with a bit more accumulation.  Anyone who doubted we would have real winter this year knows by now we're getting our share.  No sap running today, I bet!

Weather tonight is cold.  I'm showing zero degrees - and during the day it was well below with the wind chill factored in.  I'm not sure if it will get any colder tonight, but there is no big warmup in the foreseeable future.

We perhaps got another four inches or so of snow today.  I measured 1.5 inches early this morning and it has snowed steadily most of the day, but it was so cold the snow was very dry and didn't pile up much at all.  It did blow around and created some problems on highways where there were white-outs.

I heard from Tom Dente early this morning and they hadn't had any snow then, but tonight I got this message:
 We ended up with 15 to 22 inches in the State. Here we had about 17 inches. A blizzard  during the last three hours made it worst for going out. We stayed in! They said we have another couple in pipeline for this weekend and early next week, but not as severe. Winter fun!
Tom

That's a lot of snow to get all at once - probably worse in a metro area where there's lots of traffic and no place for plows to put the snow.  Most of the storm stayed south of us, so southern New England got pelted.

I think Dottie Larrabee, Jane Milne and some others may have been stranded in Boston on their way to Florida today.  I know Jane and Dot were scheduled to leave today.  Perhaps we'll hear from one of them.  I'm sure they'll get out tomorrow ok - the storm should be out of here by then, but it's still going to be very cold for the rest of the weekend.

We were in St. J. this morning and there were very few people out and about.  Railroad Street was very quiet, and the stores were not at all busy - parking was no problem at all, and we were back home in record time.  The top photo is of West Shore Road as we left this morning.  We did recycling, and this car with a doggy friend was the only other customer there.  Usually the place is busy when we go.  The other two pictures are both of St. Johnsbury - coming from recycling and on Railroad Street at the bottom.  There wasn't much wind in St. J., but there certainly was in West Danville.  Hastings store was quiet this morning, too.  I guess everyone who could just stayed at home where it was warm.

We stopped at the new hardware store in St. J. - Aubuchon's - and I was able to clear the way to have Ice Out tickets there this year.  St. Jay Hardware has distributed tickets for us for years, and done a great job, but this fall they closed and Aubuchon Hardware built a large new store on the corner of Railroad Street and Hastings Hill.  It's very nice - and it's particularly nice that the employees from St. Jay Hardware are there - and they have always been great at talking up the Ice Out Contest.  I'll get tickets to them very soon - April 1st will be here before we know it and the contest will close!  Thinking of it that way makes me realize spring really IS just around the corner! 

We got another 4.5 inches of snow yesterday, then some rain last night that left a hard crust on the snow, but didn't bother the trees at all.  I think it was because it's been so cold the rain froze to the snow but the air kept the trees warmer.  It got to about 40 degrees today, but now is back in the low 20s and expected to be colder tomorrow for a few days.  Actually, the forecast is for a sub-zero night tomorrow (Thursday).  Looks like we won't be getting the heavy snowfall predicted for the southern states and some of southern Vermont, perhaps.  We have two feet on the ground at my stake - more in some areas, much less in others.  The mountains are doing very well, even with the rain we had last night. The rain on all the snow we got yesterday made it very heave, and it took Fred a long time today to clear the driveways with the snow blower. 

I mentioned an accident I'd heard on the scanner this weekend near Island Pond - it turned out to be a young woman who worked at U-32 school in Montpelier,  Laurie Angel, 37.  There's no doubt snow machines are dangerous, especially for inexperienced riders.  We don't know what actually happened, but it's very sad.

When we went to Burlington yesterday, the roads were bad and we noticed along the interstate there were numerous state police watching the traffic, and at least a couple of cars had been stopped.  People do tend to go too fast for the conditions - there's something mesmerizing about the interstate and before you know it, you are traveling well over the speed limit.  Every time a car passed us (and lots of them did!) our windshield got covered and the wipers could barely keep up with it, especially when big trucks passed.  

We are fortunate we normally don't have to go - but yesterday it was important as I had an appointment with my ophthalmologist.  That went very well and I'm back at my computer today.

This came from Andy Rudin - it's in Swedish with captions, which you don't even need because the video tells it all . . . a bit dangerous, I would say, but this nice couple saved the day!  I would say, "Don't try this at home!"  I'm glad everything turned out well.

We just returned from Burlington - I had an early appointment there this morning and the driving over was not at all good.  Coming home was much better, although from Marshfield to W. Shore Road, as usual, the road conditions were not great.  We didn't see any mishaps, nor were we involved in any, so we have a feeling of relief to be back home.  We are always amazed that we did the commute to Montpelier for so many years and the road conditions were sometimes as bad or worse than this morning, but we didn't think much about it at all.  We're both glad we don't have to do that commute any longer, even though it just proves we're getting to be old fogies.  Now I'm going to settle down with a cup of tea and a petite palmier.

We were saddened today to learn of the death on December 14th of Charlie Harper at his home in California.  Charlie loved loved coming to Joe's Pond (86 Clubhouse Cir.) with his family over the years.  He had experienced some health problems in recent years, so hadn't been to Joe's Pond for a while, but I'm sure he has lots of friends here and will be missed.  Condolences to his wife, Margaret and his large family, six children and 23 grandchildren, may be sent to them at 18002 Lassen Dr., Santa Ana CA 92705.

We are expecting another messy winter storm coming at us late tomorrow afternoon.  First a little snow, then a mix before turning to all rain.  I measured another nearly 4 inches of new snow this morning.  I was surprised at how much there was - I heard the wind blowing last night, but had no idea it was snowing, too, until I went to open the window before going to bed.  Snow was whisking against the glass and sticking in clumps the size of a quarter.  Needless to say, I didn't open the window very much, but I could hear the wind in the trees above the house. There were ripples of  drifts along the sides of our driveway this morning.   My weather station recorded a -11 as the overnight low.  With the wind factored in, it would feel like about 35 below. 

Today has been cold but fortunately the wind wasn't as strong as last night but was still biting.  The lowest temperature I saw today was 12 degrees. 

I spent some time at the Danville Historical Society this afternoon, looking for material for the West Danville History.  We were hoping to find newspaper clippings about the flood of 1927 as it affected West Danville and Joe's Pond.  We didn't find anything.  I'm sure there must be stories about it - not many people around anymore who remember it first hand, but I know there are a few.  If you know one of those people, or if you have heard stories about the flood and how it impacted West Danville, please get in touch with me.  A quick phone call (802-563-2381) or email (janebrowncabot@gmail.com) would be much appreciated.  
 
Fred took this picture of the Danville Historical Society, the Choate-Sias House, from the Congregational church driveway today.  It's a lovely old house, and a pleasure to visit and work in.  You can see there is plenty of snow in Danville, and underneath the snow there's still ice from the last round of rain/snow, so we have to be careful walking - and driving on some of the back roads.  Winter is far from over.

I've been working on the West Danville History most of the weekend, but now I'm going to take some time to watch the football game.  I've never understood football, but I love the ads during the Super Bowl, and of course I'm curious what Lady Ga-Ga will do.
Besides, it's a good excuse to have snack food and wine!  

In spite of getting an inch or two of snow almost every day this week, there have been strong winds that have compacted it so we still have only about 18 inches on the level.  I've been reading about the really awful winters in the early 1900s in West Danville.  One year they reported six feet of snow in the woods, and all lumbering operations had to be suspended.  Even the snow rollers with six horses couldn't get through for days.  It took men with shovels to break through some of the badly drifted roads so the horses could proceed.  And it was below zero some of the time.  Mail didn't go and businesses closed their doors.  That was winter weather!

This winter has been better for snowmobilers, but there have been some fatal accidents, too.  I had the scanner on and heard of one in Island Pond this afternoon.  We'll read about it in tomorrow's paper, probably.  It's so sad that good snow means more people lose their lives.  I never cared for snowmobiles much - even early on when they weren't nearly as powerful as they are today.  Snowshoes have always been my preferance for getting into the "back country."  But I'm not keen on doing that these days, either.  I like the snow to be just right - not too heavy, not too fluffy and deep - just right.  

Enjoy the game, and be safe.

It's been a pretty day for the most part today - bright sunshine at least most of the day, and temperature in the 20s.  The thermometer is going down now the sun has dropped behind the hills - I see 16 degrees now - and also the blustery wind that has swirled snow off roofs and trees off and on during the day has subsided.  We'll probably see zero or below during the night.

I haven't taken my usual walk for two days.  I've had one problem after another that kept me at my computer - I left only long enough for food a food break at noon.  Well that isn't quite true, I too time to watch the news and my favorite soap, "The Young and the Restless," but admit I dozed off a couple of times.  The "cat naps" refreshed me so I was able to get back to my computer this afternoon and made good headway. 

Mark Conley sent me this nice photo of a Joe's Pond sunset taken when Mark and  Karen were here on Martin Luther King weekend.  Thanks to Mark for sharing - I don't remember exactly, but it looks like a cold evening.  That's the west shore across the frozen pond we're looking at.

No surprise that any groundhog that happened to be out today - and around here that would be highly unusual - would have seen his shadow assuring another six weeks of winter - or will it be eight?  Either way, we'll be well into Ice-Out Contest time, and also Town Meetings and Maple Sugaring.  It will be interesting to see what kind of weather March brings.  I'm looking forward to spring, for sure, but so far this hasn't been a terribly difficult winter for most folks here in the north country.  Except for the icy going a few times, we haven't had dreadful storms or long stretches of sub-zero weather - yet.  There's still time.  

I heard someone complain the other day about the electricity having gone off where they lived.  She said it hadn't been off all winter until this one time.  I'd say that is nothing to complain about.  We've had some wild winds and really heavy snow several times this year, and keeping the electricity flowing has been a challenge in lots of areas.  Most of us keep extra food, water and some kind of emergency heat source available just in case, and that's the best insurance I know. 

This is the kind of day we've had.  A little sunshine, but unrelenting snow showers.  Most of the day we had big soft flakes drifting down; but there were periods when the wind blew ferociously for a few minutes and it looked like a blizzard out there.  We have probably gained another couple of inches - I haven't looked since morning when I measured 1.5 inches of new snow.  Every day the snow at my stake out back compacts so I've seen 18 inches for the past few days in spite of getting an inch or so of new each night.  It's fairy dust light and really pretty.  The temperature was in low 30s today - but was cold last night - I had a low of minus one on my weather station.  It's 26 degrees as I write this.

I've been working at my computer all day - had some trouble getting things to line up in the very long document I'm working on (pictures and text and page breaks galore!) and after that was solved, spent quite a bit of time researching a couple of questions that had popped up.  You probably guessed I was working on the West Danville history pages.  Now I've finished for the day and am headed to the kitchen to make some pasta for supper.  And maybe a small glass of wine as I'm cooking.