We have been noticing the signs warning that US2 B will be closed for several weeks while the bridge in St. Johnsbury over the rail-trail is replaced.  Francine Perkins was thoughtful enough to send me notice because while the work is going on, the trail will be closed at that point - just outside of St. Johnsbury village.  Here is what Francine sent:

Hi Jane!

Hope all is well with you! 

I am working with VTrans on a bridge replacement project on VT 2B in St. Johnsbury.  The bridge is located over the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail.  In a meeting earlier this week, it was mentioned that there are regular trail users from Joe’s Pond.  I am hoping you can help inform the Joe’s Pond community about the project.

The bridge is scheduled to close to traffic for 50-days starting May 10^th.  The LVRT is also scheduled to close at the bridge May 10^th too, with an anticipated re-opening in mid-June when the overhead work is completed.  Users will be able to use the trail on either side of the closure but will not be able to pass under the bridge.  Separate offsite detours will be in effect during the closure periods.  VTrans has launched a website for the project where detour maps are available for viewing and/or printing.  You can also find a project fact sheet in the “Document Library” in the website. 

The website address is: http://stj2bbridge.vtransprojects.vermont.gov/  The LVRT has posted a notice on their website too. 

Attached is the initial press release and the first weekly construction update for the project.  I have added you to the contact list to receive the weekly updates and special notices when the bridge closes and re-opens. 

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Thank you,

 

Francine Perkins

Project Outreach Coordinator

FRP Enterprises, LLC

802-479-6994

I have responded to Francine and thanked her.  I will post notices here as soon as I receive them and have Fred put regular notices on home page of the website as well.  

Today has been the beautiful day we expected yesterday.  Instead of rain as predicted for today, we've had sunshine and temps in the 70s.  I was able to wash windows and get screens in place so the house is full of fresh air.  A day like this really gets the frost out of your bones.  We even had ice cream at Hastings Store this afternoon!   

Woody is enjoying being outside and has spent a lot of time today just sitting in the driveway listening to the sounds of spring and enjoying the warmth.  When he's outside during the daytime, he's much more inclined to accept not being able to go out at night.  It is just too dangerous for even a big guy like him to be out after dark.  Although I'm sure he will never completely accept the curfew, at least he's adapting and changing his habits a little.   

Today didn't live up to the hype we've been getting from the weather forecasters.  True, it was warm, but the sun was late in arriving and sketchy at best, and there were mini rain showers throughout the day here at Joe's Pond.  Nobody was complaining; it was nice to have it warm outside, and the light rain may help get the frost out of the road and end mud season.  

Mud season hasn't been bad, really.  There have been a few days when it was hard to find ridges to ride through certain spots, but even if the bottom of the car dragged a bit, you could make it through. 

The rain is helping to get the grass going, too.  Danville Green is actually pretty green already.  Just a tad further along than West Danville.  My daffodils are about ready to burst forth, and there is a crocus or two showing off nicely.  I trimmed up one of my lilac bushes today, and it looks healthy.  The rhododendron looks particularly good this year - big and robust with lots of buds.  Last year there were buds, but few opened.  They just seemed to dry up.  

I still have a lot of yard work to do, and we have a fairly big project underway as of this afternoon.  We removed the steps leading from the lower parking area to the walkway by our front deck.  Nobody ever used them and it was difficult to keep them looking nice.  The always seemed to need painting, the lower post has been bumped by

vehicles numerous times, and the stairs seemed to collect an exceptional amount of leaves and mildew.  It was a combination of Trex and pressure treated wood, so it has withstood snow, cold, rain and heat for many years, but it was time for it to go.  Jamie got home from work just in time to haul the remains out for us with his tractor.  Now to repair the damage we caused . . . Above are the before and after pictures.

 

I'm feeling totally let down now the Ice-Out Contest is over.  There's hardly any point in reporting the weather each day - the ice is completely gone from all three ponds - one of quickest meltdowns I can remember!  Actually, the whole schedule was off this year.  Joe's Pond has always been at least a week later going out than Molly's Pond, and it was on Friday, the 21st that Shelly Walker and Diane Rossi both reported Molly's was ice free.  Two days later the clock stopped in the contest and by Monday, most of the ice was gone.  I guess that's one more formula we can disregard. 

It's good to have the contest over in a way - it signals the real start of the summer season.  The LaGues are back, so are the Rouleaus - and probably others I don't know about, so activity around the pond will begin soon.  The weather is supposed to be very nice - temps in the 70s tomorrow - so I'm sure someone will be out in a boat checking things out after the long frozen-in winter.

The geese are back - I could hear them plainly today from probably their nesting places along the north end of the pond where the channel comes down from Walden.  I hope they were just resting on their way someplace else, but it's likely without anything to frighten them away they will stay and raise their young here.  They are beautiful, but messy pests when they congregate by the dozens on docks and lawns.

I heard a woman in a St. Johnsbury store today telling about all the wildlife she has near her Waterford home.  Apparently bears are frequent visitors to her yard, as are deer.  She said she enjoys watching them - only once when there was a mother bear with two cubs did she feel wary at all.  We are hearing from wildlife experts that the bears are unusually hungry this year because last year wasn't a good year for nut and berry crops, so they didn't have much reserve for their hibernation period and are waking up extra hungry.  This means they are coming closer to humans in search of food, so be sure to keep your garbage cans well secured and don't put out any bird feeders or you'll have some unwanted visitors and damage.  

Don't forget the buffet supper for the benefit of the Kingdom Animal Shelter.  Click on the poster to increase the size.
The food will be great - we've had Steve's turkey pie and know it's super good.  Admission is by donation - so plan to go with the family, enjoy the   meal and be generous.  The shelter does a great job of caring for homeless kitties, but it does cost money to keep them healthy and fed.  This is a great way for people to help and have a nice meal and evening out.

It's been busy around here today.  We've had several calls from newspapers and an interview with WCAX's Adam Sullivan for tonight's news.  He interviewed our winner, Emily Wiggett, from North Danville, and then stopped by to talk with us and get pictures of the hole in the slush where the block and flag went down, and the clock.  Fred took these pictures when Adam was here for the interview.  We'll be watching the six o'clock news - but it may not be on until 11 o'clock.  We didn't think to ask exactly when.

I like to let the folks who sold tickets for us at various outlets know as soon as possible when we have a winner and who it is, so this morning I called Caplan's in St. Johnsbury and they knew all about it.  One of their employees, Jonathan, is Emily Wiggett's boyfriend, and he had bought tickets there at Caplan's and filled one out for Emily.  He must be golden in Emily's eyes right now.  A pretty nice gift I'm sure they'll both enjoy - about $4,600 worth.  We're happy for them.

It's always interesting to learn the story behind the picks.  Sometimes it's pure guesswork, other times careful calculations or a birth date, but there's usually a story of some sort.

Today is beautiful.  We got off to a cloudy start, but now the sun is out and it's nicely into the 60s.  We're going to get some rain in the next few days, but then Thursday is supposed to be a super nice day.  The rail will finish off the ice.  There is open water well below the islands today and lots of it along the shore.  It seems this is one of those years the ice just turns to crystals and very gradually melts away.  

Winner Announced!

We were able to locate our winner quickly and easily this afternoon - it is Emily Wiggett of North Danville, Vermont.  Emily had guessed 4:31 today - only one minute from the 4:32 actual time.  She was closest.  I made a quick call to her cell and she was traveling on Route 2, but was happily surprised with the news.  

We will invite her to attend our May 27th meeting to pick up her check and certificate.  

Thanks to everyone who helped make this year's Ice-Out Contest successful by buying or selling tickets or helping us to distribute them or just spread the excitement.  We wish everyone could win.

THE CLOCK HAS STOPPED!

The clock stopped today, Sunday, April 23, 2017, at 4:32 p.m.!  The ice got very dark today and as has happened before, the flag tipped precariously and then while Diane had her back turned doing yard work, it went down.  We will let everyone know as soon as we have verified a winner.

Here are the pictures for this morning - not much change. We has a low of 31 degrees last night, so everything froze up.  Today it's going to be warmer, but still only in high 40s or low 50s - except in the sun, perhaps it will get a little warmer.  We're expecting 70s on Thursday, and

I'm thinking that might do the ice in and the clock will stop.
Diane said it was very hard to get a picture this morning due to the sun shining so brightly.  Nobody is complaining, though.  It's been several days since we've seen sunshine, and we're really happy to have a pretty day.

Don't forget the buffet supper a week from today at the Danville Inn.   This will be a great meal, and it's for a very worthy cause.  It's important to have a safe place for these little animals that find themselves homeless for one reason or another.  They need medical care and food, and all that costs.  Through the generosity of Steve Cobb at the Danville Restaurant and Inn, and the KAS volunteers, this a really nice way we can help. 

Here's a chance to get that boat lift you've been wanting.  
 

FOR SALE: 

SHOREMASTER boat lift.  Model #36108

108" wide, can support up to 3600 pounds.

Aluminum, well maintained, and presently is at my camp on North Shore Road, Joe’s Pond.

If interested, contact me at:  215-675-6189; or after June 12^th at 802-684-1083.

George Baxter

364 N Shore Rd

 Sorry I'm a little late with these - I slept in.  As always, Diane was on the job, on time, with photos for us.

As you can see, things are reasonably stable.  The ice gets darker every day and there's more water showing along the shoreline.  Both the first and middle ponds are free of ice except for a little in the cove where Point Comfort's docks are.  That will no doubt be gone today.

Both Diane and Shelley Walker reported yesterday that Molly's pond is ice free and Molly's Falls Reservoir is showing lots of open water.  Rule of thumb from past years is that Joe's goes out about a week later than Molly's.  However, the block will go down and stop the clock before the pond is completely ice-free.  It might hold for another week, but as Diane described the ice today - it's "punky."  We won't know until it happens.  We're down to a few hundred viable tickets now, so all of you holding tickets for the next week or 10 days, keep close watch - we're close to having a winner!

 This is what we look like this morning.  Not a lot of change that we can see, at least.  There is a strong wind out of the south that could be moving the ice floe very slightly, and that could help in the process of weakening the ice.  

There are lots of geese in the area.  I can hear them honking, probably enjoying the open water at the north end of the pond where the channel enters.  We hope they do not decide to nest here - they have been a big problem in the past.  With luck, they are just resting on their way somewhere else.

 Not much change - a little more water showing in the foreground, and some on the ice.
Thanks to Diane for these early-morning pictures. 

As you can see, there is a misty fog over the pond.  I thought we might get some snow during the night, but I was happy to see that didn't happen.  Still, it's chilly at 43 degrees, and there's a misty rain.  The wind has died completely, so it won't feel so cold, but there is a lot of fog obscuring the hilltops, so it's cold and clammy damp.

I have little junkos flitting about outside my office window this morning.  I think there are enough bugs outside so they are able to find plenty of food.  We even saw a woolly caterpillar in the road a couple of days ago.  They freeze in the fall and when they thaw out in the spring they are ready to find a spot to make their cocoon and emerge a few weeks later as butterflies, or moths.  I didn't pay attention to the amount of black on that one - folklore is that the more black on the woolly bear caterpillars, the harder the winter. 

It's good that things are springing back to life here at Joe's Pond.  Our summer residents, humans as well as wildlife, will be returning over the next several weeks, and that's always welcome.  Bill and Bo Keach are back, and many others headed this way soon.  Once we have an Ice-Out Contest Winner, we'll publish the spring newsletter, get the 2018 Ice-Out tickets ready for distribution (yes, they will be available in May!) and that will usher in the new season.

It's 6 p.m. and we've had pretty steady rain this afternoon.  The temperature is 37 degrees and will probably get colder tonight.  I expect to wake up in a world of white again tomorrow.  The wind seems to have died down for the time being, but it's very raw and miserable outside.  Not a nice spring day at all.

 Not much change in the ice from yesterday.  Thawing has slowed because the temperature has been much cooler yesterday and today.  There is a strong south wind today, and that will put pressure on the ice and may help move the breakup process along.   Our temperature at noon was 47 degrees.

We went to West Danville to pick up the mail yesterday afternoon and there is a strip of open water through both the middle and first ponds.  There isn't much open water in the third, big pond where the Ice-Out setup is, so it will be a while before the clock stops.  Stay tuned!
 
 In the meantime, Bo Keach sent this picture of the loons in the middle pond.  They are probably males.  The males come to secure their nesting spot before the females arrive; or they could be young males that will move on as nesting pairs arrive and drive them off.  It's good to see them, and as Bo says, "Spring must be here."

Here's the way the pond looks this morning.  The flag is standing

tall and the clock is ticking, but the ice doesn't appear to be doing anything!  

The night was pretty chilly last night - my weather station recorded a low of 31 degrees, so all the water on top of the ice froze up.  Today we've only reached 36 degrees so far and there's a cold wind.  Not much going on as near as we can tell.  We'll keep you posted here.  Diane told me she will try to send a picture of the flag and clock every morning.  

Henretta is still logging in tickets, so we don't have any figures yet.  We are pretty sure ticket sales were down just a tad this year, and of course we blame that on the crazy weather.  With deep cold and snow everywhere in the last weeks of March, nobody was thinking about the ice being gone - they just wanted to get through the misery.  We understand.  We think the prize will still be close to $5,000 for the lucky winner - unless there happens to be more than one, of course.  Time will tell.

In spite of having lovely spring weather for the past few days, our block and flag seem to be unchanged out on the ice.  Diane Rossi sent this picture this morning.  The open water on the right is the runoff from their water well - not due to the ice releasing from the shore.  

Although the first two ponds have a lot of open water, the big pond has very little.  The channel at the north end of the pond is cutting its way down, but even that hasn't made a lot of progress.  There is a lot of warm water coming off the hillsides all around the pond, and this will help to not only melt the ice from underneath, it will also lift the ice as the water level gets higher and that will dislodge the ice from shore and begin to break it up with large cracks forming.  Not really safe to be out there as we really don't know what's happening underneath the ice or how thin and honeycombed it has become.  Every year is different.  We're thinking it will probably be another two weeks before the clock stops - we could have a May date this year.  We'll keep you posted.

Today the temperature here has been around 50 degrees.  There's also been quite a bit of wind, and that helps to move the ice, especially once it has melted around the edges.  Then it will begin to break up more rapidly.  We had some rail last night, and the brooks are running full.  Most of the snow is gone except patches in the woods.

We've enjoyed a very mild spring day and now we're getting a nice gentle warm rain.  The temperature at 9:30 p.m. is still 49 degrees.  There s quite a bit more water showing in the narrows.  There is a strip of open water through the first pond, and when we went by  this morning, there was open water about 2/3 of the way through the middle pond from the narrows out of the third pond.  There isn't much open water in the third, big pond, but we're making headway.

We met Diane Rossi and Henretta Splain for breakfast at Three Ponds this morning.  The place was very busy, and everyone was enjoying themselves.  Several came for take-out while we were there - I guess they were on the road and were in a hurry.  We saw several people we knew and all seemed very happy.  Our food was delicious and prices were very reasonable.  We're looking forward to going back soon.  I like the setup - you order at the counter and get your own beverage and when the food is ready, it's brought to your table; you do your own bussing.   It was only their second day in operation, but things seemed to be running pretty smoothly.  I'm anxious to see what their lunch menu will be, so will be going back, for sure.  It's a really nice addition to our town.

Happy Easter, Everyone!

 

The fishermen are still doing their thing out on the ice - Henretta Splain sent this picture taken this morning.  They must know the ice is still safe, but they won't be out there much longer.  It's kind of hard to see, but there are two people on the ice - one in black and the other is in cream or white colored clothing.  Click to make the picture larger.  

This warm weather (in the 50s today) is taking a toll on the snow cover and sending lots of water into the streams that empty into the pond.  That will work on the ice from underneath while the sun works on the outer surface.  There isn't a lot of water showing around the shoreline yet, and that has to happen before we get much movement where the block and flag are located.  Every day brings us closer to the finish - whenever that will be.  Thanks to Henretta for the picture.

This just came from Nancy Buttura:  
 Just wanted to let you know I saw 3 loons in the first pond a little bit ago.  Despite the cold and windy day we are having there is a big section of open water and they were floating right in the middle, probably happy to be back. Happy Easter.

I guess the loons are confident winter's over so they are staking their claim early.  I think the males return first to lay claim to a nesting spot.  It seems to be a little early for them to come back here, but as long as there's open water, they will be fine.  These three may not be "our" loons - they could be loons passing through to some other open body of water.  If they are gone in a day or so, we'll know they were just using this as a stop-over.  Thanks for letting us know, Nancy.

We really weren't ready for this.  We awoke to a white world this morning - after seeing lots of bare ground yesterday, what a letdown.  Not only that, it's actually snowing right now.  My Thermometer is reading 36 degrees, so perhaps as the day progresses it will turn to rain.

Here's the clock and flag.  No big change there.  Looks like the ice could hold until May.  That would be interesting.  We haven't had a May date since 2007, and in the 29 years of the contest, it has only had seven dates happen in May.   Of course, there is probably a lot of melting going on with the warmish water flowing into the pond for the last several days, so this may be one of those years when the ice on the whole pond slowly turns to mush.  It's hard to know what's going on under that expanse of white.

We're looking forward to the new eatery opening on Friday.  Three Ponds is scheduled to open for business in the space previously occupied by the Joe's Pond Country Store, serving breakfast and lunch.  I just spoke with Caleb and he told me they will be open at 6 a.m. Friday.  We won't be there quite that early, but hope to make it with some friends a little later.

Also, remember to support the Kingdom Animal Shelter by going to the yard sale on Saturday, and mark your calendar for their Buffet Supper on the 30th at the Danville Inn.  Click on the posters to read details.

Today wasn't as nice as the last couple of days, but still the snow is melting and signs of real spring are everywhere.  We had a flock of robins visit today - the first we've seen.  They seemed to arrive with the sun late this afternoon.  

We had brief but quite heavy rain late last night, and this morning there was dense fog.  It felt like misty rain, but perhaps it was just the fog.  We have large patches of bare ground showing up, and I'm sure the ice is melting, as well.  It will be good to see open water.

We know folks are celebrating Easter this week, and that is kind of the icing on the cake of springtime.  Happy Easter, everyone.

This has been another absolutely beautiful day.  We had a little cloudiness around noon, but now the sun is bright again.  My weather station is reading 68 degrees and it's after 5 o'clock!  We've had colder days in the summer at Joe's Pond!  

The snow has really taken a beating today.  However, there is apparently plenty of ice on the pond.  Henretta Splain saw these ice fishermen out by the islands this morning when she and "Oreo" went for their walk.  This week will probably be the end of ice fishing - the weather is going to be warm all week, according to the forecast.  Nights will cool down - and that means there may still be some good sap runs, at least until the trees begin to bud, which will be soon if this weather holds.  

 Fred and I went to West Danville and Danville this morning to the bank and then went up to deliver the last of the tickets to Henretta. 
We took these pictures - thought some of the Joe's Pond folks who vacate the area each winter might like to see what they're missing.  It was very nice, but of course there's lots of mud and water, so walking isn't as much fun as in the summer - but things are thawing out and coming out from under the snow.  It won't be long now before we'll be at May Meeting - hopefully on a day much like today, but with green grass and leaves on the trees!  Click on the pictures to make them larger.  I hope you enjoy them.

We have a couple of announcements of fund raisers for Kingdom Animal Shelter in St. Johnsbury Center.  As you know, it takes a fair amount of money and volunteer help to keep a shelter like this operating, so fund-raising has to be on-going.  Helen Morrison has been a volunteer for many years at the shelter, and lets me know when activities are planned.  Here are two coming soon; click to make them larger.

We are enjoying lovely spring weather today.  It has been in the 50s - might have gone a little higher for a short time - and water is running in ditches and brooks.  The snow pack is settling and birds are singing.  Everybody's happy!  

Fred and I took a walk along West Shore Road towards Brickett's Crossing Road and it was very nice.  The road isn't muddy at all - wet in spots, but no mud holes.  So far we've been really fortunate.  I took a couple of pictures of the road - which only people living on back roads will appreciate, probably.  Roads like this in April make us very happy!  You can see some other walkers down the road from us.  Quite a lot of auto traffic, too.  People like getting out on a nice day like this, especially when the weather has been so nasty.

Here is a picture taken in 2004 of this same section of road that shows what mud season can be like.  This was a big hole where the culvert had washed out under the road - the same culvert shown in the middle picture where the big hole in the snowbank is.  We're looking at it from two different directions, but it is the same culvert.  It was replaced that year and has since been ok.  But you can see there's a big difference in the road condition.  Someone stuck a log in the hole to keep drivers from hitting it and damaging their vehicles.  Mud season on our road so far has been just another sign of spring, and no big headache.  We hope we can keep it that way.

 We're all frozen up again at Joe's Pond.  We had snow overnight and today the temperature is 28 degrees and there is a mean west wind making the wind chill in the vicinity of 15 degrees, more or less.  Blustery and cold is the phrase of the day.
 
I was preoccupied and forgot to post the picture Diane sent of the clock and setup a couple days ago.  I'm sure it looks a lot different this morning; it is probably solidly frozen into the ice again.  Yesterday there was water on top of the ice and things were beginning to look like spring, but today we're definitely back to winter mode.    We had a message from Kevin Johnson this morning reporting as of Wednesday the ice measured 22 inches.  Not a lot of progress melting it away.



And here is a picture of how the clock looks this morning!  Thank you, Diane!










Woody has given up on going outside.  Most of the time he sleeps.  He has numerous favorite sleeping places throughout the house, but yesterday he decided to take a nap in the Namibian woven bowl.  It is about 18 inches across and he barely fit in it, but curled up he made it work.

When he realized I was taking his picture, his was not a happy cat:  

  

Having a comfortable snooze . . .





                  Don't wake me up!

Why are you doing this to me? 

Maybe if I ignore her she'll go away.