We're in for some weather today - first some rain and then it turns to snow and the forecast is for two to three inches. Just what we need to drive everyone over the edge.
    Because he knows how much snow we have here, Andy Rudin

sent this picture of his daffodils - it cheered me up this morning, and I hope it does you, too!
    We are in the last two days of the Ice-Out Contest. Only today and tomorrow, Monday, to get your tickets! I wish I could tell everyone something that would help them make a more informed guess, but what can I say? There's still lots of snow on the ice, but fishermen were warned earlier to get their shanties off the ice in other parts of the state because the ice is no longer safe - but here at Joe's Pond I don't think there's much to worry about. However, today is the last day they have to get them off everywhere - the law says they have until the last Sunday in March or when the ice becomes unsafe, whichever comes first. So they should all be cleaned up and off the ice by tonight. However, there will still be a few fishermen for a while.
     Once this rain/snow stuff moves through, the weather is going to be a little cooler, so melting will be slow. There's no telling when the tables will turn and we'll have a blast of very warm weather to rush all this snow water into the pond, but I'm confident it will happen. I don't see how the ice could be out of the pond before the last of April, and maybe this will even be a year when we beat the latest record of May 5 in 1992. Two or three times it's gone out on Easter Sunday - and Easter is quite late this year. Just saying. It will go when it's good and ready!
     I talked a little with Jenny Larrabee Rafuse about her plans for the store now she's the owner, and I think you'll like the changes she has in the works. She will have a creemee machine this summer and is installing a sandwich bar where you can get your sandwich made to order; and she will be making meals-to-go. Their hours will change this summer so they will be open later than 6 p.m., but she said they will go back to shorter hours during the winter. 
     People have been wondering is Garey will still be getting up early in the morning muttering, "Time to make the doughnuts . . . " and Jenny said that isn't going to change. Garey will be making doughnuts and more, every morning,  bright-eyed and bushey-tailed, as always. 
     With all the great places to get food in West Danville, there will be something for everyone's taste and no need for anyone to bother making meals all summer!
     I like the sounds of a creemee machine, but nothing can compare to the way Jane packs ice cream into a cone! One of her "small" cones has more ice cream in it than most double cones. 
      That reminds me - whatever happened to "double cones"?  I mean the ones that had scoops piled up side by side? I haven't seen those in a while. Probably a good thing - for our waistlines and hearts! 
     So get your ice shanty off the pond if you haven't already done so, and go get your ice-out tickets. You have only until 11:59 p.m. tomorrow, so do it now! You could be a few thousand dollars richer for your trouble, and at $1 a chance, it's not going to break the bank. If you can't get to an outlet, do it on line. Just be sure if you print tickets to send in they are postmarked April 1 - no later.  Here's a link to tickets on line: LINK

    We are back in the clouds again today, but the temperature is still 36 degrees, so at least we aren't making ice (and it isn't snowing!).
The snow pack is going down every day and water is running. The back roads are getting a little greasy with mud and in some shaded spots, ice, but all things considered, we're finally in spring mode here at the pond.
     I went to St. Johnsbury yesterday and picked up some great pictures of Joe's Pond from Mark Smith at the Caledonian Record.
Mark's family has been at the pond since about 1916. We are excited to have the pictures and information for the history book.
    I will be back in St. J. to pick up Ice-Out tickets on Tuesday. Monday will be the last chance to get tickets at outlets - until close of business, April 1st. If you are mailing tickets in, please be sure they are postmarked no later than April 1, otherwise they will not be accepted. 
    You can purchase tickets with your credit card until 11:59 p.m. on April 1. Picture Fred, poised over his computer, ready to lock the program at the precise moment the contest is officially over. We always feel a little relief, but also some regret as this midnight ritual marks the end of another Ice-Out year. March always seems to fly by, even with bad weather nearly every day!
    When I stopped at Hastings Store to pick up the mail yesterday, Jenny was just heading out the door and quickly told me she closed on the store on Tuesday. So Jenny owns the store! Congratulations to her - it's so great that she will carry on the tradition started almost 106 years ago. I say "almost" because if I recall correctly, her great grandfather, Gilbert Hastings and his wife, Jennie, bought the store in October, 1913. He ran the store for many years and then his son, Ralph ran it with his wife, Mabel. They passed it on to their daughter, Jane and her husband, Garey, Jenny's parents. Jenny grew up in the store, as her two girls have. Perhaps another generation in the wings who will carry on the tradition?
     I haven't talked with Jenny about whether there will be changes, but I'm sure she will have some great ideas. We also don't know if Garey will still be getting up at the crack of dawn to make the doughnuts and other pastries - but probably he will!

     We've had a couple of pretty nice, fairly warm days - probably enough to start the sap running in our area. Today has been in the 40s, and tonight will drop into the 20s again. We started the day with sunshine - not the piercing bright sun we had yesterday, because there were high, thin clouds and those thickened and by noon the sun was pretty much history. Nice to have it warmer, though and see the snow melting a little. As you can see we're kind of in a snow bowl -- we have a long way to go here. It has settled about a foot during yesterday and today. We'll get there!
     I've had a couple of days of very productive work on the West Danville History. And then there was today. I began editing some sections I'd written a while back and found there were some things I was remembering seeing "somewhere" that I wanted to include. But search as I would, I just couldn't find what I was looking for. I knew it was a newspaper clipping and I have a couple of files of those - some Patty Conly gave me that were photo copies of clippings from the Historical Society, and other's I'd either copied or cut from newspapers over the years - my own personal stash. But I just couldn't find what I was looking for. 
     I have kept newspaper clippings for Joe's Pond and now have two big albums with various clippings about Ice-Out and other events peculiar to Joe's Pond - but in my mind I was seeing the article I was looking for as a loose clipping that perhaps Patty had given me. Finally, late this afternoon, I dragged out first one of the big Joe's Pond albums and then the other, an earlier one I had indexed - and there it was!! I could have saved myself sooooo much time and effort if I'd just looked in the right place - the most obvious, as it turned out, but I let my mind clutter up my logic. 
      Now I had what I was looking for, and when I brought up the file I had been working on to begin writing it into the story, I found I'd already written what I was searching so frantically for. I just hadn't gone far enough to find it - but that at least explained why I was so clear about needing to include that bit of information. 
     I think I need to take a break. And that's what I'm doing. I've closed down the manuscript for tonight and now that I've shared these pictures of our yard rimmed with snowbanks, I'll go out to the kitchen, pour myself a glass of wine and decide what to have for supper. Yep, it's "supper" around here. "Dinner" is either at noon on Sunday or when we go out to eat at a restaurant en the evening. Going out for "supper" wouldn't be nearly as appealing as going out for "dinner." Right now, I'm just glad I can start off tomorrow not still wondering where that newspaper clipping is. I'll probably have some other obstacle arise, but usually it's only brief and I can work around it. Today was different. Not a very productive day, but I can't complain because I made such good headway earlier in the week!
     By the way, Nancy Amidon Burgess has some really great pictures of the snow over at her house on her Facebook page. She is right on the point of land that gets lots of wind, so the snow has really piled up around her house. 
     We will all be glad to get a little rain - but a real heavy rain storm could mean severe flooding. We'll see what the weekend brings - it could be more snow for us here at the Pond. It's just Mother Nature letting us know she's in charge of March -- in a big way.

Another beautiful but cool day. The sun is warming things up and the snow is settling, but there isn't a whole lot of melting going on. People who have been following our weather and purchasing Ice-Out Tickets are perplexed - this is NOT a "normal" spring, they're saying. They know there was more ice than many years, also we've had more snow than some years, and it's not warming up like anyone wold expect now that it's almost April! So how does that relate to when the ice may melt enough to let the block fall and stop the clock? Good question.
     Our recording specialist, Henretta Splain told us she's entered at least one guess that had a June date. There is now way we'll  have ice in the pond until June - we know the block will go down before that, but how about picks in May? That could happen . . . !
     Tickets are flying out of the outlets this week. Everyone is grabbing a fist full before the contest ends on April 1st. The Committee has been distributing more tickets to all the outlets and said they have nearly exhausted their supply of printed tickets, but you can still get them on line - either print some and send them regular mail (postmarked no later than midnight, April 1), or you can purchase batches of ten and pay by credit card. It looks like it's going to be a banner year, and the winnings could be pretty high - like about $5,000, more or less. A pretty neat way to start off your summer if you are lucky enough to guess the correct date and time - or at least are the closest guess.
     Speaking of starting off summer - here's something I bet a lot of Joe's Ponders (and others!) will appreciate. We have a new neighbor about a mile from us on Brickett's Crossing Road, Wilma Shatney. Wilma has a catering business going called "Forever Fresh." She cooks individual meals and delivers them on Fridays. Each week she offers two different specials. This week she's doing Lasagna with a side of Italian Roasted Broccoli, Garlic Bread and a Whoopie Pie for dessert; or Home-made Baked Beans with Hot Dogs, Italian Roasted Broccoli side, a Dinner Roll and Whoopie Pie. Each meal is $12.00 plus sales tax.
     Her meals are all home-made with the freshest local produce available, so if you want her to cook for you this week, you need to order by 6 p.m. tomorrow (Wednesday, 3/27) for delivery on Friday. Her phone is 802-279-7864, and she's at 1043 Brickett's Crossing Road.
     I know some Joe's Ponders who have already had her lasagna and said it was delicious. And I heard from Ann Batten in East Hardwick today - here's what Ann wrote: 
 Last year my neighbor, Wilma, started cooking and delivering dinners in the East Hardwick area.  I have enjoyed them, as I know she uses good ingredients, and is a clean cook.  I have visited her kitchen, it is spotless.  Now she wants to expand her home business to a new area and has asked me for a reference.  I am pleased to be able to refer her to anyone as a dependable person who cooks foods people like and can depend upon. Yum yum!

     I have met Wilma and she told me she will also provide food for large groups - potato salad, lasagna, baked beans, mac and cheese - whatever you need to feed a crowd. She needs to know ahead of time so she can shop for the ingredients and have ample time to make whatever you desire, so if you have a party coming up and need some help with the menu, give her a call. She also bakes - pies, cakes, whatever you need! Sounds good to me! You can call her at the beginning of any week to find out what her specials are  - they change every week.
     Getting back to our weather - Fred went out on Sunday and cleaned the heavy wet snow off some of our bushes so they wouldn't break. I took pictures. He was on snowshoes and it was tough going because the snow was so deep and heavy - the kind that falls onto your snowshoe with every step so you're lifting several pounds of snow with every step. No more snow until perhaps this weekend, and that is a relief! Perhaps we can get shed of some of the snow we have now before getting hit with more.
    You can see how deep the snow is - that is the grape arbor that Fred, who is about 6 ft. tall can easily stand up under. The snow is clearly over three feet deep there. He said not only was it difficult to snowshoe in, he had a hard time figuring out how to get over the snowbanks around our driveway to even get to the back yard . You can see that we do have some pretty sizeable banks built up. The snow settled quite a bit today, I think - even though it wasn't very warm. Better to have it melting slowly. It's 16.6F right now, so everything is freezing up again; but tomorrow is another nice day, a bit warmer than today, so we're making a little progress.  
     This last picture was after Fred had finished taking the snow off the grape arbor and I took it through the bedroom window. Normally his head would come only about to the window sill, but there is a big heap of snow from the roof under the window now so we were pretty much eyeball to eyeball. I had just dug the game camera out from under a couple feet of snow on the back deck - I never did get that deck cleared off completely - the snow from the roof lands there and it's very deep. I also discovered there is a tough, thick layer of crust under the snow from this last storm that my plastic snow shovel wouldn't make a dent in. In a few more weeks, all this snow will just be a bad memory. We hope.
     In the meantime, the road past our house is looking like it could be a bit dicey - frozen in some spots, slimy mud in others. We're all wondering how bad mud season will be this year - could be a doozy.

      

    I bet you thought we were so buried in snow you'd never hear from either one of us again! Not so! We're doing fine - just a little weary from shoveling and blowing snow around. Seems like we all deserve some very nice, gently warming weather for a change. Nothing like that tonight, though - it's 18.9 degrees and probably will be colder before morning. But - and here's the good news: the forecast is for sunshine and warming temperatures for most of next week!! 
     On Thursday, Larry Rossi got the block all set up for the Ice-Out Contest. He wisely wanted to get it done before this storm hit - and they also like to have it out there before April 1st, which is the last day people can get tickets. It's kind of hard to get people interested in guessing when the block will go through the ice when it isn't even ON the ice yet! No matter - it's there, but I suspect it's pretty well hidden after almost two feet of snow falling on it.
     That's by actual measurement on our deck where I take measurements every morning. I measured nearly four inches on Friday morning and another nineteen this morning. With the wind blowing and other factors, twenty-three inches, more or less is what this storm delivered to us. And this morning most of us were out doing the same thing - throwing

snow around. Not as bad as sometimes, but pretty solidly packed. I took some pictures. Fred got some of the snowfall last night the one below of our young maple tree at the front of the house - the snow was clinging in clumps on some of the branches and it looked like a giant pussy willow bush. You can't see it very well, but it's out there in the darkness if you look hard enough. 
    The top picture was as the storm was just beginning, next is the wind blowing snow off the roof, and then the pussy willow tree. 
     This morning I could barely get out the front door because the snow was so deep. Once out there I had to shovel my way to the measuring tube that was useless because snow had been spilling over the top for hours so there was no way I could get an accurate measurement. I also always take a core sample. However, my measuring tube is only about twelve inches tall, so I had to do it in two increments. Once I have the snow core, I take it inside and add measured amounts of water to melt the snow, then discard the same amount I used to melt the snow and then measure what's left. It's not an exact science, but gives weather stations all over the nation and some in Canada information they use to predict flooding, etc. I also record the temperature, relative humidity and wind direction, and throw in whether it's cloudy, raining, snowing, etc.
    I stopped part way through clearing the deck to take some pictures. I usually measure snow depth with a twelve-inch ruler, but today I had to pull out the big gun, the yard stick. First time this year I've had to use it. I shoveled about half of the deck and Fred did the rest - and then went to do snow blowing. It was tough gigging. The banks are so high now that the snow blower doesn't get it quite over the top in some places and some of it falls back into the path. It's worse trying to shovel it - as you can see where Fred is shoveling our walk, the bank is nearly as tall as he is. Our basement windows look into a big snowbank, and a mound of snow even cuts off my view of the driveway from the kitchen window. The big trees in front of the house are weighted down with snow and the back deck is pretty well covered - again. We shoveled it Thursday so we could get the door open and put a game camera out to see if we could catch a glimpse of some of the wildlife that goes through in the night. We see tracks, but never can tell exactly what animal left them. The camera is under that ridge of snow that is our deck railing - picture taken from my office window.
    This is not the biggest storm we've ever had, but it has dumped quite a lot of snow on us and made driving very hazardous last night for the evening commute. I had the scanner going and heard several reports of accidents in the area - tractor trailers jackknifed, cars off the road, trees on power lines. It was a day and night to stay off the roads unless you absolutely had to be out there.
     On a very sad note, I got word yesterday that we lost another of our long-time Joe's Pond summer residents. Ed Walsh passed away on January 14th. His daughter, Sabina, contacted me yesterday to let me know. She said her father had been ill - had several bouts of  pneumonia and couldn't shake it. He was 91. There is no obituary, but Sabina told me he had served in the U. S. Navy in WWII and worked in the New York State Court System. Survivors are his daughter Sabina, five grand children, five great-grandchildren and several nieces and nephews. His wife, Kay, predeceased him in 2013. Ed was a devoted fan of Joe's Pond, and had many friends here. We will miss him.
    Condolences may be sent to the family at 1737 Albany Ave., Brooklyn NY 11210.

    There's good news and bad news today. The good news is that the road between West Danville and Plainfield was undergoing some pot-hole patching today! Marshfield Village was being worked when we came through a little before noontime. I'm not sure which direction they were going in, but the stretch between Marshfield and Plainfield is particularly bad.

     Speaking of bad spots - the apron off of Route 2 onto West Shore Road is really bad - I don't know whether to say "again" or "still." There seems to be some sort of on-going problem there the Danville road crew hasn't been able to correct. It may have to do with the way people spin out getting from West Shore Road onto the pavement that makes holes that fill with water and then just get bigger - a recipe for gigantic potholes. If that's the case, maybe extend the apron further onto W. Shore Road. However, there is a culvert there and they wouldn't want to pave over that, probably. Actually, that culvert could use some attention, too. There has been a really deep hole on the north side where anyone hitting it will probably end up in the brook, one way or another. That's been there for a while - and like the other holes, it gets filled from time to time, but then opens up again.

     The bad news is that we're in for some more snow this weekend. There aren't many forecasters saying how much we can expect, but it's going to start tonight with an inch or so and then there will be more through tomorrow and Saturday. It could mean six or eight inches, I'm guessing - or maybe not. Maybe instead we'll get rain. That might take down some of the snow we have - like still three feet on our back lawn.
     Then we all know what's coming next. The season that comes after winter and before spring - mud season. I was looking for an old photo taken years ago of a Vermont car in mud, but I didn't find exactly what I was looking for - but I found tthis one -  some of you who don't live on a back road in Vermont probably think this is an exaggeration. Just be warned - don't go there! If you need to go someplace on a back road during mud season, walk or get a horse. Or wait for somebody to come along with a tractor or a jacked-up pickup with chains on. Look for one already covered in mud - that guy's a pro.
     There's more good news, though - the block is out on the ice! Larry's guys put it out there this morning, according to Diane Rossi. It looks darned lonely out there - and if we get much snow, it could disappear for a few days. But more good news is that there's absolutely no danger the ice will go out before the end of the contest on April 1st. As some of you know, that has been a concern at least twice. No worries this year! I'm thinking it will be late in April before it goes out. We'll see. 

    In the meantime, here are some signs of spring - but do't get too excited - the pictures are from Andy Rudin who lives in Melrose Park, near Philadelphia. They always are way ahead of us, but Andy sort of gets to enjoy two springs each year because he heads north to Joe's Pond almost as soon as we have bare ground. In the middle picture you can see the daffodils are almost ready to bloom. Thanks, Andy - in about six weeks, we may see something similar in our flowerbeds!
You give us hope!
     Now I'm going to go rest my tired, abused eyes. I am still getting shots in my eyes every eight weeks - but now I get both eyes done at once. It's not that bad, and the nice long stretch in between is very welcome. The first time I had both done at once, I said I would never do it again, I was so uncomfortable, but now - it's not that bad, and it gets it over with. In the meantime, "My eyes are fine!"

Here we are, almost the first day of spring! That's another good reason to celebrate St. Patrick's Day! We actually had a spring-like day yesterday and it took the snow pack down considerably. We had about an inch of snow - again - overnight, and when I cleared the deck this morning I was able to use my "shove and dump" method instead of "pick up and fling." The snow had pulled away from the deck enough to allow snow to fall between the structure and the snowbank. Yes, the snowbanks are still up there, but I'm guessing on the level the snow is down at least a foot from where it was. 
     Water was running on Friday and again yesterday, although it wasn't quite as warm yesterday. Today is chilly, too. I'm seeing 27.9F on the thermometer - and there's a mean wind today. But all of that is good because it will slow down the melting and help prevent flooding, at least for a while. 
     I've had lots of folks asking about Ted Chase these past several weeks. I checked in with Barbara yesterday and she told me Ted is coming along pretty darned well, considering. He has been off chemo for a little over three weeks and other meds have been reduced so he's beginning to not only feel better, but he's getting back to being more  like himself. He's still not able to talk much, and is too sore to swallow, but all of that will change soon as he is progressing daily.
     I'd say call (802-684-3883) and check with Barbara if you want to visit or offer any assistance; but for now the best way to communicate with Ted would be in writing. So send a card or note - I think Barbara told me a while back their email is  not functioning very well right now, so better not depend on that. Their address is P. O. Box 142, West Danville VT 05873.
    So, Happy St. Patrick's Day to everyone! Enjoy the day, green beer if that's your thing, sing "Danny Boy" in the shower, or just wear something green. It's fun even if you aren't Irish. I'd love to have a big plate of corned beef and cabbage with Irish soda bread and beer (of any color) - but that's a lot of carbs, salt, fat and goodness knows what else goes into the corning process these days. I remember going into Gleason's Market, I believe it was - on Main Street in St. Johnsbury, and ordering a corned beef brisket well before St. Patrick's Day just to be sure I had a good one. They cured their own at the store, and it was really good. Then, after a couple meals, I'd combine the leftovers into hash. Those were the days when I didn't worry about calories or the effects of too much salt in my diet. I thought about buying a brisket last week, but decided against it. I'll satisfy my corned beef cravings with a single serving at Three Ponds or Danville Inn. No leftovers, no temptation. Geeze, how dull!

    We had our first really spring-like day today, at least one that wasn't way out of season. We've had a few days this winter that were close to this warm (in the low 40s) but they were freakish because it was in January or February. Now, it seems like it could be for real!
     Every snow storm or seriously cold snap we've had these past few weeks I've said could be the last - but every time I'm fooled and we'd get another swing with temperatures dropping out of sight. This weather feels promising. I'm even glad to see our road looking dark and muddy. Sometimes things just have to get worse before they can get better!
     I was going through some of my notes for the West Danville history book and found a notice that had appeared in the Caledonian back in 1910 that they had recently published "an attractive booklet" about Joe's Pond and West Danville that was written by C. H. Clark. It had pictures of some of the cottages then, views of the pond and surroundings and a "short sketch of the pond and its attractions." I'm assuming the "sketch" was text, not a map of any sort.
     I have reached out to Mark Smith at the Caledonian Record, and he will look into it, but said his grandfather bought the paper in 1919, so it is unlikely they would have anything earlier than that. 
     There are probably copies of that booklet around, but I've Googled and found nothing. I'm hoping someone who reads this may remember it or better yet, might have a copy still. We would like to see it - you never know when a "new" old photo will show up nobody has seen before. 
     A few days like this and "sugarin'" will really get going. I expect some places are already getting runs, but it's been pretty cold here so it is probably going to take a few days to warm things up to that point.
     I noticed a big load of logs go down our road early this morning. That won't be happening much longer - the town will post the back roads to keep heavy loads off when they begin to break up. We're getting close to the time when folks who live on dirt roads only go out when they absolutely have to. Unless, of course, mud season isn't too bad. That has been the case in recent years, but I'm afraid we've had it too good for about as long as our luck is going to last. We're about due for a doozie.
     We had an Ice-Out Contest ticket come recently with a guess of something like June 1 for the ice to go out. Whoever it was probably saw on the Ice-Out page on the website that there was a report the ice is between three and four feet thick. I sure hope we have open water before then! In past years we've had people guess it would go out in February. My guess is that it will be late April. I guess since I'm not part of the Ice-Out Committee any longer, I could buy a few tickets and make some guesses - but I haven't done that yet. I'll have to think about it. I could wait until about the last minute and do it on line. Maybe that's the way to go. By the end of March we should have a better idea of whether there is going to be more super-cold weather or if spring is actually here. 
     Isn't it disappointing when some of your favorite people do stupid things - like buying their kids' entrance into college?  It certainly isn't doing the youngster any favor and sets a really bad example. I feel sorry for the kids - especially the kids who have decent scores and can't get into the college of their choice because someone else less deserving is there. We certainly live in an imperfect world.

     We have had snow most of the day. There was only about two inches accumulation overnight, but today we've added another two at least, and there was more wind and blowing snow to make driving difficult in some areas. I was talking to a friend who lives in Shelburne, Vermont this morning and he told me at his house there is mostly bare ground. I think he lives on a hillside someplace, out in the countryside. Probably he has a southern exposure, too.
     It wasn't very cold today, and tonight it's a rather pleasant 26.3 degrees - and snowing (of course!)
     I took some pictures this morning when I came back from my walk - it was very bright, the sun was almost breaking through the clouds and snowflakes, but not quite.  Tonight, Fred went out and took more pictures. We wanted to show you how high the snowbanks are around our house. Keep in mind, we use a snow blower and that tends to keep the banks lower than when they are plowed - but still it builds up. Jamie has been down a few times to push the snow back at the end of our parking area just to keep the space open. It tends to narrow up if you don't take care of it by pushing it down over the hill.
     Anyway, I was complaining to Fred that the pictures I'd taken this morning were washed out because it was so bright with the snow all around and I didn't have the shade whatchmacallit on the camera lens, so he volunteered to go out and get more tonight. I really liked these night pictures - the snowflakes and the faint images of the trees - and decided to share them here. Click on one to see them larger.
     We are overjoyed that the temperature is going to gradually moderate after tomorrow, but of course the whole thing is going to go too far in the opposite direction and get unseasonably high by Friday. There has been very little "moderation" to the weather swings this winter - it's way below or way above whatever "normal" used to be.
     One thing is for sure - there's going to be a lot of water to deal with when the weather does finally warm up.
      By the way, there was a piece on television tonight about bears. They said they are going to be unusually hungry when they come out of hibernation this year because the nut crop wasn't as good as usual last year and therefore they didn't get as much food as normal. People are being warned to get their bird feeders in soon because it's about time for the bears to be waking up and they'll be looking for food. They will eat just about anything when they are hungry enough, and will do just about anything to get to food. So beware.

This has been a wild, blustery day. We've had three or four inches of snow, lots of wind, and now some sleety stuff - not quite sure what it is and I'm not going to go outside to test it. The temperature is 29F, so I don't think it's really rain - maybe freezing rain. The good news is that the wind has calmed down. This picture was taken this morning by Diane Rossi as the sun was coming up. Later in the day she said her flag blew off. I'm not sure if the pole broke in the wind or exactly what happened, but the wind was really whipping out of the south most of the day. Except when it was whipping out of the north. There were times when we really didn't know which direction it was coming from, but it was very strong, blowing the snow every which way, and without letup until this evening. No power outage though, and that's good news.
     The forecast looks as if there will be a warmup late this week - like Thursday or Friday. That might mean there will be a sap run! Doesn't that sound like spring talk? Actually, sugaring season is usually right around town meeting day, so it isn't all that far off the normal mark, and I'm sure other areas are already boiling. It's just our area that's a little late.
     Speaking of "normal" Henretta Splain told us today that an ice fisherman told her this weekend that the ice is between three and four feet thick! That is a lot of ice to melt! I think it's a little more than the "normal" of recent years, but I know the depth varies depending on where one is on the pond, so some areas may have less. With all the cold days and even colder nights, it comes as no surprise we've apparently been making ice at a pretty good clip these past few weeks. I thought the snow might insulate it some, but after a long spell of intense cold weather such as we've been experiencing, there's nothing left but more freezing. So there you have it - a new ice measurement to help you pick the date and time the block will fall through the ice and stop the clock.

It's hard to believe we've yet another nasty snow storm approaching. It's supposed to arrive Sunday morning, along with daylight saving time. Somebody should tell Mother Nature it's supposed to be spring when we push the clocks ahead! But I think it's supposed to be over with and out of here pretty quickly, so perhaps it won't do too much damage. Goodness knows, we don't need more snow, power outages, wind and misery.
     Here's something that will make you think about spring - and summer gardening, planting crops - all that sort of thing. And

hopefully some folks will rethink the fertilizers and other chemicals they use around their homes. I apologize for the quality of the print. For some reason it didn't come out very well, but it's the best I could do. Click on it and I think you will be able to make it out ok. Thanks to Kate Chatot for sending it to me.
     I have another sign of spring for you, especially meaningful to Joe's Pond Association members. It's almost time for the spring newsletter to be published. Joanne Stewart is pulling it together this year. She has asked me to post that she's looking for news items. She's interested in hearing about weddings, new babies, accolades, achievements, trips, upcoming events this summer, or just about any message fit to print. It would be great to have a photo with whatever you send her, too. Keep it as brief as possible as space is always a factor. Please send it to her at verthai@gmail.com. Your contribution will make her very happy.
     So if the day seems somehow out of whack for you tomorrow, perhaps it's because you forgot to set your clocks ahead. It's annoying when everyone else is an hour ahead of you. It's bound to take a day or two to adjust - almost everyone complains about that. Of course, if you live in Arizona, Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and U. S. Virgin Islands, you'll be out of sync with the rest of us until next fall anyway. It's strange, but the Navajo Indians in Arizona do change to Daylight Savings Time (DST). Did you know Ben Franklin was the first to come up with this "bright" idea. He suggested that getting up earlier in the morning and thus going to bed earlier at night would save candles. He was a smart cookie.
     Then, in WWI, Germany began using DST to save fuel in 1916. The trend spread throughout Europe, but United States didn't adopt the plan until the spring of 1918. After the war was over, congress went back to Standard time. For a while, DST was adopted by some states while others did not. Then in WWII, President Franklin Roosevelt called it "War Time" and declared it in effect year around. It lasted from February 9, 1942 to the September 30, 1945. After that it was optional by states but it had to be state-wide, whatever they decided. Previously there were zones and some parts of some states were on different time. Confusion resulted. There were experiments from time to time, studies done, the dates the change-over occurred juggled, and finally, in 2014 the law was enforced across the country, with a couple of exceptions. For a state like Alaska, changing the clocks really wouldn't make much sense. They have daylight almost around-the-clock in the summer. And Arizona is so hot in the summer that conducting business an extra hour in metropolitan areas would expend excessive energy because of running cooling systems longer. 
    On the other hand, California maintains DST year-round; Florida is on the fence about it, but a bill is pending in congress to allow permanent DST there, as well. Hawaii's daylight hours do not fluctuate enough to warrant changing the time.
     So there it is - all you didn't need to know about DST. You can read the whole thing on wikipedia.org. I've condensed it here, but it will give you a sense of the hows and whys. I guess it really does make sense - although I've always thought it would work ok to just stay on DST and save all the bother.
    I am not going to try to figure out the last bit of information on the site about how computers are programmed to adapt to time changes. Waaay too complicated for me. I get confused about what day it is sometimes. Nope, Java, perl and shell languages mean nothing to me, and that's ok. Fred knows about that stuff and can get me out of trouble when necessary - I do not have to understand it.
     Be safe if you're in any of the storm zones tomorrow. Maybe THIS will be our last storm of the Winter of 2019 . . . ?

    Fred and I had a rare evening out last night. It was colder than we'd expected, and normally we wouldn't budge from our toasty living room, but we had made plans a while back to meet middle son, Bob and his wife, Theresa, at the Danville Inn for dinner, so off we went. We all really like the Danville Inn and Steve (the owner, chef, go-to guy), but more often go for breakfast on a Saturday or Sunday than for dinner. 
     Last night it wasn't crowded, but there was a steady flow in and out. We saw several Joe's Pond people. Ann and Terry Powers were there. Terry grew up in St. Johnsbury, and knows lots of people Bob knows. I know some of them, but then Jan Sherman (I'm not sure of her married name) came in and joined Ann and Terry. Jan was our neighbor in St. J. when the kids were growing up, and her late brother, Tom, was Bob's best friend. She and Bob were  remembering how Bob and Tom used to "play band" in the playroom the Sherman's had in their rambling Webster Street home. Our house was around the corner from theirs, on Lynwood Terrace - not far from Chandler's Greenhouse, where Tommy and Bob used to play or "work." Jan and Bob figured out Bob was in his first "band" when he was about seven years old. Tommy had drums and there was a piano in the playroom, so Bob figured he'd play that. the rest is history.
     Last night  a long-time friend of Bob's who had played in a band with him a few years ago, Sue, was playing guitar and singing at the Inn, and she invited Bob to join her at the piano. He did, and they made a really nice duo.
     Bill Jones, our contractor who did our deck a while back, was celebrating his birthday with his brother and sister-in-law. It was nice to meet Bill's family.
     So in spite of the bitterly cold weather, we enjoyed the evening very much. The food was great, and it was wonderful seeing people we hadn't seen for a while. 
     In parting, remember that April 1st isn't that far off and it will be too late to get into the Joe's Pond Ice-Out Contest. Those of you that are members of JPA may be wondering where your ten tickets are - every year you get them in the mail, whether you want them or not, right? Well, not this year. The committee decided it was a waste of time, money and tickets to send them to so many people who didn't use them, lost them, or left them at camp by mistake when the closed it for the winter. So if you want ten or however many tickets, you'll need to contact someone on the committee or go to the website. Hurry, before the contest closes!!!!
     I know - it's bitterly cold, and who is thinking about ice melting? The Ice-Out Committee, that's who.
Diane Rossi
Shelly Walker
Mary Anne Cassani


     

     Another cold night last night, and another coating of fresh snow - but only enough to make everything pretty and clean. It was so dry what collected in my measuring tube couldn't even be measured when it was melted, so I reported a trace. How cold was it, you ask? My weather station reported a low of negative 11.5 degrees. I had thought it was not that cold - the thermometer on the kitchen window showed -4.9 as a low. Then I heard from Diane Rossi that it was -11 at her place on the shore of the pond, so thought we had lucked out at a few degrees warmer. Not so, it seems. That does happen sometimes - I guess because cold air is heavier than warm air and we're a little higher in elevation at our house. No matter - it was cold, but we're in for a warming trend and by the weekend may have some rain. Or maybe snow.
     I've had a few responses to my interest in hearing from people around the pond about when their cottages were built and by whom. Andy Rudin has wonderful records on his family cottage, and also photos. We won't know until later how much of this we can use (there may be a maximum page requirement to keep the history book as we plan to publish in soft cover) and we will be putting in photos after all the text is written. We have a lot of photos, so not everything we've gathered will get into this book. We will do our best not to leave out anything of importance or interest.
     I got involved yesterday in researching hunting, fishing and wildlife in general in our area. I hadn't realized that caribou and elk were once roaming our hills and valleys. I've been able to verify from several reliable sources that the were certainly here and also why they disappeared. 
     Today I'm hoping to finish putting that history into our book.
     Everyone, have a wonderful day - enjoy the snow because we won't have it much longer! (I know, lots of you have enjoyed the snow long enough already, but it doesn't hurt to "think positive" when you are about at the end of a long, cold winter that's dragging on, and on, and on . . . !)

A Merry Ice-Out Mix-Up!

We aren't sure how this happened, but the media sure can mess up the news - without even trying! Here are links sent by my friend, Mary Whitcomb this morning, and her message:
 Good morning Jane,

Avery Powell of WCAX, reported this morning about a drawing of a bottle of vanilla extract being placed on the Joe’s Pond block, but I never heard

about that.  I think there has been a very confusing mistake made in the Caledonian Record.

The article has combined info between Joe’s Pond Ice-Out and one done on Lake Memphremagog  per their story posted on Feb. 4, 2019.

It’s quite a mix-up, I’d say. 

Mary

Our Ice-Out Contest Committee pounced on it right away. Shelly Walker happened to be watching WCAX this morning and caught the 7 o'clock foul-up. She shot them an email right away, so it will likely get corrected. It's too bad WCAX used the Caledonian's report instead of the copy sent to them by Shelly.

As for the Caledonian's report - I checked my newspaper and the Joe's Pond insert was perfectly correct there. I'm guessing it got confused somehow when it was digitized. I've heard that there's any publicity is good publicity for things like our contest - so no doubt this will generate some conversation as well as confusion - for both contests. Shelly Walker (part of our Ice-Out team) told me the Memphremagog contest prize is about $500, while ours is about $5,000. They probably haven't been at it as long as Joe's Pond has!

Weather today is iffy - we have a temperature of 13.1F right now, and an overnight low of about 5F, so even though there is weak sunshine, things aren't warming up much. We also got a little snow overnight, but only about an inch and it's very light and dry at those temps. We're all saying, "Think Spring!"

    We've had a mostly sunny day today but the temperature has remained in the vicinity of 20 degrees. There was also a bit of wind and that made it seem a lot colder. The sunshine was so nice around noon time I decided to take a break and hike up Jamie and Marie's driveway, but when I turned the corner by our mailbox, the wind hit me and I nearly turned back. I made it up the hill ok - their driveway is protected by big trees and the hill itself, but when I reached the top, the wind was soooo cold I just turned around and headed right back down the hill. I usually take a few minutes at the top to catch my breath, but not today.
     I hadn't seen the trees that came down across their driveway in the wind storm a week ago Sunday, so I did stop for a minute on the way down to look them over. There were two of them, right in the same spot - perhaps one took the other down, or maybe they came down separately, we don't know. At least one of them snapped off at about eight or ten feet from the ground. No surprise there - that wind was ferocious last week. Those two trees must have at least brushed the power line on the opposite side of the road - but luckily didn't do them any damage. Jamie had to chainsaw them - two good sized trees about 10-12 in. diameter, it seemed to me - so he and Marie could get to work that Monday morning. The hazards of living in the woods.

     At least we didn't have much new snow in the last couple of days. There was only a trace this morning - not enough for me to measure either on the deck or caught  in the measuring container. This morning I had an email from our cousin Ora in Rhode Island and she sent this photo of her condo - plenty of snow from this weekend's storm - the one that didn't dump a lot on us! The snow in her yard will be gone in a few short weeks, I expect, but I imagine we're stuck with our snow here in Vermont for at least a month, six weeks, or maybe longer.  The near zero temperatures at night are not allowing much warming even though the sun is getting higher in the sky every day and warming the earth. It just isn't happening quickly. I heard some announcer on WCAX talking today about it being maple sugaring time. Not here, but probably in other sections of the state it is getting time.
     We will be anxious to learn how things went at town meeting today. The results will be out tomorrow morning, or maybe on the 11 o'clock news tonight. Then we'll know if the school is closing in Cabot. That was the big item on the agenda this year.
     Another question locally is how thick the ice is on Joe's Pond. It's getting close to the end of the Ice-Out Contest, so the pressure is building. With temperatures near zero every night, nothing much is happening except perhaps we could gain an inch or two of ice. I have promised to try to find out how thick it is and when I do, I'll post it here. I know people like to know before they make their guess about  when it's going to go out. One thing is for sure, it is just guesswork. Nobody can predict the weather. We could continue with this cold weather or when it switches again by the weekend, we could get a really big warming trend and things would really begin to melt. Only time will tell. But come 11:59 p.m. on April 1, the contest closes, so get your tickets while you can! On line or at your favorite outlet. If you need some mailed to you, contact Diane Rossi - dmbrossi@aol.com or Michelle Walker at walkermecats@charter.net. There's still time to get them in the mail, and you can get them on line literally until the last second.

Alex Blair, Fight Against Cancer

Here's an update on Alex Blair, daughter of Craig and Heather Blair of Cambridge, Vermont and Cove Road, Joe's Pond. 
WCAX Report.
     We are very happy for Alex and her family. She's winning a very courageous battle. This teenager is a real inspiration.

Cor. of  Chatot Road by Shelly Walker's

     It's a little discouraging that we're getting more snow today. We had just a smidgen overnight - not enough to really measure, but today there are big, soft fluffy snowflakes falling and although this kind of snow doesn't require much effort to shovel or plow, it does build up quickly. We have between two and three feet of snow in most places on the level now and really don't need or want more.

Ice fishing near boat access

     Middle son, Bob came up to camp yesterday to shovel off the roofs and was very surprised at the amount of snow we have here compared to St. Johnsbury. We haven't been further from home than Danville in several weeks - just haven't needed to head out for anything special, so we don't have any knowledge of how much difference there is in any direction from here. We are sort of living in a cocoon this winter while I'm writing.

     I have finished writing the chapter on the Joe's Pond Association and will now concentrate on a very large chapter on Joe's Pond itself. This one

involves everything starting with first two "fishing houses" built on the pond, one by James McKillop who had a farm on what is now Route 15 and whose land included a fair amount of waterfront, and another built by Asa Mack on the west shore near where the Dimick and Hamilton cottages are. Both were built around 1894. The earliest camp we know of was the Beck's on Flint's Point, built in 1897 and now owned by Richard Beck. 
     The fishing houses were like our modern day boat houses. Both McKillop and Mack built boats  and rented them out. At one time McKillop had a fleet of twenty, according to an advertisement he posted in the newspaper. Asa Mack probably didn't have nearly that many, and likely used the "fishing house" for his own boat. The Mack farm was about where Jay and Kate Chatot's house is now. 
     I was talking with Barbara Chase yesterday - Ted is doing very well, has finished his chemo and radiation and is recovering from that. I had asked some questions trying to figure out which Ted Chase did certain things while a member of the Joe's Pond Association. There are three Teds in the chapter - Ted's father and grandfather were both Theodore Chase. Turns out Ted's grandfather bought their cottage in 1919 and Ted and Barbara are thinking they should somehow celebrate the family having a camp at Joe's Pond for 100 years. That's a fun reason to throw a party, right?
     From there I began trying to figure out who else might still own a camp that had been in the family for that long. I know Richard Beck has, of course - but wonder about others. There are other camps that are at least that old, but few that are still in the same family. Possibly Jim Kellogg's, and maybe the Ward's - their  grandfather, Chauncey Merton Willey bought the land for their camp from Douglas Blackadar, but I'm not sure what year. I can't think of many others, but I'd be interested to know of any that you might think of - or if you ARE one of those long-established Joe's Ponders. Let me know: janebrowncabot@gmail.com - or post a comment here. Thanks - I'm always looking for another piece to this puzzle!

Ice-Out Tickets Available On Line

Happy March 1st.
As promised, the option to buy Joe's Pond Ice-Out Tickets on line is now available. Simply go to the website, www.joespondvermont.com and follow instructions. You can pay with your credit card. This option is in addition to the printable tickets that you can fill out, print and send by regular mail with cash or check. Both ticket options are good only until midnight, April 1st. If you are mailing in tickets, the postmark must be on or before April 1, 2019. 

     For those following our weather pattern, perhaps to help figure out the date and time you want on your ice-out tickets, our weather is still unusually cold for this time of the year. Last night the low was right at zero, and today we have slowly arrived at about 24F. The sun has some warmth in it and with longer days, the earth is gradually warming. But here at Joe's Pond there is still lots of snow and with temperatures remaining below normal, anything can happen. 
     Some have the opinion that when the weather turns, it will be rain and unusually warm, sending water rushing out of Vermont's hills to flood valleys and overflow streams everywhere. We'll see.
In the meantime, you have exactly one month to pick a date the ice goes out of Joe's Pond - then we'll wait. Good luck.