Sadly, I am reporting that Rachel Lewis (Sandy Beach Road) passed away recently. I didn't know Rachel well, but the few times I met her she was very gracious. She had a home at Joe's Pond for quite a long time, and I know she loved being here. I know she had many friends here and she will be missed. Those of you who may wish to send condolences can do so through the Knight Funeral Home.

January 9, 2020

We have experienced a lot of weather during the past week. We now have some of our snow back that was lost during the unusually warm, rainy weather this past weekend. Gretchen Farnsworth (Sandy Beach Road) sent these pictures of the pond that show at least some of the weather changes we've had in the past seven days. After today's snow, we are seeing the temperature plummet - it's 13.5F which is about two degrees lower than it was when I first came in to check my email about half an hour ago. It's going

January 12, 2020

down fast and going to hit single numbers, for sure (hopefully above zero, but below zero wouldn't surprise me). There will be wind chill to deal with tomorrow and more snow this weekend, with even colder temperatures that are going to stay with us for a while, according to the forecast.

We had snow squalls and nasty driving conditions today. We had to go to Berlin for my eye shots this morning. My

January 16, 2020

 appointment was at 9:30, so we wisely decided to leave at 8:30. We were there in plenty of time, but we were glad we left earlier than normal. Traffic was moving well, but slowly, and when driving is like it was today, I'm more than happy to poke. The plows were out, but having a hard time keeping up with the snow falling. There was some wind, too, and that was sending clouds of snow off the overloaded trees. It was really pretty, but I didn't get to enjoy the scenery much - I felt I'd better tend to my driving. On the way home, Fred drove (after the shots, I don't think it would be a good idea for me to drive) and it was much better until we got just this side of Marshfield village. As we climbed the hill coming out of Marshfield, we were right back into winter again. Joe's Pond really is a separate world.

Every now and then someone asks me why it is that when Fred and I go some place I often drive. The answer goes back to when we were commuting to Montpelier to work every day. We know that often women let their husbands do the driving, especially if the weather is foul. However, Fred always stressed that it was important for me to drive in all sorts of conditions, just as it was for him, so we always took turns. Whoever drove to Montpelier in the morning was the passenger on the way home. Over the years, we've pretty much stuck to that system, and it works out very well. I know some husbands are not comfortable when their wives are driving - and all I can say is that if they let her drive more often, she would gain confidence; or, he might find out she's a heck of a lot better driver than he thought. On the other hand, it might not work at all for some couples . . . !

Many thanks to Gretchen Farnsworth for these pictures of Joe's Pond in winter.