April Fool on Me!

 Turns out the forecasters were right at least on part of their weather prediction. We got another five inches of snow yesterday and during the night - and it is sticking. No doubt more fell and melted as it hit the ground, but I have measured a total of six inches from this last (we hope!) storm - and it's still snowing lazily out there! What the weather folks DID miss was that it would be moving out of here quickly. Maybe from the western side of the state, but it seems to be stalled over Joe's Pond!

Needless to say, it's beautiful - all the mud and muck is covered in a clean white deposit of soft, fluffy snow. The wind is out of the northwest and that is blowing the new snow around a bit - pretty typical for this time of the year. The temperature isn't expected to get much, if any, above freezing today or tomorrow, I think, so we're probably stuck with snow on the ground for a little longer. The roads are different. Those are muddy, rutty, washboardy and nasty. But still very navigable - so far. Just don't hit those bad spots going more than 10-15 mph or  you could land in the ditch with a broken something on your car or truck.

West Shore Road is now posted so large loads are prohibited from traveling over it. This happens every spring and is to prevent large trucks like logging rigs or heavy milk trucks to plow through the mud and leave deep ruts that will swallow a normal-sized vehicle. The school bus, UPS, Fedex and regular oil trucks are still ok to go through.

I remember one year when the road along the flat past our turn and in front of our house was especially bad. Fred and I sat in our lawn chairs one warm Sunday afternoon and watched car after car approach from either the Cabot direction or from Route 2, slow, stop, survey the situation and back away - sometimes backing some distance to where they could turn around. Then there were a few who were apparently bent on getting to the other side of the mudhole - at whatever cost, and got mired. We had called the town, and in a short time they showed up and pulled the car through the mud onto firm ground. However, after the town truck turned around to head back up through the mud, the driver  got stuck. No manner of maneuvering produced more than a couple inches forward or backward. The driver got out and examined his situation - and via walkie-talkie (this was before cell phones) summoned help. Another town truck showed up a little later and pulled the first one through the bog. It was a full afternoon of entertainment. There was nothing we could do to help, so we just sat there and watched the springtime mud dance unfold. Fortunately, mud season on our road hasn't been that serious for several years. We hope it stays that way!