Weather Change and More

Our weather is going to change over the next few days, and no wonder! We're well into November with temperatures way above normal. We knew there would be a day of reckoning. Actually, it doesn't sound too bad until this weekend when we may get a huge dose of rain. We could see a significant drop in temperature, as well, so we may not see temps. in the 60s again for a while. How much they will drop is a good question. We knew all this nice weather came with a penalty ready down the road.

Speaking of roads, the hill on West Shore Road from Barre Avenue to Route 2 has been widened and reworked by the Danville road crew. It is much, much better now, with plenty of room to meet cars. Just don't scoot into the ditch - those are deeply carved out of the bank and, like along West Shore Road on Cabot's end, there are also very deep ditches in order to control water during heavy rain storms. We may get a chance to see how all of it works on Saturday when heavy rain is forecast!

Also, Jim Farnsworth let me know today that there is a new sign reducing speed along Route 2 past the summer cottage area. JPA made the request that the speed be reduced to 35 mph, and the new sign posts 40 mph. A good compromise. Jim also mentioned work to be done probably beginning next spring and running through 2025 on a long stretch of Route 2. Here's what he wrote: 

On a another note the road work on US 2 starting at Maplefields Irving gas station in Plainfield and continuing just past the LVRT crossing on the Saint Johnsbury side of Hastings store was advertised for bidding last week. The project is to be bid this December 2nd and the contact must be completed before July 1, 2025. The major road work in Danville will start approximately at the red barn at the intersection US 2 and West Shore Road and continue to the US 2 bridge over the outlet of Joes Pond. This portion will be reclaimed in one section and a reclaim/undercut in another section. During this process vehicles will not be traveling on pavement.

 I'm not entirely sure what the process of undercutting and/or reclaiming is, but after looking it up on line, it appears that reclaiming is a process of using material that is already in place, i.e., grinding asphalt to be reused. Whatever they will be doing, it appears that for the next two and a half summers we will be dealing with a lot of road work on that stretch of highway. There are alternative routes, of course, but none very direct from West Danville to Plainfield. However, only certain sections will need to be worked at a time and frustrating as it may be, improvement is definitely needed in those areas. The usual "Expect Delays" signs will be up!

There is more news. Henretta Splain sent me an email about her daughter, Kellie Merrell, who many Joe's Ponders know as a reliable and cooperative resource person for all things related to the health of our pond and others in our state. Kellie has just been elected president of the North Country Lake Management Society for all of United States and Canada. Henretta said there are 800 lakes in Vermont, alone. It boggles my mind how many there might be in both U. S. and Canada! I'm sure Kellie is up to the task, whatever is expected of her. My congratulations to her! This is a real honor. 

And that's about all the news I have tonight. Many of our summer friends have left for a variety of warmer regions, and the pond is very quiet. There are still a good number of us who remain in place year around; we miss our neighbors, but we appreciate that overwintering at Joe's Pond is not for everyone. Once the pond is frozen and fishermen get their huts and gear out on the ice, things liven up a bit. There will be snow machines on the rail trail instead of bikes, but far fewer hikers, with only a few hardy souls taking advantage of the well-packed trail to get their daily walks in. I expect there will be increased snow machine traffic this year with the trail open further north - and especially after January when all of it will be accessible. Pretty amazing! It has taken a long time, but the trail is certainly an asset to the communities along the way. 

Enjoy the nice weather here or wherever you are, be healthy and travel safely.