Ice Measurement and Incidentals

 I haven't dropped off the face of the earth - it's just that I haven't had much to report recently. The weather is March-like, snowy, blustery, changeable, and generally weird. The town plow came through West Shore Road today to push back snowbanks in preparation for either more snow, more rain, or warmer weather. Whatever comes next, and that's encouraging. It helps keep the runoff in the ditches rather than on the road, making deeper mud. Even old timers are puzzled about what mud season will likely look like this year. 

I've managed to stay pretty busy with one thing or another, including a fair amount of clearing away snow, although the last big snowfall Jamie and Marie did most of the shoveling. The temperature has been fairly reasonable - in the low 20s during most days; but it's been the wind that chills me to the bone. Also, a few days ago, the temperature dropped so quickly there was black ice on my driveway and then a light snowfall, and I didn't want to chance taking a tumble going for the mail, so I did what my father used to do - I drove my car down to the mailbox and back. I'm not sure my father ever just took his vehicle only as far as the mailbox; he more than likely took a jaunt into the village to see what was happening at Joe's Pond Country Store, or visited a neighbor or one of his grandsons - even after he wasn't supposed to be driving. I just went to the mailbox and back. Not particularly good for the car to take such short "trips,"I suppose, but sometimes I just need to get the darned mail and get back to whatever I was doing.

Today I met my friend and fellow author, Kathleen Monroe (Legends of Barnet), at Three Ponds in Danville for lunch today. We enjoyed a great lunch and had a really good chat. We have similar interests and although I had met Kathleen briefly when I purchased her book, I didn't really know her, so today was a real treat.

When I got home, I checked in with my friend, Bob Mackay, about the depth of ice on Joe's Pond. Bob said it hasn't changed in the past several days - still 17 inches of hard ice with a layer of slush topped with several inches of new snow. He said he had intended to do some plowing on the ice to make it easier to get around to his setups, but with the slush still soft, he decided against plowing with is four-wheeler. 

The forecast is pretty much more of the same sort of weather we've been getting, so there probably won't be much change in the ice right away. Warmish days with a little snow off and on, and nights below freezing should wake up the maple trees again for another sap run - but I haven't heard any reports from sugar makers. Perhaps the daytime temperatures haven't really been warm enough for a decent run of sap yet. A few were able to boil during the last warm-up we had, but those days were much warmer than it's been recently - with more sunshine, too!

Already it's time to set our clocks ahead (on Saturday night), which seems unusually early to me, but I have noticed that my internal clock has me awake earlier in the morning now. I still have a hard time going to bed at a reasonable hour, so the time change may take some getting used to for me.

I got this picture today - I'm not sure, but I think it may have been taken after Tangeni had spent the day skiing with her Uncle Bob. He told me she is a really good little skier and he really enjoys skiing with her. Since Tangeni was a baby, she has always been very active and would fall asleep wherever she was, location or position not important - when she's ready to sleep, she just does it. Her cat, Thor, is a constant companion and like Tangeni, he has a lot of energy. When he stayed with me, he was a great lap-cat, but only after he got all that energy spent.

Andy Rudin sent me this photo - every year Andy boosts my winter-weary spirits with a photo, sometimes of his garden with daffodils and other spring flowers blooming, or like this year, in a vase. Because there is only the one bloom, perhaps there aren't many blooming yet in his garden, but it is certainly nice to know that spring has come to Philadelphia; thus, spring here at Joe's Pond cannot be too far behind. Another four weeks will make a huge difference. So thank you, Andy - I know you are counting the days until you get back to Joe's Pond.

We'll be welcoming lots of Joe's Ponders back soon, and that is always very pleasant. I look forward to the first Association meeting, seeing so many people back after the long winter. Most will have enviable tans - a stark contrast to those of us that have "wintered up north" and are pale as a cup of milk; and most will be wearing summer togs consisting of shorts, short sleeves, sneakers and maybe light windbreaker, no matter what the weather. We've had May meetings with snow squalls and a cold north wind whipping through the assembly, but somehow that doesn't seem to matter to resolute Joe's Ponders eager to begin their summer "back at the pond." I shiver for them!