Road Update and Winter Ahead!

I haven't posted any news about the work on Route 2 for a while, and even though the paving has been completed and it's really nice to have no potholes! -- there are still crews out there trimming bushes, so plan on short delays if you are driving that way. Here is the official notice for this week: 

Construction Work Update: Route 2

Betty Ritter • Town Clerk, Cabot

Announcement

Monday, November 13, through Friday, November 17, between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., motorists can expect lane closures with alternating one-way traffic along U.S. Route 2 (U.S. 2) in Marshfield. Flaggers and Uniform Traffic Officers will be present to assist motorists through the work zone.

CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITIES: Crews will be clearing select trees and branches between Plainfield and Marshfield.

LOCATION: Beginning near the Plainfield/Marshfield town line, on U.S. 2, near the intersection of U.S. 2 and Hillside Drive, and extending easterly along U.S. Route 2 to a point just west of the VT Route 15 and U.S. 2 intersection in West Danville.

I had a note from Gretchen Farnsworth this morning with these photos. Here's what she wrote:

Good morning Jane,
This is the first morning the ice has started to expand past the shoreline. I think the sun and somewhat warmer temperatures will melt it quickly, but the water is definitely cold now. The migrating geese and mergansers have mostly moved on to warmer bodies of water. The young loon hasn’t been up this way lately but I don’t know for sure if it has left yet.

Thanks to Gretchen for the photos. Our temperatures didn't warm up a great deal today and the water is getting colder each night when the thermometer drops into the 20s and teens, so we know it won't be long before the pond is silent except for an occasional boom from air bubbles under the ice and the buzz of snowmobiles and ice augers..

As I've mentioned here before, old timers used to predict that the pond had to freeze over three times before it was closed in for the winter. That has not always been the case, but we do usually have alternating cold and warm weather that will create and thaw the ice a few times before it freezes over for good. It is rare for it to freeze over once and remain frozen until spring. Some people who get really serious about the Ice Out Contest, want to know when the pond freezes over - and they have certain calculations and formulas they follow each year. Whether it helps or not, I don't know - it's pretty difficult to predict when the ice will melt and the clock will stop, no matter how many hints Mother Nature may be giving us.

I was thinking today about how different the pond is now than when Fred and I came to live here year around some 40 years ago. It would have been around 1980 and we could count on one hand the number of cottages that were year around homes. And that included us. We could see lights at Ted Chase's (Ted senior lived there) and one other place place down near the narrows. At some point the cottage that the Richer's bought was rented and a young couple lived there year around, but I think only one winter. Eventually people got brave enough to give it a try, and now there are 40+ who are either here year around or who come to their Joe's Pond home during the holidays or for ski weekends, etc. Our cottage was never meant to be lived in year around, but we insulated and winterized it, heated with wood and later coal, and spent almost 20 years there. It was wonderfully quiet in the winter, with only the ice fishermen moving about on the pond. We felt quite isolated, but we were thankful that we were on a main road that the town plowed all winter. There were mornings when Cabot plowed to Barre Avenue and Danville didn't get there right away, but usually enough trucks and cars went up the hill before we did so we had a path; but sometimes it was a matter of "push and shovel" to get up the hill. We were young and energetic - it was all fun. Well, mostly. Sometimes it was frustrating and a lot of hard work, but I wouldn't change a thing. This picture is of me one morning as we headed to Montpelier for work. We really appreciated having a garage when we moved up to this house after all those years having to brush snow off the car every morning. 

We had either rear wheel or front wheel drive, depending on the cars we were driving at the time. We didn't have all-wheel drive for years, just winter tires. I think for a few years we ran all-weather tires, but I'm completely sold on winter treads. Route 2 to Montpelier or Barre is not a great commute in the winter, but I think our highways and town roads are far better than they used to be. It's careless drivers that cause a lot of the chaos on the roads today, driving too fast for conditions, or driving while impaired. We all have to remember it takes a little time to get our snow-driving skills back into play each year. Drive safely, and enjoy the winter - even driving in the snow! It's a beautiful snow-covered world!

 

Cabot Plains, at junction of Dubray Rd., by the Plains Cemetery.