Sick of Waiting

This will surprise nobody who lives or works near Joe's Pond - they will know where I'm coming from. I'm sick of waiting for spring! Each time we have one of these miserable wet snow episodes, I have tried to be optimistic that "this will be the last one this season." Then we get socked again. This morning I learned this isn't that unusual. I found this picture taken in late April 2010!!! Obviously I got fooled that year and had my deck furniture out already. I'm not going to rush getting summer stuff unpacked this year. At the rate our weather has been changing, it will either be too hot or too cold and I may end up keeping my plants inside and using the porch for storage in stead of sitting.

Yesterday morning I measured 9.5 inches of new snow, and this morning I measured another 6.5 inches. This photo was from my back door, looking at my small deck that hasn't been shoveled off. It looks more like January than April. What we got here pales by comparison to the Morrisville/Stowe area. Up there, trees were down or bent nearly double with the weight of the snow. I think they got in the range of 24 inches or more. 

Middle son, Bob and I went to Morrisville yesterday  - it was our usual 1st Thursday lunch date we do every month. We were playing it by ear, judging whether we'd end up closer to home, depending on how the roads were. With little traffic and no problems on the highway, we proceeded to Morrisville to try out the restaurant in the old railroad Station.

We found it easily, but knew right away it wasn't going to be busy. There is a large bar, as you can see in the picture, and lots of tables. The kitchen area seemed to be in what was probably the ticket office - I didn't explore the layout. It's an interesting place, and we enjoyed having lunch there. They did a nice job renovating it. As soon as we entered, we knew it was chilly in there, so Bob asked for the warmest table in the place. The waiter took us around a corner which got us away from the draft of the door, but to say it was warm there would be a stretch. I ordered hot tea and by the time it got from the kitchen to my table, it was lukewarm. I didn't ask for it to be reheated - I suspect that unless it was done at my table, it would still have been tepid. My fish and chips made up for that; a huge slab of I'm guessing haddock, crisp on the outside, perfectly cooked inside, and the fries were plentiful and delicious. As usual, I couldn't eat the whole thing, so I have another meal to look forward to. Bob had a pastrami sandwich and said it was very good. We will probably go there again, but on a warmer day.

As we were leaving my driveway, heading for Brickett's Crossing Road, we could see some sort of animal in the road right at the horizon where it dips down to the open fields before Deeper Ruts Road. At first we thought it was a bear, then there were two smaller animals moving and we thought maybe two cubs? When we got closer, we could see that it was a flock of turkeys - one with feathers fully spread, apparently defending the others as we approached very slowly. There were at least a dozen in the flock, and finally all but one flew towards the field ahead of us. One that looked like a younger bird, took refuge in the woods. Further down the road by the brook, there was another lone turkey, reluctant to get out of the road into the deep snow. I guess they were finding food in the road, although I can't imagine what that would be. I believe there have been a few raiding my neighbor, Shirley Maynard's bird feeder most of the winter. If that whole bunch was there, it must have kept Shirley busy keeping the feeder full.

They should visit my house. I had a duel with the red squirrel yesterday - and lost. I swatted him a couple times with a rolled up magazine, but he kept coming back within minutes. I have a spray bottle with mint-scented water that I have use to keep mice away from the foundation of the house - mice hate mint! So I decided to try that on the squirrel - after all, he's part of the rodent family. Indeed, he did not like that one bit, and when he took off from the feeder, he dislodged it and it dumped all the seeds onto the snow below. So I guess I have to give him that round. After that seemed content to devour the seeds on the ground and scurry into his nearby hole time after time, being the hoarder and a glutton - while I had to refill the feeder for the birds. At least I didn't have to put up with hearing him scratching his way up the vinyl siding to get to the feeder. I'm taking my feeder in at night now - there have been bear sightings on W. Shore Road and elsewhere locally. It's time. The birds don't mind as long as I get it back out every morning. With this much snow, they really appreciate having a little help, I think.

We had brief power outages yesterday, but we have been very fortunate that whatever the cause, the power company was quick to fix it. Other parts of the state have not been as lucky. Bob said they got only 3-4 inches of snow in St. Johnsbury. Hardly enough to shovel or snow-blow. I thought by this time today we would maybe see some signs the sun would come out, but it is still snowing - most of the morning light squalls, but now it's falling steadily and the wind is picking up. The temperature is holding above freezing (35.6F) and the wind is gusting to 10 mph out of the NW, so it's still unpleasant. 

There is no indication of change that we can see at the block and flag of the Ice-Out Contest. We know the ice is melting, but ever so slowly. As one old-times said recently, when it goes, it's going to go fast. With rain in the forecast, and all this snow melting and running into the pond, I expect he is absolutely right. Stay tuned!

And while I have been writing this, NYC had an earthquake! What next!?