Ice Day!

We awoke to a day of freezing rain and ice-glazed everything this morning. Our road (West Shore Road) was glare ice. I first realized how bad it was when I saw an SUV slowly creeping down the road past my house at about 7:30 a.m.. Pickup trucks the same - the guys who generally whiz by here on their way to work were inching along at 5 or 10 mph, just hoping to stay out of a ditch.

My lovely new driveway had a glassy sheen and I knew it would be treacherous, but I had an appointment for my car at Danville Service Center that I had made in early October, so I really didn't want to cancel and have to wait another month or six weeks to get in (they are very busy changing tires from summer to winter treads, studding them, right now). They had a delivery of more tires while I was there - their little waiting room space was pretty much filled with big fat heavy-treaded tires.

Jamie has studded tires and came to my house to rough up the surface of my driveway a bit by driving up and down it a few times before he went to work. That was a huge help - I didn't slide around at all backing down my steep driveway to the turn-around or making the turn onto the roadway. Still, I was cautious. Our dirt road was truly a challenge. The road has to be crowned to keep water from puddling and making mud, and the ditches have been deepened to handle all the excessive water flow we now get from rain storms, wo if you begin to lose control on the icey road, it is very likely you will end up in a very deep ditch with no hope of getting out without the help of a wrecker. I made it out just fine and on the way home I was pleased that Cabot had sanded, so all was good. It was about noon when I got home and my driveway was ok - didn't spin a wheel. I was glad to be back home, safe and sound.

Since I was out and about, I decided to stop at the Danville Historical Society to see if Patty and Debby were there. They are normally open Tuesdays and Thursdays, but I thought perhaps road conditions would prevent them from opening today. Not so. Patty was there and Deb and Judy came in later. We needed to sign more books (West Danville, Vermont, Then and Now, 1781-2021)  and that is always good news. Our book is still selling and Patty said they expect a surge in sales for Christmas. It does make a nice Christmas gift. Patty and I, along with the late Dot Larrabee and Jane Larrabee, spent lots of hours together researching and writing - eight years, to be exact. Those years went by altogether too quickly and in the course of that time we lost both Dot and Jane. We are sad that neither of them got to see the published result of all their work.

Speaking of loss, we lost our neighbor, Barb Pupino last week. Barb died last Wednesday after a long battle with lung cancer. She worked at White Market in St. Johnsbury for a very long time and I know they miss her there. I miss seeing her - she was always upbeat, even after her diagnosis. She was a very special lady. I haven't heard details, but I expect that Barb's husband, Mike has gone to be with relatives in the NYC area. Mike has serious health issues and I'm sure his family will feel more secure having him nearby rather than way up here in Vermont all by himself. We will miss them both.

Here is a message from the Vermont Lakes and Ponds team:

Directions to make a verbal comment at the December 12 wake boat hearing

<ANR.WSMDLakes@vermont.gov>

Hello,

I am reaching out to inform you that the link to register to make a verbal comment at the upcoming public meeting --to receive comment on four petitions proposing amendments for lake-specific changes to the Use of Public Waters Rules governing wakesports on Waterbury Reservoir, Lake Fairlee, Caspian Lake, and Joe’s Pond—is now available.

 If you would like to sign up to make a verbal comment at the public meeting in Montpelier on December 12^th,  either in-person, or over Microsoft Teams (virtually), please register at the following link: https://forms.office.com/g/eJumwGQquz

 As a reminder, written comments may be submitted to anr.wsmdlakes@vermont.gov . Comments will be accepted until 4:30 p.m. on December 23rd. IMPORTANT: when submitting a public comment, please include the word "wakesports" in the subject line AND the specific petition (lake) for which you are providing a comment.

 The comment registration link is also available on the public meeting webpage, which has additional information about meeting time, location, and the meeting agenda: https://dec.vermont.gov/watershed/lakes-ponds/lakes-and-ponds-rulemaking/121224meeting

As a reminder, copies of the petitions, along with any updates and pertinent information regarding rulemaking will be available at the following link: https://dec.vermont.gov/watershed/lakes-ponds/lakes-and-ponds-rulemaking

 Thank you

The Lakes and Ponds Team

*****************************

There was some confusion when we first posted about that meeting a few weeks ago. The meeting on the 12th is for the public and it will be interesting to hear what others are saying; however if you don't want to go online or attend in person, you can send written comments until December 23rd. After that date the information gathered will be used to formulate proposed new regulations to be presented to ANR.  Hopefully, the legislative body will address the proposed changes sometime during the 2025 session. We will keep you updated.

We are quickly closing in on Thanksgiving Day, so I'll take this opportunity to wish all my readers a very Happy Thanksgiving. Thank you for checking in on my blog. I know that some of you have been following it for years, and I do appreciate that and also your comments. I am very thankful for the friends I've made through the blog, and for so many loyal readers. You are the best!