Snow Report!

We got 7 inches of new snow during last night. There have been a few straggling flurries this morning, but for the moment there is nothing in the air except hungry birds. Fortunately, the temperature is still moderate - in the high 20s and inching into the 30s, but last night's snow was light and not difficult to shovel so I was able to clear my deck in a few minutes this morning and got my measurements sent on time. Later Jamie and Marie came down to help, so amy driveway is clear and Marie did my walkway. Now we await the freezing rain or whatever is coming our way tonight and tomorrow. Whatever it is, with all this new snow on the ground and a fair amount of old snow still around in our area, there will be lots of water flowing off the hillsides into Joe's Pond.

I went to Danville yesterday morning to stock up of food and top off my car's tank. Our road was very slippery with mud, but no dreadfully deep mud holes like we had last week. However, with all this snow on top of the mud, people are not out and about much today. The roads will no doubt get a bit worse before they get better, in spite of the town's best efforts to keep them navigable. The stamat they used last week in the bad spots is holding up fairly well except on the stretch just below my house where it was still dicey. The paved highways may be bad if there is icing, as predicted.

Diane sent this photo of the Ice-Out setup - no dark ice showing this morning! And no chance the clock will get stopped right away. Remember that you only have until April 1st (Tuesday until midnight) to purchase Ice-Out Tickets. Get your guesses in - you can't win if you aren't in the game!

The signs of spring are everywhere, in spite of this last batch of snow. For the past several days I've been visited by deer on my lawn near the pond. At first it was a very large, healthy doe that showed up two different evenings to munch on the hillside; then yesterday around noon, a much smaller, younger-looking deer went to the same spot to browse. That one also looked very healthy, too, and I think it was probably last year's fawn. (See photo.) 

Whenever I've been outside these past nice days, I have heard ducks and geese in the area. There is no open water on my pond yet, so theere have been no visitors here. They will probably investigate as soon as it opens up. In the meantime, there is plenty of open water at the upper end of Joe's Pond where the channel come in (Joe's Brook out of Walden).

I have lots of birds at my feeder. I still have it out even though I know bears are moving around now. It is high enough on the window so the bear couldn't reach it, but I will take it down soon. I thought it might be important to have it out during this (hopefully last!) snow and ice storm this weekend. Then I will probably take it in. Once there is plenty of bare ground again, the birds will do well on their own. The expected ice storm will make it difficult for them, though. I haven't seen a robin here yet, but Jamie said he saw one in West Danville last week.

Here is an important note: The program by our friend, Howard Coffin, who was scheduled to present "Patriots in Petticoats" tomorrow (Sunday) at Willey Hall in Cabot, has been postponed due to this weekend's storm. No date has been set for rescheduling him, but as soon as we have one, I'll let you know.

Stay warm and dry, and be prepared to possibly be without electricity for at least a few hours if we lose power. The buildup of snow, topped with rain and possible icing, is likely to weigh down branches and topple trees, sometimes taking out the power lines. Best to have an auxiliary heat source on standby, as well as extra water available for drinking and flushing. The power company crews are well prepared and will be on top of these outages so the power isn't off for very long, but the best insurance is to be prepared. And please be safe. Enjoy some "down time."