Still Here!

 Winter is still here, and so is the Ice-Out Contest block! No sign of it sinking yet! As I write this, we are having another snow squall - just like yesterday's weather. I measured 2 inches of new snow yesterday morning and because we had snow flurries most of the day yesterday, I though I would be shoveling away at least another inch or two this morning, but there was barely any on my deck or in the measuring tube. I got away with reporting a trace - really not measurable. Our temperature this morning was in the mid 20s and now, at high noon, right at 32. Not much melting going on except from whatever warmth the earth gets from the brief moments of sun we see from time to time. Water is running in ditches and there is open water in the first pond, but that is the smallest and the shallowest, and there is always a strip that opens up past the beach as the water flows to the dam in West Danville.

I went to St. Johnsbury yesterday, and left in a blizzard. It was snowing pretty hard and the wind was furious. I expected the roads to be really awful, but Route 2 was wet only to about Danville, then dry from there and absolutely no snow on the ground. It was like I was in a different country! I know I should be used to that after all these years, but it still amazes me at the difference. On the way home, there was sun in St. J. when I left, I began to see snowflakes as I approached Dole Hill just below Goodfella's, and by the time I got to West Danville, snow was swirling in the road, but the pavement was still mostly dry - it was too cold and windy for it to melt! Even West Shore Road was pretty good - only a bit of mud, and I really appreciated that since I had gone through the car wash in St. Johnsbury - only about the 2nd time I've been able to do that all winter because it was either bitterly cold and I didn't want my doors to freeze shut, or all the roads were slushy and there was no point. It was good to get it done - my car always seems to glide more smoothly after it is washed. I think getting some of the sludge out from underneath is a good thing, and maybe things really do move more easily.

Diane (Rossi) and I had dinner at Eastside Restaurant in Newport on Sunday. We ordered off the menu rather than doing the buffet. We agree that balancing plates and elbowing our way around a crowded buffet doesn't hold a candle to sitting comfortably and being served. The food was excellent, as always, and even though it was very crowded, we were seated withing a few minutes, and while service took a little longer than usual, we were in no hurry. All the wait-staff were on the run. Our waitress was a very nice middle-aged woman with a charming French accent. I'm sure knowing French comes in very handy at Eastside - they have always had lots of Canadians visiting, being so close to the border. Even with tensions high at the national level, people who love coming to Vermont for whatever reason are probably still coming. 

A few minutes after Diane dropped me off at home Sunday, she sent this photo of a para-glider (hard to see in the gloom of snowflurries, but he/she is a little left of center where the ice looks darker). We are always awed that anyone would be out there when the ice is probably very unstable. I'm sure they know what they are doing, but what happens if the wind takes them somewhere unexpected, like over open water? 

You can see that the Ice-Out block was showing no signs of movement. Nothing has changed since this photo - that is pretty solid ice where the block is, and there is very little open water around the shoreline of the pond. It's only open in the narrows between ponds and where brooks come into the pond. Even the middle pond isn't open from one narrows to the other. There is a strip of open water about half way along the Route 2 side where the current runs from the narrows, but that's it - as of yesterday when I came home mid-afternoon. Temperatures have remained near or below freezing since then.We are expecting a slight warmup later this week. Spring does not come easily here!

Our Ice-Out Committee has been approached by a reporter from the Boston Globe. It's always nice to have a big-time news outlet give us some press, but I can't help wishing it had come a couple weeks ago, before ticket sales closed! We had that happen one year in the early 2000s when an Associated Press reporter stationed in Montpelier did an article on us. It went nation-wide, and we saw a pretty good surge in ticket sales. The most fun for us was getting emails from Joe's Ponders wintering across the nation who were surprised to see the article about Joe's Pond in their local papers. Any coverage, any time, is great.