Good Morning Everyone!
Happy Birthday to Fred and Elvis!

Another warm day. The water is running off the roofs and down the roads. Fred was out taking pictures a few minutes ago. There was a fog bank over the pond and along the valleys. West Shore Road looks like it does in early spring - before the mud season sets in seriously. Our driveway is clear and some of the shrubs are poking out of the snowbanks. Unfortunately, the flies are waking up, too. The chickadees have been feasting on them near our big picture windows, driving Woody a little crazy and keeping him dashing in and out most of the morning.

We let the fire in the wood stove go out this morning. The house is very warm with the sun coming in the big windows, and outside my window here in the office, the thermometer is reading 50 degrees, and that's on the cooler side of the house. Out front we have a reading of 56, but the sun seems to have gone in momentarily. I'm sure it was warmer than that when I was outside a little while ago.

By mid-afternoon we'll probably need to start the fire again, but for now it's very comfortable.

I've posted a few pictures of our January thaw. Now it's time to make a birthday cake!

Here is something entirely unrelated to anything current, but I rec'd one of those sometimes bothersome "forwards" recently about old photos from a Brownie camera and finally, today, I found some background information on those photos. You might be interested: Pearl Harbor Photos

The "forward" mentioned that the photos had been found in "the footlocker of a sailor, etc." - but that may not have been the case. Read this comment I found about them.
From:
Subject: Pearl Harbor Photos
Date: Sun, 4 Feb 2007 17:39:08 -0600

By now you must have received several comments or explanations re: the photos of Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941. Whoever posted them, in various numbers and formats, also included a tall tale of them being found "in an old Brownie camera, in a sailors footlocker, a sailor who serverd aboard the USS Quapaw (ATF110)"

Well, of course, sailors have seabags, not footlockers, the keel of the Quapaw was not laid until Dec. 1942, and they are all high quality (not Brownie camera quality) US Navy photos, taken all over the battle area. The aerial photos were taken by Japanese pilots as they attacked Pearl Harbor. The US DoD or War Department (in 1945-46) acquired those and other miltary photos after Japan's unconditional surrender.

I had seen most of the pictures in Life magazine in the 40s. All these pictures, now in US Archives, got wide display in 1991, on the 50th anniversary of the attack. Looking closely at the aerials you can see artwork has been done on the photos, for clarity and intelligence use.

I have a long experience with photography, particularly Navy Photography, from 1953 in Navy Photo School, through 1996 when I retired as a Navy Photo Lab (civil service) manager.

Bernard R. Cleary,
Chief Photographer's Mate

Here we are in the middle of an old fashioned January Thaw! After all that really cold weather and all the snow, we knew things would have to turn around and warm up. It has been in the 40's today - hard to keep the fire going without overheating the house. I had to open windows, but it's good to get the fresh air inside. Feels like spring outside.

Woody, our cat, is pretty sure it's spring. He has been in and out most of the day. We're happy he doesn't bring critters inside for us this time of the year. You see, to catch a squirrel or a mole he'd need to get into the snow, and he isn't foolish. So he goes outside and sits in the driveway, watching the trickles of water running between bare patches on the hardtop (he's very interested in running water) or he'll stare intently at some imagined movement off in the distance. Sometimes he'll sit on the deck, tail lashing, whiskers twitching, where he can see the squirrels running back and forth to the crabapple tree and lilac. That makes him very nervous so he doesn't stick to it long. He comes and raps at the back door for either Fred me to let him in. Sometimes he stays only a few minutes before he's ready to go outside again, so we spend quite a bit of time opening doors for him. I should explain that we taught him to rap at the door when he first came to live with us. I tied a sap spout to a piece of string and hung it on the door knob. He bats the spout and it knocks on the door. If nobody responds right away, he keeps batting the spout or tugs at the string if he's balancing on the railing - either way, it makes quite a racket. We're happy that this time of the year he doesn't bring little creatures in for us to see, though.

I had an e-mail from Jennifer Cowles, a summertime Joe's Ponder. Here's what she wrote:

Jane,
How wonderful it was to see those pictures of Joe’s Pond. We have no snow here in Denver and this past weekend it was 60 degrees! The coldest has been 5 degrees, and coming from Vermont I have the right clothes to stay warm and still take the dog for a walk.

I have attached a couple of photos for you, as you can see I live on a small pond out here as well! Stay warm and keep the news coming!
Jenn Cowles

It's nice to hear from you, Jenn. And thanks for the pictures. Is that you behind the scarf and sunglasses?? I really thought there would be a lot more snow out there after the big storms we had reports about, but I understand the ski resorts are looking for more snow. Sure is pretty country, though. Those mountains sure are a lot bigger than our Green Mountains, but they don't seem nearly as friendly as Camel's Hump or Mt. Mansfield. I'm sure you find Colorado an interesting place in which to live, but we look forward to seeing you back at Joe's Pond this summer, Jenn. We hope everything is going well in your new home.

We're enjoying moderate temperatures today. There wasn't a lot of sunshine, but it was comparatively bright and we didn't get any snow! We just came back from a short snowshoe trek into the woods in back of our house. I was surprised at the amount of snow in the woods. This was the first time I've been on snowshoes this year - Fred has used them to bring in some of the seasoned wood piled in the woods in back of our house. That's me trying to locate the top of one of the piles. I was near our grape arbor and the top rail of that was chest high; it is actually over six feet off the ground. I estimate I was standing on well over three feet of snow and there were at least another eight inches of new, fluffy snow on top of that. It was just borderline difficult snowshoeing because of the deep snow. I was very glad to have Fred breaking trail for me, otherwise I'm sure I would have quit after the first five minutes. Going through the woods there was so much snow it was hard to tell if we were going over the tops of trees or across downed trees, and we frequently slipped or the snow caved under our weight. Fortunately, I didn't fall into any holes, but as soon as I could find one, I used a stick to help balance me. I don't usually use poles when I snowshoe, but today I wished I had them. My stick would hit the crusty snow left from our last thaw, a foot or so down, then as soon as I put any weight on it, it would break through and send me off balance, but still it helped some. I was tired by the time we got back, and I don't think we were out more than half an hour or so. I will probably feel it in my muscles tomorrow, too.

The scenery was wonderful, and everything in the woods is so still, it's lovely to be out there. We saw a track where a deer had gone into the cedars near our house - must have been hard going. There were a few other tracks, but hard to tell what they were. Snowshoe rabbits or squirrels, I suppose. There were no new signs of activity, and the tracks we saw were covered with new snow.

You can see that there's quite a slope in back of our house, which means a good climb as we start off, but it's downhill all the way home, and that's always very welcome. The last picture is Fred arriving in our back yard ahead of me. We will try to get out again soon - but I expect the freezing rain and warmer weather for the next few days may delay our going right away. We try to keep paths through the woods, and usually there are several routes that are well packed so it's easier to manage walking on them. Our daughter-in-law, Marie, has been out a few times on trails further up the hill that come from where she and Jamie live, but Fred and I didn't get up there today.
Marie had a few days off last week and took Otto, their new puppy, with her snowshoeing. She said he seemed to love being out in the snow - he has some coon hound in him, so I expect he'll be right at home romping in the woods when he gets a little older.

So that was our adventure today. Now it's time for some beans and hotdogs. I hear you chuckling. It's Saturday night - doesn't everyone have beans and franks on Saturday night?

The weather has moderated and today was pretty nice, in between snow showers. Things sure look like January - but it's looked that way for at least a month here. The scenery still amazes us, and we see it every day. We hope you enjoy it, too.

Let us know if you have trouble viewing the web site home page. We've reduced the size of the picture and hope that lets it load faster for those of you who have dial-up. The home page wasn't showing up well on some browsers, so Fred has made some adjustments and we hope that helps. We'd appreciate knowing if you have problems. It's a bit of a learning process for us, but we want the web site to be as convenient for you as possible.

We stopped at Marty's today to get gas. It was very busy there, with lots of snow machines in the parking lot. We see them on the rail-trail across the pond often, both in the daytime and evenings, so I know there are lots of people out enjoying the snow.

Slide Show

A report right from the slopes:

I went skiing today with Sherwoods. It was really, really cold. A beautiful day, not much wind, wonderful snow, and very few people there. But really, really cold. We made 2 runs at a time before going in to warm up, but after lunch we only lasted 1 run. It was fun, anyway. --Diane Rossi

It didn't get above zero here today, and right now, at 5:30, it's already 10 below outside my window. Going to be a cold night.

Thanks for the report, Diane.

By the way, there are a couple of new business cards on the web site. You might be interested in seeing them. On the home page, go to "Other" and find "Local Services" on the drop-down menu.

Cold Night!

The temperature at our house got to -15 degrees last night, or at least that was what it was when Fred checked at 5:30 a.m. He didn't need to go outside to clear the driveway, though. NO SNOW fell last night. There was a wind, and there are mini-drifts along the edge of the snowbanks around our driveway, but nothing serious. Today is bright with plenty of sunshine, and outside my office window the thermometer reads a cool 8 below. No sun is hitting there, but I don't see any melting going on even where it does hit.

I haven't actually heard any reports from skiers, but it must be brutally cold out on the slopes. One run, and back to the lodge, would be my guess. We're going to warm up rapidly in about 24 hours, though, so if folks can wait until the weekend, skiing should be comfortable and enjoyable again. It's ironic to have such nice snow and such cold weather - from a skiing point of view. But for a lot of us it doesn't matter all that much. It seemed really good to haul out my "horse-blanket" wool coat on New Year's Day. I so seldom wear it, my friends all thought I had a new coat. I think I've had it for at least 15 years - it's long and roomy, perfect for walking along W. Shore Road on cold winter nights.

It reminds me of a story my dad used to tell about the bear-skin coat his father and mother had. He said it was long and heavy and for that reason, nobody wore it unless they were going to be sitting in a sleigh or pung sled driving a team of horses. The story went that Dad had to take one of his sisters to catch the train in West Danville. She'd been home for the holidays, and as luck would have it, a big snowstorm came the day she had to leave. The roads weren't plowed as well as they are today, but they set off in Dad's car, probably a Ford. He said his mother insisted he take the bear-skin coat with him in case he had to walk home. He resisted, but finally gave up and put it in the car. He got his sister to the train, but it was late and quite a bit of time passed before he was able to leave for the trip home. The roads were badly drifted, but he would shovel out in front of the car when he came to a drift. This worked until he got within about a mile of home. The wind was howling and the snow drifting faster than he could shovel it out, so he decided to leave the car and walk home. He put on the heavy old coat and started out.
"I'd climb up over a drift and just roll down the other side," he said. "That coat was so heavy and long, after I'd gone a ways, it was easier to roll or slide down the drifts than it was to try to walk in it. But I never got cold! Actually, I was damned glad Mother made me take it with me."

So that's about the way I feel when I wear my coat, and I always remember Dad's story.

Heading for the Deep Freeze!

We're starting the New Year off right here at Joe's Pond! First, let me back up a bit to New Year's Eve. A few Joe's Ponders gathered at Bill and Diane Rossi's on the evening of the 31st. Diane had wonderful food laid out for us, and while it wasn't awfully cold, it snowed pretty steadily all day and most of the night. Fortunately, none of us had far to go, so driving wasn't a problem - and West Shore Road was in good shape.

Diane took some pictures. Diane Rossi, that is. We had two Dianes and two Bills there - now maybe you think THAT wasn't confusing. Bill Dimick left before Diane began taking pictures. It was sort of like when I go to the post office and Jane Larrabee is there, then Jane Milne comes in - we get in on a lot of conversations that aren't actually meant for us, but it doesn't matter - sometimes I think folks just like to see if we're paying attention when they call out "Hi, Jane!" and wait for all three of us to whip around and answer.

Anyway, it was a nice group on New Year's Eve and we had a great time. That's Bill Rossi in the corner by the fireplace. One thing we've found out is that when you visit the Rossi's, you don't get to sit by the fireplace unless Bill isn't home. That's his chair, no doubt. We're like that, too. Fred has his favorite chair and I have mine. I have to share mine with our cat, Woody, though. Why he doesn't like to sleep in Fred's is a mystery, but when I want my chair, I just move him to his own bed by the window and he doesn't even open his eyes.

New Year's day Fred and I were invited to our neighbor, Elizabeth's, on Brickett's Crossing Road. Another neighbor, Louise was there, and friends we hadn't seen in some time who live in Cabot Village. Elizabeth is a great cook and we always enjoy having a meal with her. There was little going on along W. Shore Road all day - a snowmobile from time to time, but it was snowing quite heavily, and by the time we left in early evening it had built up 3-4 inches in the road. By this morning Fred had to be out with the snowblower again. I spoke with Diane Rossi, and Bill was out clearing their driveway, too. Fred says the snowblower is a great way to keep the drive wide and the snowbanks lower during a winter like this when we have lots of snow.

He's outside now clearing some of the snow off the edge of our roof so the ice won't build up. The snow is very deep on the roof even though he's already taken it off a couple times. I can no longer see the railing on our small back deck, and the back door is snowbound for the remainder of the winter, I guess. It's hardly worth it to try to keep it clear of snow because it's directly underneath where two roofs meet. I may lose my view if the snow keeps coming.

Right now the thermometer outside my window reads -5 degrees, and the prediction is for it to go lower. There is a bit of wind, I'm estimating around 10 mph, so that would put the "feels like" temperature down to about -22 degrees. Cold enough to make your nostrils stick together, for sure, and exposed skin can get frost bitten in about 30 minutes!

We hope everyone had as nice a New Year's celebration as we did, and while you may not be able to enjoy the invigorating weather we have here at the pond, we hope wherever you are you are happy, healthy, and anticipating a great year in 2008. It sure looks good from here! We aren't hearing any old-timers going on about "winters aren't what they used to be" - in fact, we are all wondering just how much snow we'll end up with if we don't get a thaw in January or February. March can be a bear, and we could end up with a lot more snow than we've had in a while. But we can usually depend on a "January thaw," even though sometimes it doesn't get here until February or March.