BENEFIT CONCERT

at the Masonic Hall, Main St., Cabot

Featuring

The Woodbury Bluegrass Highlanders

Come celebrate

Faith in Action’s 25,000 hours of free services

offered to neighbors in need during 2011!

Saturday April 7^th - Dinner served 5PM – 6 PM

Concert following dinner

Reservations not required

It’s sure to be a fun family event ~ y’all come!!

Donations appreciated ~ Proceeds to benefit Faith in Action

One of these mornings I'll have something different and exciting to report. Not today, however. I suppose for those people who have chosen Ice-Out dates beyond this point are excited that they are still in the game, but the rest of you must be wondering, what happened?? We had such a great summery middle of March and everyone thought the clock would stop before the April 1st ticket deadline, but then winter set in again. We've had freezing nights, snow and chilling winds, and the ice is lingering way longer than most of us thought it would. Much of the open water around the shoreline of the big pond has re-frozen and thawed and then re-frozen and thawed again - but underneath it all, there have to be changes taking place. We have watched the north end of the pond opening up a little more each day, regardless of the temperature or weather, so progress is being made. But slowly.

Fred took pictures again this morning and I've put them into a slide show again. You'll see at the end of the slide show that those of us who travel West Shore Road got a nice surprise this morning. Click to start the slide show.

Again, there isn't much to report. The pallet and flag are still out there in the middle of a huge chunk of ice. The weather hardly warmed up at all today with the wind blowing out of the north. By late afternoon, some of the new ice that had formed over the open water the last couple of days melted, but not all of it, and there is very little indication the ice is weakening. The flag seems to have the same tilt as it has since Ray put it out.

There was a lot of sunshine during the day, and the water at the north end of the pond seems to be cutting further down the middle of the pond each day, but that is the only real sign of progress towards opening up the big pond and finishing off the ice. Mostly, the pond is a very large expanse of white ice.

These pictures were taken at about 7 p.m. and the temperature was still around 41 degrees. We didn't get much warmer than that all day, and tonight it is colder again. There may be a warming trend tomorrow, with some rain late in the day - or snow, which of course is a good possibility for us here at Joe's Pond.

Fred and I met a reporter from the Burlington Free Press today at Hastings store. His name is Matt Sutkoski, and he is doing an article about global warming and was asking if we have noticed a trend as we record the ice-out dates. I went back over the dates and found there does seem to be a trend. I went back to the records my father kept, the earliest being 1968. He recorded when the pond was completely free of ice, and historically, that is 2-3 days after our pallet sinks and the clock stops. From 1968 - 1988 (I didn't find a record for 1980), the ice lasted into May ten times, and went in April ten times. From 1989 to the 2011, we recorded seventeen April dates and seven May dates. So I guess there is a trend there, but whether it's due to global warming or some natural curve of weather, I certainly couldn't say.

Bert Frye happened into the store while we were talking with the reporter, so we introduced them and Bert had some interesting points about the weather, sugaring, and several other subjects, so I think Matt and his photographer went away with a whole lot of information to process. We also took them to see how the pallet and clock are set up, and they took more pictures and asked a lot more questions. Matt said his article will be in the Sunday edition of the Free Press.

That's about it for today, I guess. If we get some rain and more wind tomorrow, I might have more to report.

The muddy roads that got better a few days ago when Cabot put some fill in the mud holes, has now gone the other direction and is getting bad again. This is pretty normal. Some of the same places that were bad before are bad again, and there are some new spots that are getting troublesome. I was over Cabot Plains Road on Monday and that was nearly as good as it is in the summer - but that was then. By now there could be some new breakouts. All the back roads in our area are passable, but we need to allow extra time to get over them because of the washboard and muddy spots.

There were surveyors on Route 2 as we came out of W. Shore Road this afternoon. Apparently they will be working on this end of the Route 2 Project in Cabot - past Molly's Pond going towards W. Danville. I searched for an update on the project to find out how far the widening and straightening will extend, but didn't find anything. I'll keep looking. They will be finishing up the other end of the project, along Molly's Falls Dam, and I was surprised to find surveyors from VTrans this far east today. It would be good to get some of the curves out of that road. There are a lot of accidents along that stretch, especially in the winter.

All is still holding firm. The water that was open was still frozen this morning, but we think today will change that and the melting process may begin again. With both the smaller ponds now free of ice, the third pond should be showing more open water soon. All it will take is for the temperature both at night and during the day to rise, of course, and that's going to happen beginning today and Wednesday rain is forecast. Those people who are holding tickets for these early April dates are excited.

It's a pretty day and although the temperature is only 34 degrees here at 10 a.m., it is much warmer in the sun. There is a light wind out of the north, but it isn't blowing like it was yesterday. Fred took more pictures this morning at 7 a.m., and I've put them into a slide show.

We've had a busy day picking up all the tickets from each of our outlets - there are a lot of people who have them available for us now, so it takes some time to get to all of them. Every one of them has done a great job of selling tickets this year, and we are very appreciative.

We awoke to a winter wonderland this morning. We had at least a couple inches of snow on the ground and all the trees were covered - and when the sun came up, it was lovely, but within a very few minutes, the snow was melting off the tree limbs and some spots on the ground. The pond, however, stayed frozen most of the day. Fred had checked early in the morning, and when we came back from St. Johnsbury around 1 p.m., we stopped by to see if there was any change in the pallet, but everything looked solidly frozen in.

Actually, it didn't look that much different from the picture Fred took early in the morning. The main difference was that early this morning there wasn't much wind, but by the time we got back around 1 o'clock, the wind was whipping down the pond and it was bitterly cold. We didn't linger, I can tell you.

This picture was taken in the morning, and the one below at 1 o'clock. The once-open water was still frozen solidly, and except for the snow being off the trees and the deck (probably blown off by the wind!), it would be hard to tell which picture was taken in the morning and which was taken five hours later.

The other two ponds are nearly completely free of ice - the first pond only has ice around the dock area at Point Comfort, but the middle pond is completely clear. Not so in the big pond. There's still a lot of ice there.

It's pretty cold again tonight, and there's not going to be much change in the weather for the next few days. After such an unusually warm stretch a couple weeks ago, this prolonged winter is becoming a bit tiresome.

Evelyn Richer told me this morning that the loons are officially back. Jack and Sue LaGue had told us earlier they thought they'd seen the loons, but they weren't sure if it was our nesting pair or some immature ones that had come back early.

Before we could leave this morning, we had to wait for some men to come and cut a hole through the cement wall into our basement for the new direct-vent boiler we're installing. That is all part of our switching the gas stove out. We have another hole at the front of the house that was for the gas vent, and that will need to be taken out. We're glad this will all be finished long before winter sets in again, and hope the efficiency of the new arrangement will be worth all the time, trouble and money. These men got the job done in no time at all - neat and efficient. They are both veterans, and work for Vermont Concrete Cutting Company out of Barre. John Hammer will come next week to install the new boiler, and if we can find a good used wood stove for backup if the power goes out, we'll be all set.

While in St. Johnsbury, we stopped to see son Bill, and Monika and baby Tangeni were there. Tangeni had just had a shot and was a little quieter than usual. She is almost 9 months old, and has changed every time we see her. Her mom let her sit on Dad's Harley in the showroom (at Thurston and Dimick Auto Sales). Later her mom and dad gaver her some medicine the doctor had prescribed, and by the time we left, she seemed ready for some lunch and a nap. It had been a big day for such a little girl.

Barb and Ernie Thurston were there, too, and pleased to see Tangeni. They came home from Florida this week and are at home in St. Johnsbury, but they had driven up to their camp to see how things were. Both said they were very glad to be back. George and Judy Anderson are also back. They arrived yesterday. George told me yesterday that although they were back a little early this year, he was gratified there is no snow at all around his place (that changed over night!), and he said most years he has to shovel their way in.

More folks will begin arriving now. Our season begins a little earlier these days - perhaps at least partially due to weather change, but also because many people here at the pond have upgraded their summer homes to be very comfortable in early spring or late fall, so arrive back earlier and stay later in the fall. Others have winterized their cottages or rebuilt so they could stay all winter comfortably if they chose to.

However, there are a number of places for sale around the pond. We heard about another one that's new to the market, the Corley's log home on Channel Drive. This was a surprise as the Corley family have spent a lot of time at the cottage, during all seasons. There is a splendid view down the pond, and there is a large open lot. As far as I know it isn't listed with a realtor yet, but we received a flyer last week saying they are selling.

The economy has not improved enough to stimulate much activity, and some of the cottages have been listed for many months. On the other hand, there have been several instances where cottage owners have upgraded and winterized their cottages into year around homes. After spending a winter or two here at the pond, people either love it or hate it. Mostly, I think they find it a great place to be, and don't mind the commute to wherever they work. Others retire and make Joe's Pond their residence, leaving for only a few weeks in the winter; still others, just hang out all winter and take the weather, challenges and sometimes discomfort in stride.

Talk about an April Fool's Day prank - we have about 2 inches of snow out there tonight. It's light and fluffy and melts when it hits the pavement - at least it did when it started this afternoon. Now the temperature may have cooled things down enough so it may begin to freeze over during the night, making the roads slick. I've had the scanner on, but haven't heard any problems yet.

It looks pretty wintery again, and although we probably won't get much precipitation for the rest of the week - after tonight - it's still going to stay fairly cold. Here is a very short slide show Fred took when he checked at 7 o'clock tonight.

There's still a chance we could beat our standing record of earliest Ice-Out date of April 5th set in 2010. A reporter from the Burlington Free Press is going to be at Hastings store on Tuesday to talk to people about global warming and whether we think it is real and has impacted our Ice-Out. That's kind of hard to answer - we haven't really seen that much change, but there could be a trend in the making. We need to remember that last year the ice wasn't out until April 27th.

Tomorrow is "wrap-up" day for those of us dealing with tickets. We'll have a few stragglers come in the mail for a couple of days, but then all tickets will be in the hands of Ros, our statistician, and she'll have a few days to get everything logged in. Perhaps she'll have some interesting stuff to report.

I just went back through my records kept by my father on when the ice was completely gone from the pond, which is a few days after the records we show of when the pallet goes down and the clock stops. I have only four years of overlapping records - my dads run from 1968 to 1991, and of course our contest was set up in 1988. Those four years indicate only a variance of 2-3 days. From 1968 to 1988, there were as many times the ice was out in May as in April - 10 each; however, from 1988 to 2011, there were 17 in April and only 7 in May. I guess that proves something has changed.

I hope you've all played or been the victim of April Fool's Day pranks by now so we can put it behind us and get on with the day.

I apologize for being late with the morning report. Can you believe I actually forgot to blog? I was busy and the time flew by and it wasn't until after lunch that I remembered I hadn't even opened Fred's pictures from this morning and reported to you. I bet some of you thought the clock had stopped and that's why I wasn't on line this morning - well, April Fool! All is still secure, and except for things we can't see that may be happening under the ice, nothing has changed - except the open water wasn't open any more. I think this picture says it all - the sunrise shining on all the frozen open water.

Our day started off with a few breaks of sunshine, but that didn't last. I guess on April Fool's Day we should expect we're going to have snow flurries, but after all the teasing of spring weather, most of us are ready for something better. The thermometer seems stuck at 39 degrees, but still there's snow falling. Fortunately it isn't sticking to the ground, but it's still a little depressing. Nearly all this week we've had what I call "blah" weather - which has been good for us so the contest wouldn't end before the end of the day today, but it gets pretty silly watching the open water freeze repeatedly, then thaw and freeze again.

We've had reports the pond was rumbling again last night - making ice, no doubt. Fred made a detour down Sandy Beach Road to get pictures from a different angle and you'll see all the frozen open water in the slide show.

I'll have a more timely report for you this evening. In the meantime, if you haven't taken your tickets to one of the outlets still open for business, you may be out of luck. This late in the afternoon, most of our outlets are closed, so you'll have to wait for the 2013 contest to begin along about June to get in the game.

Good luck to everyone who has a ticket or tickets riding on this contest. Diane and I and all the folks who help organize our Ice-Out Contest appreciate the wonderful enthusiasm you have all shown. Without the help of so many of our members and friends, it would all be just too much work, so we thank you all. And to all the people who buy tickets, the notes you send with your tickets are great fun for us, and we love knowing so many of you enjoy playing our game. And now we wait.