No need to mention probably that it's darned cold here tonight - again.  We seem to be held in the grip of deep winter with no sign of letup.  I just checked the thermometer and it's right on the 0 mark.  There's been a brisk wind all day, whipping the half inch of new snow we got last night into furrows and making it feel like it's well below zero.  I haven't had an ice depth report from the pond fishermen lately, but I bet we've been increasing the ice measurement daily for at least the past week.

I was out at about noon today - didn't feel up to doing the full hike up the hill, but was out long enough to, as my Grandmother Bolton would say, "get the stink blown away."  There was plenty of moving fresh air, especially  right by our mailbox when I headed north on West Shore Road for a few years.  There isn't much between us and Canada right at that point.  A little further up Henretta's driveway, it's more sheltered.  I mostly wanted to get outside after being cooped up with some sort of aggravating "bug"  for the past several days.  No, not Fred!  Geeze some of you folks!  I've had a little touch of something that took the starch right out of me.  All I wanted to do was sleep.  So that's mostly what I've been doing, and now the fog seems to be clearing out of my head, I'm steadier on my feet, and my eyelids don't feel like they're made of lead, so I think I'm on the other side of things.  Still not energy for a full day doing anything, but I'm getting there.  It's been something of an enforced vacation; lots of rest, haven't missed a meal, but also haven't accomplished a darned thing for almost a week.

So everyone up north stay warm tonight - and the rest of you who are basking in sunshine and warmth (Homer told me it was a beautiful warm day in Florida today) enjoy it for all of us and get those wonderful tans good and deep so if you come back early, they won't fade away while you're waiting for some real summer weather back here at Joe's Pond.  There's no promises this year about any kind of weather - just that it's probably going to continue to be weird and unusual.
 

We are saddened to learn of the death of Harold Wendell Fitts, brother of long-time Joe's Pond resident, Homer Fitts.  Wendell was 88, and lived in Sun City, Florida.  Our thoughts are with the Fitts family this morning.  Should you wish to send condolences to Homer and Margaret, their Florida address is:  789 Baveno Drive, Venice FL 34285.

We've added about 8 inches of new snow in the past couple of days.  I'm showing 16 inches at my backyard stake - there was a little more than that, I think, yesterday, but it has compacted somewhat from wind and it's own weight.  It hasn't melted, that's certain.  We had a low of around zero last night, and today it's been in the low 20's and there's a mean gusty wind that makes it feel colder.

I spoke with Diane Rossi this week, and she's working on putting a thermometer in view of the web cam at their house.  Someone wrote to  us with the suggestion - Diane said she wondered why she didn't think of doing that herself.  Even if she finds a suitable thermometer, she will probably wait until the weather warms a bit before going out to set it up.  Right now it's pretty bitter out there.

We've had warnings about the possibility of bears coming out of hibernation during the unusually warm periods we've had in between the deep cold periods.  I don't know - it's a little far fetched in my opinion, but I suppose the experts know what they're talking about.  Anyway, if you see bear tracks, steer clear of the area as they may be pretty ugly having awakened to a cold and stark world without any food available.  The report was that a hunter's dog was killed by a bear in Elmore recently.

Here's a schedule of upcoming events at the Jaquith Library in Marshfield.   (Click Here) 

Here's something of interest to those of you who have shot some really nice pictures in our area.  One of your photos could be on the cover of the 2014 Kingdom Guide.  Click HERE for information. 
I noticed the information states 2013, but it was apparently not updated from last year's request for photos.  The e-mail I received clearly stated 2014, so check your photos and enter the contest.

This came from Homer Fitts last evening -  

HI JANE,

    YOU ARE 100% RIGHT IN YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT

TUCKY.    SURELY HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE ARE LEFT WITH THE SAME GREAT FEELINGS OF HER.   I AM ONE JUST LIKE YOU.    NEVER ACTUALLY MET HER BUT HAVE CORRESPONDED FOR YEARS.     IT STARTED WHEN SHE WAS SENDING " RIDDEL "INFORMATIOIN ABOUT ELSIE'S FAMILY.    WE HAVE CONTINUALLY CONTACTED EACH OTHER FOR PROBABLY 20 YEARS. MY CLASS OF 1944.....SPAULDING ALUMNI ..... JUST A LOT OF DIFFERENT THINGS.    SHE WAS SURELY A WHIZ AT FINDING WHATEVER INFORMATION AND GETTING IT TO PEOPLE.

    HAPPY THAT YOU HAD THIS GREAT OPPORTUNITY TO CORRESPOND WITH HER.

HOMER

I want to thank MK who alerted us about Tucky's passing.  MK (and we don't know who he/she is) came upon our website and found references to Tucky on the blog, etc., so was kind enough to e-mail us with the link to Tucky's obituary.  We very much appreciate this thoughtfulness.

We had not heard from Tucky for some time, but that was not unusual since she was always very busy and there ofter were long stretches when we didn't communicate, but then we'd have a flurry of e-mails back and forth, sharing information and sometimes concerns.  I will certainly miss that.

 

We just learned of the death of Tucky Sancibrian, of Longs, South Carolina and formerly of Barre, Vermont.  I never met Tucky in person, but we have corresponded via e-mail for several years, so I felt I truly knew both Tucky and Frank.  Tucky was very helpful on several occasions when I was looking for information about people who had lived in Cabot years ago, and frequently sent me copies of clippings or bits of information about Cabot people she had found in the archives of some newspaper or genealogy site.  I will miss my friend.  She was kind and generous and full of good humor and grace, and I looked forward to meeting her in person one day when she and Frank ventured north to visit family and friends.  My heart goes out to Frank and his family.

I'm pleased to report we have 3 inches of new snow this morning.  It's right at or a little above freezing, though, and there may be rain later on, which could reverse our goo fortune - although considering our elevation, we may get more snow.  We can only guess.

I had this nice note this morning :  

Hi Jane
Thanks for the recipes you put on your blog.  I just made the black bean dip for later for the game - it's real easy an very tasty.  We will enjoy it later with the game.  Go Broncos!
Camilla

I've been looking over the recipes, and just as I decide on one, I notice another that looks good, so it's a tough choice.  I don't have a favorite team, either, so I'll be one of those paying more attention to the commercials than the actual game.  We saw the interview with Joe Namath this morning, and I was interested when he said the human body wasn't designed for football.  It is a punishing game, but I guess some people, women as well as men, find pushing themselves and their bodies to the limit satisfying on some level.  It makes for great entertainment for the rest of us who don't share  their enthusiasm, though.

There was also a segment on the Beatles, which I enjoyed very much.  Until they came along, my favorite music was pretty much limited to the Big Bands and light classical, Leonard Bernstein and Gershwin.  But once my kids saw the Beatles, the house was filled with a whole different kind of sound, and while that didn't become a "favorite" for me right away, it grew on me.  Of necessity.  I had to accept it or turn myself over to "the men in white coats." Mind you, they were 7 and 5 and not-quite 1, but their dad got them out of bed so they could watch the Ed Sullivan show.  That was Feb. 9, 1964.  The first guitar in our household came soon after that, then a set of drums, and piano lessons for Bob.  Their dad bought the album, I think it was "Meet the Beatles," declaring someday it would be a classic.  He died in 1969, but not before he heard Bob play at his piano recital in the spring of that year, "Let it Be" - over and over and over, until his teacher finally had to stop him.  She said calmly, "I think Bob likes that piece."  Indeed.


 

Right on schedule, the snow is starting to fall.  We started off the day with some sunshine and nice warm temperatures, but gradually the sun faded away, and now there's a fine snow falling.  The temperature is just about 30 degrees, and the forecast is for snow overnight and we may get a few inches.  That's good news for the skiers, boarders and snow machine riders.  For the rest of us it just means more to shovel or plow.  And of course driving could be bad as the storm progresses. 

Sharon Meyers on WCAX mentioned last night that in spite of what seemed like unusually prolonged cold spells, January turned out to be just about normal as far as average temperature for the month is concerned.  The unusual warm spells in between evened things out.  I suppose having the extremes makes the weather a tad more interesting, but it also made it pretty challenging.  The good news is, January is normally our coldest month, so perhaps we can look forward to a nice warming trend from here on.  Today has felt like spring - but after a string of those 15-20 below zero days, so did it when the thermometer reached 5 or 10 above.  It's all relative.

Tomorrow is a big day for football fans, and even if you aren't very interested in the game, the commercials are always entertaining.  Click HERE for a preview of Super Bowl commercials - but I hope you have great speakers on your TV because the sound is an important part of the overall effect.  Then, you can also vote for your favorite . . .  There's more than one way to watch a football game.  And then there's the food - I know people who start cooking way ahead of time so they don't have to interrupt watching the game.  Lots of finger food, and a great time to party with friends.  If you're still looking for ideas, here are some RECIPES!  Enjoy!

P.S. - Sunday is also Groundhog Day!  Will there be six more weeks of winter?