Spring is here, at least we're getting the crazy changeable weather normally associated with the end of March, and this year March weather in April is the best we can hope for given the way weather has been.  For those of you not living here, we still have about a foot and a half of snow on the ground in most places and bare ground only on a few wind-swept knolls like across the pond from us above Route 15 where the afternoon sun hits.  Yesterday was warm with a very foggy start and a few showers, then some sleet and snow as the temperature dropped in the afternoon, and today we're enjoying snow squalls with the temperature just at the freezing point.  We lost a couple inches of snow yesterday, and although it's been snowing most of the morning, it isn't building much, so I doubt we'll add any appreciable amount.

I took this picture this morning as the snow was just beginning. It shows we're making some progress.  As I've been going through the old issues of the St. Johnsbury Caledonian searching for items about West Danville, I've noted the dates the ice went out in years past.  The reports are vague, with remarks such as "the ice went out a few days ago," or "the ice is out of the first two ponds and half out of the big pond."  Here are the reports I found:  May 8, 1890; April 27, 1891; May 3, 1892; about April 28, 1894; about May 5, 1895; about April 30, 1897; sometime before May 4, 1898; April 25, 1901; April 21, 1902; by May 9, 1906, and the 2nd week in May in 1907.  Actually it seemed pretty consistent that it went between the last week of April and the middle of May, or about at most a three-week time frame.  It is also interesting that as soon as a boat could be floated, the fishermen were out.  After a long winter, I suppose people were hungry for a good meal of fresh perch.  I haven't found any reference to ice fishing yet, but I'm only up to 1909.

Back in the day when harvesting the ice was big business on Joe's Pond, 15 to 18 inches of "blue ice" was considered about perfect, and they would begin harvesting as soon as that depth was reached, sometimes as early as late November.  Waiting until later in the year could mean working in much colder weather or increase the possibility of a "January thaw" that would result in a lesser quality of ice.   The blue ice was just frozen water.  The imperfect, or "white" ice had snow and air trapped within making it less dense and therefore would not keep well.  What we have right now on the pond is a fair amount of frozen slush both on top and underneath the 20 inches of blue ice Everett Drew reported last week.  We're well past the clear blue ice stage!  

I'm writing this tonight because a reader asked what I meant by the term, "washboard" when referring to our road.  I'll explain as best I can.  

Washboard is a rippling, or sort of corrugation across dirt or gravel roads.   It's like the old corduroy roads made from laying logs crosswise, only instead of wood, it's ridges of dirt or gravel.  Those old roads wore down and rotted and the logs had to be frequently replaced, but gravel roads such as West Shore Road, can be easily repaired by honing that scrapes off the high spots and fills hollows back to a smooth surface.  If not honed, time and traffic will only make the ripples deeper and the road rougher.  It only takes a few vehicles going too fast over a dirt road to get the washboard effect started.  The grooves deepen with every vehicle that passes over and when it rains, they fill with water and that erodes the gravel even more and soon the road is a jarring mass of puddles and potholes, which is what we now have at the beginning of West Shore Road.  

When you travel back roads, I'm sure you've found some that were rough and may have even made it hard to keep your car on the road if you were going at a good clip. That was likely washboard.  When you go into a stretch of washboard at a high rate of speed your tires actually begin to bounce off the high spots and you'll likely lose control and end up in the ditch.   Washboard is Mother Nature's speed bumps.

Tomorrow I'll call Danville road crew and let them know how bad that short stretch of road is.  I'm sure they are dealing with mud and ruts on roads all over town and that short piece of road doesn't get on their priority list unless someone complains.

We got another two inches of wet snow last night - and today is warmish, in the 30s, but overcast and dreary.  We went to St. J. to do errands this morning and took some pictures on our way - the snow had covered most of the road as we were leaving on West Shore Road, but aside from being wet and mushy, it wasn't too bad.  Cabot road crew had been over it yesterday with the rake, and that filled in a few of the ruts.  The worst part of the road is still coming off of Route 2 - I took a picture of the washboard, but it we were over the worst of it, so it doesn't do it justice.  Here's a short slide show so you can see that we still look more like winter than spring here.

As we were driving into Marty's in Danville, we noticed the property just east of there has been leveled.  It was very run down and has been vacant for a while.  We don't know whether Marty bought the property or someone else did, or whether someone is going to build there or what will happen, but stay tuned.  We'll try to find out.  We could have asked at the store, but unfortunately didn't think to do that.  Next time.

I do have reliable information on the ice.  According to Everett Drew, "the Premiere Ice Fisherman Extraordinaire," according to Diane Rossi, who benefits from his catch from time to time, there is a foot of snow on top of about 20 inches of hard ice, then another foot of slush underneath.  She said Everett predicts "the ice will go out just about when it always does."  Nothing unusual about this year as far as Everett is concerned, I guess.  We'll see if he's right.  Last year it was out on April 29th and the year before, the 24th; but in 2012 it was already out by this time - it went on the 8th.

I'm pretty sure there is melting going on today, and this wet snow may actually help soften up what is underneath.  There is more warm weather on the way, and that should start some real water running; however, if the frost went as deep (as much as seven feet!) as we've been told in various reports, it won't be out of the road any time soon.  The ground under a good snow cover may not be frozen that deeply, so hopefully the earth will be able to absorb some of the runoff.  There may be some serious flooding, all the same.



 

Steve Allen (Meadow Lane) sent me a heads-up this morning about an article on Sen. Jane Beattie Kitchel from Seven Days.  Jane and her sister, Rep. Kitty Toll, are well-known to the Joe's Pond community and very respected Vermont legislators.   I hope you will take a few minutes to read this very revealing article by Paul Heintz.  It's nice to know we have such steady hands as those of the Beattie sisters in Montpelier.

Thank you, Steve, for sharing this with us.

I am sad to report the death on Saturday of our friend and summer neighbor, Salvatore Lucenti.  Sal was 95, and until recent years, was frequently seen walking at a lively pace along West Shore Road.  Sal was an interesting man and made friends wherever he went.  He was a long-time Joe's Ponder and his presence will be missed.  Our deepest sympathy to his wife, Margaret, and their family.  Condolences may be sent to 8 Greenfield Ter., Montpelier, Vermont 05602.

Spring is here, but not exactly the way we might hope.  Today we had beautiful sunshine, but the temperatures hung out in the 40s, about 10 degrees below what is considered "normal" for this time of year.  Not only that, we had three or four inches of new snow overnight.  Do these pictures look like April or more like January?  Most of the snow we got last night seemed to melt during the day, and the snow is settling, so we are getting rid of it - but slowly.  Which is probably a good thing.  Later this week we are going to have some rain, and that could change everything.  More water, more mud.  Right now the roads are ok - only the apron coming off of Route 2 is really bad, and that's mainly potholes and washboard.  There are some ruts that will no doubt become mud bogs soon and the road is already greasy as the frost comes out a little each day.  It's going to get worse before it gets better.

We've had some people letting us know the web cams at the Ice-Out site are not operating.  Diane Rossi knows and she is working on that.  It seems to be a problem with the internet, not the cameras.  She said it's difficult to figure out because sometimes they are fine, then for no apparent reason, there's nothing there.  Just know that Diane is working on it, and we'll keep you posted.  Technology is fine, but finicky.

Tickets are still coming in - some from New Zealand and from Texas and Arizona were mailed on March 31st, but are just getting to us.  Those western states may still be using pony express.  We know it always takes a couple of weeks to clear the pipeline, and even when they are all in, we won't have a count of total tickets for several more weeks until Henretta gets them all logged in.  Patience.  We'll know how many tickets have been sold this year well before the ice goes out, I'm pretty sure.

We seem to be back in winter mode, although there's a spring mix of snow, mud, ruts and potholes along West Shore Road, but not as bad as it will be, no doubt.  At the top of West Shore Road by Route 2, Danville's end of the road is really bad and there's some indication of washout around the culvert there, so getting too close to the edge is definitely not a good idea.  The rest is pretty good as long as you go at a reasonable speed.

There was a meeting tonight at the town hall in Cabot regarding the proposed closing of Route 15 while the bridge in Walden is being replaced.  I did not go, but several Joe's Pond people went and I'll have a report later.  Diane Rossi said she came away feeling the state "got the message" about safety concerns and will provide state police or sheriffs at bad intersections, etc.  One thing we can depend on during the summer months in Vermont is that there will be "road work" going on everywhere, with the result that travelers will sometimes find they "can't get there from here."  Our season for road repairs is comparatively short, but VTrans has been diligent in letting us know about detours and delays, and in the end, it's worth the extra time and effort to have good, safe roads to travel.

I went to Danville today and Dot Larrabee and I did a little research at the town clerk's office.  We are hoping to figure out where people were living in West Danville in the 1800's, and found some old maps from Beer's Atlas of 1875 with familiar names.  We will check deeds to try figuring out where certain buildings were that have long since either burned or been taken down.  We are beginning to get a sense of what the village was like in those early years.

One of the booming spots in the early 1900's was "Poplar Point," later known as "Point Comfort."  George Cook owned it in 1906 and set out 100 young poplar trees.  At the time, he had 14 lots for sale, and seemed to be in competition with O. B. Flint at the north end of the pond who had a much larger recreation area called Lake Park. Flint had a distinct advantage because the railroad ran along his property and trains stopped at the park to deliver and pick up passengers on a daily basis during the summer, while  Poplar Point was ten minutes walking distance from the train station.  However, both Cook and Flint did good business in the summer.

I thought this was interesting:  In July of 1907, M. M. Goodwin launched a 20 foot gasoline powered boat - the first mentioned.  It was equipped to carry 10 people.  This would have been a much more modern craft than the wood fired steamers people were used to for cruising around the lake.  

Also, while searching these old newspapers, I've kept track of when the ice went out over the years and tomorrow I'll put together that information for you.  Too late to help anyone pick the date to win this year's contest, but it may still be interesting.  'Til then.