January 22, 2007
January is cold....
After a very long Fall which seemed to have lasted forever, Winter is finally here in Vermont. I realize that in the rest of the country it has also finally shifted to Winter, but here in Vermont as well as many other northern states, this is a rarity.
Winter for us usually starts to kick into gear sometime in early to mid-October with some colder weather and from time to time snow has appeared long before Halloween. In chatting it up with some other Vermonters, the sentiment was consistent that while it was nice to have warmer weather, it just didn't feel right.
This weekend we headed up to the Lake Champlain Islands to meet with our contractor and have lunch at our new favorite place -- Hero's Welcome Cafe. This place is a general store, supermarket, gift shop, candy store, book store, and deli all rolled into one. For anyone who is making the trip to the islands this is a great place to stop as it embodies everything Vermont and Champlain Island Life. From the locals hanging out and signing IOU's to the locally made products, to the "Imortant Times around the world" listing the "official" times for North Hero, South Hero, Grand Isle and Isle LaMotte the focus is clearly on home.
We have gone up for lunch four times now on the way home from our visits to the new house. It's the closest (decent) place to eat and the charm of the establishment confirms all of our perceptions and hopes of what living on the islands will be like.
In talking to one of the employees of the store (could be the owner, I'm not sure) I chatted with him about the fact that the southern portion of the lake has already frozen, but the northern side was still quite liquid. He reminded me that the portions we were seeing from the road were all bays and other inlets so it is easier for them to freeze and that farther south the lake is still wide open territory.
He also mentioned that an old-timer was in earlier that day and said the latest he had ever seen the lake freeze over was January 15th. Since we have long since passed that mark, there is actually some concern over whether that will even happen. It may not seem like a big deal, but there are a lot of Winter sports that take place on the frozen lake each year such as Ice Skating, Hockey, Parasailing, Snowmobiling, Ice Fishing, and the list goes on.
Anyway, have a great week wherever you are and stay warmer than I am!
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