Saturday morning

It's 24 degrees. There was a great deal of bright moonlight, last night, but - at sometime or other - just a few flakes of snow fell.

It should be a perfect morning for the Heart Run & Walk. WKTV's forecast reads: "Heart Run & Walk forecast: Cloudy with occasional snow showers. Temperatures in the upper 20's to near 30."

Applause for two more people: Dan Ford and his daughter, Kristen, will be walking, today.

Nearly 9,000 runners and walkers are expected to participate in America's Greatest Heart Run & Walk Saturday. The course extends from Barneveld to Utica College. Area drivers will encounter delays and altered traffic patterns between 7:30 a.m. and noon.

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"Luna-tics" delight: there'll be a lunar eclipse, tonight.

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Page 1 Headlines from this week's issue of the

WATERVILLE TIMES

It's the Annual "Beautiful Baby" issue, and there are over four full pages of photographs!

"Blessings Times Three" - Photo of three Davies children and an interview with their mother, LaTisha.

"Author Will Visit Library" - Niki Burnham, author for young adults, will be at the library today (Saturday) at 1:00.

"Housing Development Works on Agreement" - Developers of a 32-unit senior housing project in Waterville are discussing a PILOT - Payment in Lieu of Taxes - with Town of Sangerfield Officials.

"Seasons End for BCS, WCS" - Basketball season ends in losses for Lady Indians and Brookfield Beavers.

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This will no doubt be a headline on Page 1 of

NEXT WEEK'S WATERVILLE TIMES .......

John Brouillette Buys Bank

The sale was approved on Thursday and according to John's brother, Wayne - a partner in the venture - "The closing will not be for several weeks, of course. At this time we are just talking about prospective tenants, and 3 realtors have already called with possible tenants. We would like to see something in there that is good for the area. A bank or credit union would good, we thought, but if anyone has any ideas, we would like to hear them."

Friday morning

Wet and windy.

32.4 degrees on the digital indoor/outdoor thermometer, but only 28 on the old "Wickes Building" thermometer that we've had on the back porch for thirty years or so.

Waterville Central School - 2 hour DELAY.

I just took a step out the front door and stepped right back inside: the porch has cocoa-matting on it, but what appears to be bare matting is slick as can be! There's ice on the railings and shrubbery, too, 'tho not as much as during the last ice storm that we had. (At least not so far.)




WKTV's first precipitation map looked like this:



and now they've posted another ...........




It's still too dark to tell what it's really like, outdoors, so I keep checking WKTV's
Weather and School Closings and the Weather blog, as well.

Tomorrow, on the other hand, sounds as if it will be a perfect day fo America's Greatest Heart Run & Walk WKTV's forecast: "Cloudy with light snow. Temperatures in the upper 20's to near 30."

I'm sure that there will be alot of runners and walkers from around Waterville. There's the team from the Ladies' Auxiliary from Post 92 of the American Legion; residents and volunteers of the Harding Nursing Home in Waterville will be walking for Team Helen. Helen Boratyn, a resident of Harding's for 34 years past away in November at age 89. Helen was a great supporter of the Heart Walk at the mall!

I know that Tim Francisco of ProActive Physical Therapy will be participating and Sharon Stiles will be walking with Team Colgate. If you know of others, please let me know and I'll be glad to post their names for blog-readers' thanks and applause!

(More later.)

Thursday morning

It's Garbage Day!

5.2 degrees and clear.

Whatever had been forecast for overnight has, obviously, been delayed, but March's "Lion" is en route.
I'll put the precipitation forecast at the bottom of the blog - it's not due until tonight!



According to AccuWeather, we're going to have a fairly nice - 'tho brisk - day.

WKTV meteorologist Matt Lanza sums up February: "Snowfall Total: 73.0"
Normal: 18.8" Yeah...we smashed the all-time February and all-time monthly snowfall records to shreds. The previous Feb record was 40.6" in 1972. The previous all-time record was 59.0" in 1890.
February will be a memorable month for a long, long time. Thank goodness, it's over. :)"

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Updating from yesterday: the clock does seem to be running, but it's either an hour and a few minutes slow ---or, almost eleven hours fast.

The Waterville DPW spent a great deal of yesterday trucking snow away from the sides of Berrill Avenue. It' s really a two-way street again!

The State was carring out the same routine southward along Route 12. There were single-lane traffic delays, throughout the day, reminding me of last Summer.

The bad news of the day - for me - hit me as I was in "Dicksville," driving towards Deansboro, and saw smoke billowing.

There aren't that many wonderful old barns left, and now there's one less.

(One person told me that it was a "controlled burn.")

From this morning's O-D:
An eleven-officer task force has been assigned to the Michelle Hutchings case.

also: Madison Central School has readjusted its schedule to make up for Snow Days.

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And now for the Forecast.

Thursday: Increasing clouds with light snow developing late in the evening. High 33

Thursday Night: Cloudy with light snow before midnight. An icy mix of sleet/freezing rain possible after midnight. Ice accumulations possible. Low 27

Friday: Cloudy with rain south of Rt.20; an icy mix of sleet/freezing rain in the Mohawk Valley, with snow north of the Thruway. Snow accumulations likely north of Thruway, with ice accumulation possible for the Mohawk Valley. High 34 Low 28

Wednesday morning

It's Recyclables Day!


It's 19.2 degrees. No new snow.

there's nothing on the doppler, and WKTV says:

"Sunny and nice today!
Enjoy it folks. We're looking for a high near 32."

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But perhaps March is coming in like a lion?

"A cold night is on the way for tonight as temperatures fall back to near 10 under partly cloudy skies. Clouds will increase tomorrow but it will remain dry through late afternoon as a storm slowly draws near. Wet snow and sleet will break out tomorrow evening and will transition over to freezing rain overnight. We'll have to watch for at least the potential of significant icing by early Friday."

Farmers Almanac says much the same, but with fewer words.

Whether it's shining or snowing, this is when I start looking for Pussy Willows and put a wreath of them on the front door.

According to an old Polish legend, many springtimes ago a mother cat was crying at the bank of the river in which her kittens were drowning. The willows at the river's edge longed to help her, so they swept their long graceful branches into the waters to rescue the tiny kittens who had fallen into the river while chasing butterflies. The kittens gripped on tightly to their branches and were safely brought to shore. Each springtime since, goes the legend, the willow branches sprout tiny fur-like buds at their tips where the tiny kittens once clung.

Tuesday update

Justin Manning, auctioneer, and Drew Dixon, of John Dixon Associates, greeted bidders and spectators before this morning's auction at the Bank.


Yes: it happened! It was just about 10:15 this morning, when auctioneer Justin Manning paused, looked at the gathering of people who were all looking at him, and announced,

"SOLD!"

Then he and the new owner sat right down across a desk from each other to sign papers.

It will be about 24 hours before the sale is confirmed, and when it is I'll show you the other half of this picture!

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In the meantime, outdoors, final adjustments were made to the new street lamps and they were all turned on! It was a grand sight to drive through the village and see the wonderful long rows of lamp posts with globes aglow.

I don't know when they will be relit. That, I believe, is up to the Mayor and the Village Board.

ALSO

The Clock is Running
and will now tell the correct time more than just twice a day!

Tuesday

It's 27 degrees, with just a bit of new snow.

From WKTV: "Light snow and flurries will continue on Tuesday, especially north of Route 20. The snow should begin to fall apart Tuesday night, leading to clearing for Wednesday."

Today is, presumably, the day on which the old Bank of America building will become the Some Other building. The auction of the property, originally scheduled to take place on the 14th but postponed due to "inclement weather," will take place at 10:00 A.M. with "open house" for an hour before the sale.

The Waterville DPW is still demolishing and removing snowbanks, here and there around the village, and "the state" was chipping away at the drift/bank just south of CVS, as they have already done in several spots between Waterville and New Hartford.

Now that alot of us seem to be in "Spring" mindset and are feeling adventuresome - or, at least willing to leave town more frequently - consider going down to Sherburne's Rogers Nature Center on Saturday morning - 10:00 A.M. - for a "Blizzard Walk" at the Adams Farm. (I'm not sure what a "blizzard walk" involves, but AccuWeather forecasts a mostly-cloudy morning with a high of 37 degrees: not really blizzard weather, at all!)

The Utica Curling Club, which was in the news a great deal during the Men's and Women's National Championship play, will hold an Open House next Saturday, March 3, from 1 - 5:00. If you've never watched any curling or have never been to this extraordinary facility, do go!

Or - if you just don't want to deal with any more snow or ice - there's CNY BLOOMS
opening Friday at the OnCenter in Syracuse.



Or, how about the Philadelphia Flower Show? or, opening a week later, the Boston Flower Show.

(I think I'll go and visit BOTH MerriRose AND Alcotts, today!)

Monday morning

Yesterday morning on Newberry Road.

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Today is Garbage Day!

25 degrees, with just a tiny covering of puff.

From WKTV: "Light snow has developed across Central New York and will continue throughout the day. This does not look like a significant snowfall for our region but exercise caution over the next 24 hours on the roadways, especially in the higher terrain and on bridges and overpasses. The snow will be slow to accumulate and the map below is the forecast for today and tonight. Temperatures will remain cool, generally in the low 30's for highs for the next few days."

The snowbanks in Paris see higher than ever!

(Yes: I did wash my car, but the clean look just doesn't last more than a few minutes!)

On my way back to Waterville from Paris I drove along Canning Factory Road and just before I got to Goedecker-Heidel Corner, I spotted ROBINS! A dozen or so, on a sunny bank beneath maple trees!

Later on, I saw another group down on Mason Road - same situation - just north of the Newberry Road corner.

In neither case was I able to get my camera on and snapping fast enough to take a picture of birds. (I do have several crooked shots of rearview mirrors, trees and sky, however!)

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It really does seem as if it's time for Lisele Haines, on Austin Road, to be hanging her old-fashioned sap buckets on the maples along the road in front of her house.

Taken about five years ago, on the day the trees were tapped.

Put the Sugaring Off at the Farmers Museum on your calendar! One year, we went to the sugaring off at the Herkimer Homestead, outside of Little Falls and had a fine, sweet time but, unfortunately, the dates given for that event on their website are for 2006.

In the meantime - as long as we are still beneath a covering of snow, you might enjoy seeing exactly what that white blanket really is made of.


For lots of magnificent photographs, as well as more technical descriptions than you thought possible, see "Guide to Snowflakes" from Caltech.

Sunday add-ons

My friends, the Bornicks, who live in the country up towards Clinton, had this visitor at thier suet bar, this morning! Who has ever seen a pileated woodpecker this close?!

Down on Newberry Road, everything was covered with crystals of hoarfrost.

This little house looked as pretty as any in a "country living" sort of magazine!

The big white pine at the Moons, on Madison Street, glistened with rime.

Today I remembered to listen and the wind must have been just right because I could hear the bells being played, at a little after noontime. The Ayalas - and whoever else may have been in the tower - were doing a wonderful job, manning the levers!

Sunday morning

It's 16 degrees and cloudy.

WKTV predicts that today will be:
Mostly sunny. Increasing clouds late in the day. High 32

But check their Weather Blog: the meteorologists are getting excited, again - could be something they see happening towards the end of the week!

AccuWeather

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The WCS Girls' Varisity Team stasrted out strong against West Canada in Ilion, yesterday afternoon, but - at the end - it was West Canada 37; Waterville 20.

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According to an online newsreport from WSYR-TV, President Bush is Sending Federal Aid to Snow Covered Central New York.
President Bush says federal aid is on its way for Lewis, Oneida and Oswego counties, three of the hardest hit areas by the relentless snowfall at the beginning of this month.
The heavy snowfall in February forced areas of Central New York to declare a state of emergency last week. Saturday night, President Bush responded by announcing federal aid is on it's way to the area.

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Ms. Valerie Schenk attended the New York State Regional “Sacred Harp Singing” in Clinton, yesterday - a musical activity with which she had been unfamiliar, ‘til then - and is so taken with the prospect of attending more singings in the future that she is now looking for a copy of the 1991 Dennison Sacred Harp Book, should anyone have one with which they would be willing to part!

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