Swimming Again at Puffer's Pond!

Jenny & Kenyon, Puffer's Pond, 4/8/13

It hardly seems possible. Only slightly over two weeks ago, Puffer’s Pond was half frozen, its icy surface retaking the water after a partial thaw. By yesterday, with no ice anywhere in sight and the outside temperature a balmy 63°F, swimmers had returned. Well, okay, only two swimmers – Jenny and Kenyon – had braved the water when I was there, but they insisted they had actually submerged. And when I asked how far out they had gone (the water is, I assume, colder further away from the shallow, sunny shore), they gestured some 20 feet from the beach to reinforce their point. 

Circle in Sand
Puffer's Pond, 4/8/2013

Other than Jenny and Kenyon, who get props for cold water courage, the other dozen people hanging out on South Beach yesterday afternoon were fishing for trout. One of them told me that bass can also be caught at Puffer’s, but that bass tend to hang out on the northern side of the Pond (at least that’s where I think she was pointing). I have noticed that once I explain that I am asking about the fishing conditions for a blog, people tend to clam up. I gather they are worried that Head in the Cloud Amherst’s following will descend on the beach, fishing poles in hand, and decimate the pond’s trout population. :) I think they should probably be more worried about the influx of swimmers. Once word gets out that the water temperature along the shore is a tolerable 53°F, the fisher folk won’t have a place to stand (or recline on folding chairs). And with the air temperature climbing into the 70’s today, I’m guessing that day is here.

Photo of photographer setting up wedding attire
fashion shot for Celia Grace, a fair trade wedding
dress business headquartered in Amherst.
(Model's coat came off for the real shots)
ON Puffer's Pond, 1/26/2013

But before we leap too quickly into the coming summer, let us pause and reflect for a moment on that most unexpected Puffer’s happening this winter, the wedding apparel fashion shoot on top of a frozen Puffer’s Pond in January. Jenny and Kenyon (gutsy as their cold water swim may have been) have nothing on the model that day, who - through multiple shots - braved 11°F wind chills in nothing more than a sleeveless, strapless, summer wedding gown.