Spring may actually be approaching here in the north country - today was in the 30s for most of the day, and even though tomorrow will be cold again, the days are longer, the sun stronger, and the temperature range way more acceptable, being mostly above zero.  That's headway - in the right direction.

We heard on the news tonight that Bolton Valley has had 220 inches of snow so far this year, and we thought that was an awful lot (about 18 ft.).  So I went to my CoCoRaHS site and found I have recorded 148.8 inches of snowfall since November 1.  That is over 12 feet.  We are at a lower elevation, so would expect to have  less snow, but I was surprised we'd had that much.  I haven't seen anything much over 30 inches at the stake out in the back yard.  I found an interesting chart for Mt. Mansfield.   They have more snow than average this year.  No matter where you are, there's enough.  I still need to find out how thick the ice is on Joe's Pond, though.


Our pay-on-line Ice-Out tickets page seems to be working perfectly, thanks to Scott Wells and his Cambium Group in St. Johnsbury, who designed it.  We've already had a flurry of activity.  As some of you know, Scott's parents are Joe's Ponders, and Scott spends time here whenever he can.  We appreciate his professional touch for that page.  Most of our regular tickets have been distributed; now we wait for the last weekend in March when the ice fishermen will have left the pond, lowering the amount of traffic so we can safely get the flag and block out.  We'll keep you posted.

 I'm now in the process of putting together the Joe's Pond Association's spring newsletter.  We're always happy to have news from JPA members or anyone in our area that's associated in some way with the pond or the surrounding community, so if you have something - a photo, news of some sort or have a special interest, do get in touch.  E-mail me: janebrown@joespondvermont.com, or give me a call, 802-563-2381.