I want to share some photos this morning.  We have a beautiful day building here.  My back yard looks as if someone had sprayed glitter everywhere.  Everything is fresh, white and sparkling.  It's one of those days I really appreciate living in Vermont - a lot!  It is so clean and pretty, and quiet, too.  No wind today, no snow plows rattling along Route 15 and Route 2; hardly any traffic on West Shore Road because it's Sunday in March and the neighborhood is enjoying the weekend.

I haven't shown you pictures of the pond from my living room window recently, but now is a good time - the pond is solidly frozen with lots of fresh new snow covering everything, and up in the channel, all is quiet and serene.  Not a sign of melting anywhere.  And here's why:  After another almost five inches of snow on Friday and no temperatures more than a few degrees above freezing yesterday, the temperature slipped into the single numbers above zero again last night.  Even with warm temps today, (it's now 29 degrees and rising)  I don't think there will be much melting going on.  However, I bet the sap will run!  So click on one of the pictures and enjoy the morning with me! 


I can't believe this is the last week of the Joe's Pond Ice-Out Contest!  It's always fun to see the tickets come pouring in by mail - this is the first year West Danville's new postmaster, Dennis, has been on the job here, and already he's been a little overwhelmed by how stuffed our mailbox gets.  I'm sure he has no idea how much mail he'll be handling from the contest.  He's a good sport and we enjoy his constant good humor.  It's really nice, too, that we get to visit with Diane Jeger every now and then since she's at the Cabot Post Office now!

We'll be picking up mail every afternoon from now through Saturday, so if you haven't gotten your tickets in, it's time to get it done so there will be a postmark on or before April 1.  Anything that comes in postmarked after April 1 cannot be entered in the contest.  Ticket sales stop at outlets at close of business and on-line at 11:59 p.m. on Saturday, April 1.  Then we watch and wait for the ice to melt.