The rains came last night. Almost all our snow washed away and there's "green grass growin' all around, all around."

The temperature has been around 52 degrees on my deck this morning - warmer than some days last summer. And the sun isn't shining. It's creepy having this kind of weather. WCAX reported some maple producers have been tapped since November and have made about 1/3 of what they normally would in the spring. No word on how long they will remain tapped, but it can't be good for the maple trees . . .

I took a couple of pictures from our deck this morning. Fred said there was someone ice fishing in back of the island earlier, but he's gone now and we only hope he got back to shore safely. The ice can't be very thick, and with the recent rain, I certainly wouldn't trust it. Lots of warm water on top and lots more running into the pond from the brooks that feed it.

I can't help worrying about what Mother Nature has in store for us later on. We all know it's probably not going to be pretty. While we wait, we'll take advantage of the mild weather, though.

Liz and John Randall arrived yesterday for the weekend. They brought Jason back with them. However, bad luck haunted them all the way - their truck broke down someplace in Mass. and they lost a couple of hours travel time, and when they arrived in their much smaller rental vehicle, there was no water at the house. John and Jason know about these things, so they will have everything running smoothly before the weekend is over, and they are undaunted - no hardship will prevent them from coming to their beloved Vermont home. Next week they will come again to drop off their other two college kids - Lauren at Keene, NH, and Matt to LSC, and by then they expect their truck to be ready for the road again.

Don and Diane Sherwood are here - to ski!! I think it has happened a few times before that they arrive and the snow leaves.

Fred has reorganized the Ice-Out Contest page on the web site. You'll notice the outlets for tickets are listed - we'll add more as they come to us - and instructions about how to get tickets and where to return them. We had a contact from Rob Cohen in LosAngeles yesterday saying he is interested in doing a documentary on the Ice-Out Contest. We don't know if he is the well known Rob Cohen film-maker/writer, but we'll keep you posted. I've alerted Tom and Dave.

As we enjoy our "January Thaw" the questions remain - What happened to real winter? Will the ice be gone before April 1? What do skiers and snowmobilers do to entertain themselves in this balmy weather? How are hardy Vermonters adapting to prolonged warmth? Are road crews throughout the area counting blessings or cursing? The list goes on.