Now the ice has gone out, things are getting back to normal around the pond. Of course, not ALL of the ice is gone - there are still spots in coves and along some of the shoreline, depending on which direction the wind is blowing. Things that weren't securely attached to the shore have been "liberated" by the high water in some cases, or by the shifting ice floe. I had this e-mail from Evelyn this morning:
Hi Jane…

As we were sitting here having our morning coffee we saw a dock approaching… it was floating slowly into the cove. Through the binoculars we realized that it was possibly the Talbot’s dock. Ray got into our canoe and hooked on to it (it appears to be upside down!!) and paddled it to shore. It is now tied to our shoreline. We knew it would possibly get hooked up in the marsh somewhere and once the water level went down it could be impossible to retrieve. So it is here and safe.

We have noticed three loons on the lake this morning… they sound so wonderful… it is so nice to have spring return!!!

Happy Spring!! Blessings, Evelyn

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The Times Argus did a nice article on the Ice-Out Contest - here's a link if you'd like to read it - Ice-Out

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I just had this message from Evelyn, too. We had a bear visit last night… took down the feeder outside Marguerite’s window with a big crash on the deck. It woke Ray and I up but neither of us thought the other was awake so we didn’t go check… (Thought it was the cat knocking something over on the porch)… but this morning we have huge bear paw prints on the side porch and across the yard… he (or she) is a big ‘un!! So guess the feeders will come in tonight…
It's a good warning to everyone - the bears are awake and hungry! It's been a long winter for them and there isn't much out there yet for them to eat, so they'll be very brazen about coming to our houses. Any garbage or food of any kind is going to attract them and they can do lots of damage. Normally the bears we have here in Vermont are not dangerous, but if they have young with them, they get a bit testy sometimes, so it's best to give them plenty of space. They are clever about opening containers and are big enough to break things to get what they want, so like Evelyn says, bring in your feeders. The birds will do fine this time of the year and it's too bad when bears are shot just because they have become a nuisance because people leave easy food around for them to get into trouble with.