Another bright but cool day at Joe's Pond. I don't think the thermometer got more than low 40's here, but I wasn't tracking it very carefully. Right now the temperature on the northeast side of our house is sliding downward, reading 35 degrees, while the south west side that's getting the sunshine this time of day is reading 42. The sun is pouring into my office and I'm wearing my visor to shade my eyes. In a couple hours the sun will have dropped below the trees on the hill in back of our house and it'll drop. I don't see evidence of a lot of melting going on, so I think the breeze is keeping everything pretty cool. Fred took this photo of the marsh area at the north end of the pond this morning, and it is still winter there.

Fred commented today that so far March has been "too easy," with no blizzards or really huge snowfalls. He's thinking a major whopper of a storm is likely before we see the end of winter. I hope he's wrong, but know the odds are against it.

We went with Bill and Monika last night to the Creamery in Danville, their treat for helping them stage their wedding back in January. Very nice, but totally unexpected - it was our privilege to be part of that celebration. We hadn't been to the Creamery for a while, so it was especially nice to go there. We always see people we know - and Bill always knows dozens more than we do. It's fun to see some of Marion's family there, too. Last night we spotted her sister and husband, Kitty and Abel Toll - Joe's Ponders; then brother Marty came in. We were also pleased when Chef Woods strolled through and greeted people. "Woody" is our neighbor. He lives about three miles away on Cabot Plains Road, just down the road from the Plains Cemetery. You'll see his "Up In Smoke BBQ" sign by his house. You'll also find his business card under "services" on the web site.

Fred took pictures, so here's a short slide show, ending with "Woody" and his truck. And no, we didn't name our cat after our neighbor chef . . . the cat's name came strictly from his woodpile hangout when he was still a vagrant.

We came home and had strawberry shortcake with whipped cream in front of the fire. Our treat. We were all way too full for dessert at the restaurant, but by the time we got here we were ready.Night out