I have to tell you - it's colder'n blazes here today! The wind has been howling all day and although there's been bright sunshine, the temperature has stayed in the teens all day as near as we can tell. This morning around six when Fred first looked, it was six degrees above zero. Now, just about 12 hours later, it's about 16, the wind is still blowing, and we just had a snow squall move through.

We walked down to Rossi's to take a few Ice-Out tickets to Diane to keep the local outlets stocked. It was cold going down and we could feel the wind at our backs. On the way back it was brutal. The wind was whipping right down the pond and seemed to funnel along W. Shore Rd. It was actually less windy after we started up the long home stretch past Encarnacion's and Morgan's. As soon as we got home I looked at my wind chill chart and, estimating the wind at about 35 mph, the wind chill was about minus seven degrees. I had wrapped my face with my scarf - but it was still cold, and even my hands got cold in my "boxing gloves" mittens that usually keep me toasty.

Fred was able to walk on the crusty snow, but I opted for the easiest going and stayed on the road. Our roads are frozen solidly again. No ice or mud to contend with for the present, at least. We're both glad to be back inside by the fire.

I noticed there is a comment on the last blog - in case you didn't see it, here it is:

Hi Jane and Fred,
I just wanted to write a quick note to tell you how much I enjoyed seeing the picture of our camp in your "Walk on the west side" slide show.

I get on the blog every few weeks and enjoy reading the stories you share.

I moved to TX over 9 years ago but still make it to Joe's every summer for at least 2 weeks. I wouldn't move back to the cold winters of VT but enjoy seeing the pictures. I actually showed them to a couple of my co-workers and they couldn't believe the ice and snow. It's difficult for people to imagine snow in March, when it's 78 and sunny here.

Thanks again and hello to all the people at Joe's that might read this, see you in July!

Stay warm,

Karen LaGue

Thanks for writing, Karen - really nice to hear from you. I have to say, 78 degrees sounds really good right now, but I'm sure I'd seriously wilt in the heat you folks get down in Texas in mid-summer. I guess no place is perfect, and the mid-west is getting some pretty severe weather right now, too. If all that reaches us, it'll be a toss-up whether it comes as rain or snow, I guess. If it's rain, we could have some serious flooding, too; but if it's snow we'd just chalk it up to it being March and get out the shovels - again.

No need to tell you there's no obvious melting going on around the pond. There may be some from underneath, but on the other hand, it wouldn't surprise me if the ice is getting thicker . . . We should be getting another report from Karl who is logging in Ice-Out tickets for us, and then I can perhaps let you know how many people have already lost out in the game because they chose dates in March. I don't think the ice has ever gone out in March. Maybe someday with global warming. We'll keep you posted on how things are going this 22nd year of the Ice-Out Contest, so stay tuned.