We walked on West Shore Drive today. The road is solid ice under a good coating of sand the town has laid down. We didn't have any trouble slipping as we walked, but we were pretty careful where we stepped as some spots were glare ice and could have been slippery under foot. There wasn't much traffic and we saw only one other person - a runner, but I think he got discouraged with the icy road and turned back.

We took pictures of mail boxes along the way. This time of year they can really take a beating. The town had to wing back the snow banks after our last big storm, and since some boxes were covered, they suffered. There are various ways to protect the box from getting dinged, but even then sometimes it's hard for the guy in the plow to see them in time to bring in the wing or swerve to miss it. We used to think they aimed for mail boxes as sport, but I'm pretty sure that isn't the case now. When we first came to live at Joe's Pond in the late 1970's, we had tons more snow that we've had this year and we had to dig out the mail box nearly every day. We gave up keeping it in the ground after it was broken off, and simply stuck it into the snow bank. But it got tossed over the bank every time the plow came by. We changed it to our driveway, and that worked for a while, but then the mail man had to swing in and was on the wrong side of the road - not a good situation for him. I don't remember that we ever got a really good solution to the problem, and I think we went through a number of mail boxes.

There were a few ice fishermen out there today. Nice sunshine and I imagine it was a good day for fishing. There have been alot of snowmobiles out on the lake and early this afternoon I counted about 10 across the pond on the rail trail, heading north. It seems as if they go awfully fast, especially on the lake - but I guess that's the fun of it, and with no obstacles or corners, it's safe enough.

We took some pictures of some of our neighbors' cottages so you can see we have lots of snow and not much melting going on. It has settled some since the last storm, but we really haven't had any very warm weather to start the melting process. It was close to zero again last night, but today warmed up nicely. I don't think it got above freezing, though. When we walked, it was in the low 20's, and although it wasn't as cold as yesterday, I wasn't as well equipped, either, so my feet got cold. I didn't know I was going to be walking on ice the whole time . . .

We're expecting a little more snow in the next day or so, but Town Meeting Day seems to be shaping up as a pretty good one. We'll be heading to the meeting, and of course Fred will have his camera. We'll see lots of folks we don't often bump into, and it's usually a pretty interesting morning.

Fred just reported the forecast is for another foot of snow here tomorrow. Then Tuesday is going to still be cold, but apparently not much more snow. I guess winter isn't over with.

We have been getting more ice-out tickets in the mail recently, so folks are getting more interested in the contest. This is our 22nd year of the Ice-Out Contest! We've come a long way since Jules kept a record of times and dates in his shirt pocket notebook. For any of you who don't know the history of the contest, you'll find it by clicking on "Ice Out Info" - where the red flag is! There is a lot of info there, including printable tickets so you can be in the game even if you aren't here to get a ticket. Just complete the ticket and send it along - instructions are there. Like I always say, it's up to Mother Nature when the block sinks and stops the clock, so your guess is just as good as anyone's. Karl Couillard is busy logging in the information from tickets and I'll begin getting information soon from him about how many are in the game, and maybe other statistics. We're gearing up for another big year, and it's in the home stretch now - tickets must be in by April 1, no matter what the weather or ice conditions.