It turned colder over night, but I don't think it got below freezing. Nothing is melting fast today, though, and the forecast is for a few inches of wet snow. I took a couple of pictures so you can see that we're making progress towards spring and open water, but it's slow. At the top is my view of the channel that runs into the pond at the north end. That has opened a bit in the past few days, and it looks as if there's some flooding there. That figures - it happens all the time because the spring runoff fills the big pond faster than it can get through the narrows by the Gruggel/Cobb and the Coffrin cottages.

The next picture is Davidson Road off Rt. 15, which is directly across from us. That is Jerry and Crystal Prevost's house at the far right; Matt and Deborah Jacovelli's is a little further up the road, just out of the frame. You can see the snow has melted from those hillsides, but not much green is showing yet. There is still plenty of snow around our house - and lots of water running off the hill in back, but progress is being made.

Tickets are mostly in. We didn't have as much media coverage this year, although we did some interviews and Don Walker did his contacts with WDEV. I guess we'll need to find something more exciting than just the ice melting to attract attention. Diane and I don't have a ticket count for you yet, but it looks like our numbers may be down a bit from last year. Not surprising when one considers the downturn in the economy. Not much spare cash to risk, even with the prospect of winning $4,000.00. We will have statistics for this year's contest soon, though.

Perhaps you've been following the local news that St. Johnsbury may lose the Correctional Center. The state is considering closing that facility and sending prisoners out of state because that costs less. Other states have apparaently figured out how to accommodate prisoners at less cost - perhaps by not offering certain services. It would seem to make sense that someone who has broken the law and is locked up could do without some things just as law abiders on the outside are having to. Anyway, if it does close, there will be a severe impact on St. Johnsbury. Just when things were beginning to look better for the Northeast Kingdom a couple years ago, now we're heading into another economic slump. Sometimes you just can't seem to catch a break.

We lost another friend and neighbor this week. Al Doucette, on Brickett's Crossing Road, passed away on Wednesday at 81. Al was a lister for the Town of Cabot for several years - a really nice gentleman. He and his wife, Louise, came to Cabot 17 years ago and built their retirement home in a field near Morse's tree farm. Louise is an expert seamstress, and they enjoyed going together to craft shows to show her work. Unfortunately, Al developed Alzheimer's, so the last few years were difficult for both of them. His neighbors will miss him.