Today has been a dreary one. A little sun broke through from time to time, and in between there were some rain showers. Right now the sun is bright and there's a real feel of spring in the air.

Fred and I went to the village this morning, and were struck by how white and solid the ice looks in the big pond. (See photo top right.) When we got back to W. Danville and parked in the parking area we could hear the roar of the water over the dam. Fred got pictures. When I walked along W. Shore Road to Brickett's Crossing Rd. a couple days ago, I noticed there was a lot of water in the brooks that come off Cabot Plain and empty into the pond. That water is cutting through the ice at the north end of the lake, and is no doubt warming the lake water and melting the ice from underneath, too. As the pond fills, the ice begins to tear away from the shore, and everything becomes less stable. I haven't heard, but I expect the dam is open all the way to allow for the runoff. Isn't that an amazing rush of water over the dam? The next picture is looking down the brook as it flows towards the power plant and eventually into the Passumpsic River and on to the Connecticut. I think it was last year or maybe the year before that I was hearing about kayakers excited about this stretch of water. It certainly looks as if it would be filled with challenges.

The two smaller ponds are showing real signs of opening up. There is more water showing at the narrows every day. Unless we get a really prolonged cold snap, everything is in melting mode and there should be blue water soon. We haven't had freezing nights for a while, and that means everything is melting steadily. It also means the roads will probably get continually worse over the next few days. Right now they aren't too bad, but we think there will be worse to come. It helps to have freezing nights to firm things up and let it dry out a little (freeze-dried mud!), but except for Sunday, I think temperatures will be above freezing each night.

The parking lot in the village is bare, but there are still big and dirty snowbanks. Fred took this picture - not pretty, but just to know the snow is melting makes the dirt easy to accept. A good rain will take care of that. We saw a red-winged blackbird today, too. That's a good sign.

Ted Chase sent this picture taken in front of his house on North Shore Road. It is from a video, but I wasn't able to get the actual video to play. I've asked Ted to figure out a different way to send it to me.

I don't know if this is the same fellow that Judy Lewis on Sandy Beach Road got a picture of recently, or may it's a cousin . . . Ted didn't tell me anything about the circumstances - perhaps I'll have more information later, especially if I can get the video to play.