Beautiful day - lots of sunshine and pretty warm except for a sharp wind out of the north. Out on our back lawn where the sun is still hitting, the thermometer has been as high as 48; in the shade it's 34. We enjoyed a short walk - especially since we saw some of our neighbors. First we stopped to talk with Val Covell who was heading out with her dog, Angus. Angus is no longer a puppy, but Val says he is still a handful sometimes. He's very social and I suspect "slurpy" if we got close enough. Val said she is volunteering at the Faith in Action food shelf in Cabot and she's enjoying it a lot. The food shelf is serving about 100 families from Cabot and surrounding area.

As Val was leaving, Nan Woods came along in the opposite direction, with her dog. He's a little shy, but handsome, nonetheless. We got pictures. Nan said "Woody," her son, has had a rough start at his new "Green Mountain Trolley" off of Rt. 15 at Joe's Pond beach. There have been several problems to get ironed out - frozen water, electrical, ventilation, etc., but she said he's working hard to get all the kinks out in time for the summer season.

We noticed along the roadside where the town road crew had cut back tree branches the maples were leaking sap (see picture below) - so we know the sap is running and that means spring is here. There were several trees wet with sap down from pruning or where they had been knicked or otherwise damaged. Another sign of spring is that there are warnings about going onto ice-covered ponds and lakes. There was a false alarm at Harvey's Lake last weekend when someone saw a truck on the ramp that looked as if it was at least partially submerged. Someone called 9-1-1 and rescue crews turned out, but fortunately it was just a case of there being water and slush at the edge of the shoreline and which is what the vehicle broke through. No emergency, no damage. All ice shanty's must be removed from the ice by March 28, 2010. Some may be off before that if things keep going the way they have. Melting is surely taking place now, while last year we were still making ice, not melting it.

When we were at Rossi's yesterday, Fred took a picture of the giraffes, and that reminded us of last year (top picture.) Bill and Diane sent this picture taken on Feb. 23, 2009 (below) of those same giraffes when we had a whole lot more snow on the ground than we've had this year. One good March storm could make a big difference, though . . .

Everything seems to be pointing to an earlier than usual spring, but that could still change, I'm sure. Just in case, though, I'm beginning to hustle around getting things together for the Joe's Pond Association's spring newsletter. We generally publish as soon as we have an Ice-Out Contest winner. All indications are that we could have an earlier-than-usual end of the contest. The earliest the flag has gone down has been April 16, so we'll just have to wait and see if we set a new record.

If you aren't in the area and want to join the fun of the Ice-Out Contest, you'll find printable tickets on the web site, www.joespondvermont.com