It's a beautiful day, but I'm afraid I have to report there probably isn't much melting going on. Our thermometer has been in the high teens most of the day and even now, with the sun finally around to the back of the house and shining on the back of the board the thermometer is attached to, it is reading only 45 degrees. The sun will be behind the trees and hill in another hour or less, and temperature will slip downward again.

I have weather for both Cabot and W. Danville displayed on my Google home page. Cabot is listed as being 24 degrees, W. Danville 25 degrees. There is a variance in the wind, too - Cabot getting a west wind but W. Danville a northwest wind. We know W. Danville gets all the wind there is all the time. There is plenty of wind again today, and last night the temperature got in the low teens.

Many of you know Homer and Margaret Fitts are back from their Florida vacation. Homer assured Diane and me he'd make it back before the ice went out, and now we know we didn't need to worry. We've had the ice go out when Homer was not in residence, but the times have been few. Fortunately, he always has it covered by others of us here at the pond, so the clock gets checked regularly, whether he's her or not.

This message from Homer -

HI -

WE WENT TO CHURCH IN PEACHAM THIS MORNING. IT WAS TERRIFIC ! REV. BOB POTTER ORDAINED HIS SON JEFF. MARGARET PRAYED THE SPIRIT OF THE LIVING GOD ON HIM AND SANG IT ALSO. SURPRISED EVERYONE.

WE STOPPED AT CAMP. DOUG HAMILTON HAD SHOVELED A PATH TO THE GARAGE DOORS. WE WENT INSIDE BUT THE BACK SIDE DOOR HAS 4 FEET 8 INCHES OF SNOW. THE SIDE DOOR ON THE SUNNY SIDE ONLY 4 FEET. GUESS WE WILL STAYING IN BARRE FOR A WHILE LONGER.

ONE ICE SHANTY STILL ON THE ICE AND ONE IN THE ACCESS AREA. TODAY IS THE LAST DAY THEY ARE TO BE IN EITHER PLACE.

LOVE AND BLESSINGS,

HOMER AND MARGARET

I haven't heard from Ray Richer if the flag is out and the clock set up yet, but I'm guessing not since there's still one shanty left on the ice. It will be gone by the end of today, I expect, and then Ray may wisely wait for a warmer day to put everything out there.

There's no hurry, unlike last year. The ice is still a foot or so thick, I'm guessing. The thing is, we never know how much melting is going on just because the earth has turned toward the sun and being warmed in spite of our above ground cold temperatures. So far there are two indicators missing for the start of serious ice melting at Joe's Pond. (1) there is no sign of open water in the channel leading into the pond, and (2) there is no melting around the shoreline indicating things are warming up. I'll check with Garey Larrabee tomorrow to find out if his fisherman friend has an updated ice depth for us - they can still fish, but the shanties have to be off the ice today.

Don Walker, a big ticket seller for the contest and one of the founders, has been in touch, and he's still got some tickets, but has sold most of them - we're talking 100s - Don has lots of contacts in the Montpelier/Barre area. We have a host of other JPA members who do a great job selling tickets, too, and we thank them. It makes the contest way more fun when the winner stands to take home a nice big check. Last year it was an even $5,000 - I confess I rounded off after the expenses were deducted so there wouldn't be some odd cents attached - I like nice round figures whenever possible, and it went to one winner. Some years we've had more than one winning ticket, and that's always fun, too. We like making as many people happy as possible!