All you Ice-Out fans should know the clock is now ticking. I bet you thought it had been hooked up long ago, right? There's a well thought-out procedure that goes with this contest thing. Ray Richer has been putting the apparatus out on the ice, with or without help, depending on who's available and what the weather's like, for a number of years now, and he has a system.

First of all, we've learned from experience that it's not a good idea to have the platform and ropes out there before the ice shanties are off the ice. With few exceptions, where there are ice shanties, there are snowmobiles, and where there are snowmobiles ropes can get cut or tangled. There was that year the ice was getting really soft and when Don Walker checked the setup he discovered the ropes had been cut when a snowmobile ran over them. He was able to salvage the day, but it was a very close call. Thus, rule No. 1 is "Never put the block and flag out until after the shanties are off the ice."

As far as I know, Rule No. 2 doesn't have a history - it's just not sensible to have the clock out on Homer's deck when the pond is frozen solid with no signs of spring anywhere in the vicinity. So the clock doesn't get put out until the pond shows signs of some melting going on. Once he sees open water, Ray heads down and puts out the clock and makes the connections to get it going. His job is then pretty much finished - unless something goes wrong, and then he gets a panic call.

Both rules have been followed this year. Everything is set up and the clock is ticking. However, that said, I must add that I think Ray could have waited maybe another week or two to get the clock out. Late this afternoon we had snow showers and tonight the wind is howling and sleet is beating on the windows as our weather turns sour again, dashing any thought we may have had that April might bring some soft, warm, dazzlingly sunny weather to melt the ice and give us back our sparkling blue pond with frogs and lily pads and motor boats and kayaks. Instead, the pond remains white and silent; our lone fisherman can be seen most evenings sitting on a bucket behind the big island, patiently tending a line through a hole in the ice, and it's like February and March all over again. We may have to dig out the pallet and ropes from under a foot of snow, you never can tell.

For now, we stand at the "ready," with call list at hand, batches of tickets logged in and waiting, and newsletter complete except for the name of the winner or winners of the Ice-Out. All we need is for the ice to melt. It's an anti-climax after the rush during the last few days before the contest closed. Last year we had a totally different experience when the ice threatened to be out before the contest closed on April 1st. In retrospect, that almost seems preferable to this prolonged waiting period, but last year when we were contemplating what to do if the ice went early things got pretty hectic. All that summer weather in April was really nice last year, though.

Since there's nothing we can do to move things along, we'll just have to wait out the weather. Fred puts a daily ice update on home page, and I'll try to keep you posted on conditions, too. Which reminds me - David Covell has posted a slide show of ice conditions on the "Comments" page. Take a look. It's better than a web cam!