Today is pretty bleak. I like that word - it describes our weather perfectly. No sun, windy and raw - the kind of day that fosters depression, if you let it. Then I think about Clinton, Mississippi, where that devastating tornado hit yesterday, and our weather seems placid by comparison, and I remember how fortunate we are.

Spring is making progress here at Joe's Pond. Here's a report from Evelyn, down on Sandy Beach Road on the waterfront of the main channel coming to the pond:

The channel is open past our house with the cove loosening up on Corley's side (or at least the ice is dark over there)... we have Canada Geese, mallards, Common Mergansers, Hooded Mergansers, woodies, otters and floating ice rafts... But the water level looks well under control so far... it's usually after our shore opens up that it will flood out on us and it's still pretty solid.

Evelyn went on to tell us about a new link on their site. It's very interesting - a web cam at an eagle's nest. Go to: www.thegalleryatlooncove.com, click on "links" on the left menu on home page and then click on "Decorah eagles live video cast." It is very interesting to see and read about this nest.

Someone suggested we should have a video cam set up to watch the ice melt. Wouldn't that be interesting! Like watching paint dry. While we may find the mud and cold weather and the slow process of melting the ice interesting to talk about and something for me to write about, none of it is terribly exciting or worthy of spending much time on. About the only thing moving around here today is water trickling off the hillside. The cold night slowed it down, and although we're expecting rain later today, the temperatures are going to be only in the 40's, or perhaps lower here, so who knows, the precip may come as snow.