Here's a picture taken on February 3, 2011. We had a ton of snow last year at this time. This morning I measured 16.5 in. on our back yard stake, and that's about half of what we had last year at this time. All the snow is ending up in Europe, I guess. They're getting buried there, literally.

We're getting our Ice-Out Contest tickets to the various outlets locally and in the Barre-Montpelier and St. Johnsbury areas. I spoke with Don Walker today and he's sold a few tickets, but so far most of the tickets we've had come in are either from the local stores or the mail. We've had quite a few on-line tickets come in, and that's encouraging.

Don told me Audrey had the misfortune to break her hip in a fall on December 23. He said she's doing fine now, but is still having physical therapy. She spent Christmas in the hospital. I spoke with her today and she sounded great - not a word about her difficulties - and was upbeat as ever. We hope she continues to mend well and will be good as ever by summer so she and Don can enjoy Joe's Pond.

I have an ice update for you tonight. Diane Rossi went out onto the ice to speak with an ice fisherman this afternoon and he told her the ice is about 18 inches thick. We aren't sure why we had a report last week that it was 12 inches, but I guess the depth of ice could vary depending on where it's measured. And we have had some cold nights. Tonight is about 6 above.

I had a note from Homer Fitts. He said Garey Larrabee took brought some Joe's Pond perch to them the other day and they were really good. Homer said Margaret knows just how to cook them, too. I've heard the perch are not only especially tasty this year, they are also plentiful.

Jack LaGue sent a brief explanation of the photo he sent the other day. He mentioned the unusual upward reflection is a "sun dog." We do see those from time to time, and he's right, it's the sun's rays reflecting off ice crystals. I'm not sure of the date he took the picture, but it may have been about the same time weather people were telling us to watch for unusually bright "Northern Lights," or aurora borealis. According to what I've learned, these two light displays are caused by different atmospheric conditions, but it does prove that we have all sorts of interesting stuff going on here, day and night, if we just pay attention.

Last night I watched the storm clouds in the moonlight as I lay in bed waiting to fall asleep. The moon was bright, but from time to time very dark clouds would scud across it. There was a strong northwest wind and we were getting snow showers off and on. I fell asleep thinking of the first years Fred and I lived here at the pond, at our cottage, and on moonlit nights we'd often go for long walks, sometimes on snowshoes, up what is now Chatot Road and through the woods and fields above. It was absolutely beautiful, and with the moon out, we had no trouble seeing at all. Of course, nobody else was around back then, so we used to sometimes sing Christmas carols or other songs loudly and mostly off key, and always ended our concert with lots of laughter because we sounded so awful. Unfortunately, my sleepy musings didn't translate into an interesting dream, but it was fun remembering, anyway.

Diane Rossi was telling me today there were a bunch of trucks out on the ice very early this morning. She said there are also lots of snowmobilers around. We don't see much of the pond from up here, so miss all that activity. We did see some fireworks on the Route 15 side of the pond tonight, though.

I guess almost everyone is getting ready for a big football Sunday tomorrow. I am not a football fan - I can never find the ball and fail to understand the rules of the game; but I'm looking forward to watching the commercials and, of course, the half-time performance. This year it is Madonna, and that will be interesting. We've been seeing some teaser commercials this past week that look really special. When companies pay millions for just 30 seconds of ad space, they have to come up with something unique - I just hope I understand them better than I do the football game. Sometimes I just don't get commercials, but I like the challenge, an nobody gets hurt like in the game. So we'll both be watching the Super Bowl tomorrow, along with millions of other folks.