Another sunny day, but not as warm. We had a strong north wind that keep things cooler than it's been earlier in the week. It was nice for working outside, though, and I got a few things accomplished - turned some water, uncovered part of my garden area, and picked up some of the winter debris. Have more to do, but need to wait for the ground to dry out a bit. We have quite a bit of water sheeting down our lawns from springs up in the woods.

Fred is checking the flag twice each day - this picture was taken this morning. He got several pictures of the progress of the ice melting, so I've put a slide show together.

The roads are deteriorating along with the ice, as is normal. Some spots are pretty bad, but the road is still very passable, not like some years.

I signed up for Burr Morse's newsletter a long time ago, and very often get a real chuckle out of what he writes. This last one struck a chord because Fred and I have had quite a bit of experience with our wood burning efforts; and I'm very familiar with the merits (and drawbacks) of wheelbarrows, from the wonderful home-made ones we had when I was growing up to the trusty steel one I use now.

You don't see the old wooden barrows much any more. There are decorative ones to display in one's garden, but not the utility sort we had, with a plain iron wheel, wooden shafts that extended for handles, worn glass smooth by callused hands over the years, and side boards that were easily removed for wide loads or easy load dumping. I fell off one of those old wheelbarrows and broke my arm when I was about three years old. I don't know what my Uncle Bob was doing - maybe just giving his niece a ride - he was about 13 and I loved being wherever he was, and I'm sure it was tough on him to have that happen. I don't remember that I minded all that much, probably loved all the attention. I don't have much memory of being three, actually.

I had a lovely letter from an 87 year-old lady whose grandparents had a farm in Walden. Later they moved to St. Johnsbury, and she comes with her daughter to Joe's Pond and visits the cemeteries where her family are buried, and drives by the Walden farm. Then, she told me, they stop at Hastings Store for doughnuts, coffee and Ice-Out tickets. She said her mother danced at Point Comfort, she thought, sometime before 1922. I'll need to go back in my notes to find out when Mr. Woodring built the dance hall. I found an early postcard picture (below) of Point Comfort taken before the restaurant and apartment were built near the road. This would have been well before 1922, I believe, as I think the restaurant was built in the early 1920's. This picture was before the road which is now Route 2, was paved. It's always interesting to see how hillsides that now are forested were bare farm land in those early years.

We need to get ready for colder weather within the next few days. Now that lots of us are thinking "summer fun," we may have our hopes dashed and find ourselves shoveling snow again - or at least we'll swap our shorts and short sleeves for something warmer as we get back to the reality that this is, after all, still March. The damage has been done to the maple sugaring season, and quite possibly the ice on Joe's Pond. The cold snap could prolong the ice breaking up for a few days, but old timers say a bit of snow helps to melt the old snow and bring the frost out of the ground quicker. We'll see.