The clock has not stopped yet, but from the appearance of the ice tonight, the contest could be over any time. Tomorrow (Friday) I believe we are going to have some high winds, and that should be enough to finish off the ice. There is a very large hole in the ice not far from the pallet, and another some distance up the pond. Fred got pictures of them tonight. This is the one that's close, the one below is further up the pond and a bit to the right. They were apparently thin spots in the ice. The one near the pallet has been open for a while, but we just spotted the second one.

You will notice in the third picture there is quite a bit more water showing along the shoreline now, and that will give the ice floe a chance to move more. Also, there is more water showing at the north end of the pond - it is open about to Hebert's now, and will connect with the narrows soon. There is also a stretch of open water working down the west shore. Definitely more is happening now even though it has been pretty cold all day.

I'll be on hand in the morning to let you know if we're still waiting for the clock to stop.