We are still waiting for something to change at the site of the pallet and flag. It looks like we won't have a new record for earliest Ice-Out, and the record of 2:46 p.m. on April 5, 2010 will still stand - unless, of course the clock stops before that time tomorrow, which we doubt it will do. Take a look at the pictures Fred took tonight. We've had sunshine, wind, clouds and snow showers today, and still the ice looks about the same. The only change we can see is that there may be a little more open water showing, and the ice that had formed over the open water during the night had melted by the time Fred got there at 7 p.m. tonight. Otherwise, the pallet and flag seem to be at the same angle, frozen into the ice, and not moving up, down or sideways.

About the best I could come up with to make tonight's blog entry a bit more interesting was to switch sides to display the photos. We can plainly see the ice floe is getting smaller, and Fred said he thinks the ice looks a little darker - but it's going to be cold again tonight, so it may freeze up the open water temporarily again. In the meantime, the last of the entries are coming in the mail, and we appreciate having a few days to get everything in and tallied so when the clock does stop and we have a winner, we'll be ready to announce it within a very short period of time. We need to be sure all the tickets are in and postmarked no later than March 31.

Most of you have heard about the hard times that beset Vermont in 1816. I looked up a clipping that in the archives I've been working on for the Cabot Historical Society, and here's what it said: ". . . January was so mild that many Vermonters let their fires go out except when they had to cook . . . February was a very mild month and March came in like a very small lion and went out link and innocent sheep. Just about the time that most ov the hardy old Vermonters were beginning to pat themselves on the back for getting through a light winter, Dame Nature started a sharp toe at the seat of their homespun trousers. April brought colder weather and eventually snow and ice. In May the young buds froze and the ice was thick on the ponds. Corn froze as fast as it was planted until it was too late for a crop. June roses thought they had been transplanted in the Arctic circle and frost killed all of the fruit on the trees."

June brought 10 inches of snow throughout Vermont and many other states. On July 4th, ice as thick as window glass formed all over New England on the ponds. August was worse, with "every green thing in this country and in Europe blasted by frost. Snow fell near London . . . there was absolutely no summer that year. Thousands of persons in the country would have perished had it not been for the abundance of fish and wild game." Published by the Rutland Herald, taken from an old issue of the Vermont Standard. That year was known as "the year without a summer."

The Barre Daily Times reported in 1932 that the thermometer was well over 60 degrees above on January 14, and was ideal sugar weather. Men working in the woods said sap flowed freely from the maples they were cutting down, making it difficult for them to do their work. The roads were muddy, which made automobile travel "next to impossible." Douglass Inglis and Ralph Tobin played nine holes of golf at the old Barre Golf club course on the Montpelier road, and said they were certain they'd made golfing history by playing golf in Vermont on January 14th.

If the weather continued to be strange that year, we don't have a record of it, but at least we know there have been other strange weather years. Our main problem now is that the weather is back to near normal and we're not liking it much. That 70 degree stretch in March spoiled us for cold weather and prolonged mud season. And it threw our Ice-Out contestants a curve, proving this game is definitely not predictable, try as you will.