The weather is beginning to change. Today we've seen more sun and fewer showers of any kind, although there have been a few "snowdrops" falling with the rain. The ice is almost gone. There are fingers of slush still out there - or there were at noon when we came home from St. Johnsbury. This has been one of the longest, dreariest, dullest periods of waiting for the pond to be free of ice that I can remember. It has seemed it would never go. We know it's really early, but the warm spell we had in March got things started and it's been a long stretch of waiting since then.

In the top picture, taken from W. Shore Rd., you can see the very thin, mushy ice stretching down the middle of the pond. There is no ice left in the upper end near the islands or in the cove where the pallet was. We could see the green float marking where the pallet went down, but other than that, the only sign of the Ice-Out is the sign at Hastings store announcing they have tickets - which they will have in a few more weeks as we get the 2013 contest rolling. Diane and I aren't quite ready to begin the process all over again, but we know we need to begin making plans almost as soon as the contest is over, otherwise, tickets won't be available for the tourists and our members who like to get them early.

We're making plans to present the check to our winner, Judy Lavely, perhaps this weekend, if all goes well. The weather is predicted to be pretty nice, finally letting us have a glimpse of sparkling blue water instead of gray-blue ice.

Another sign of spring is that the road work in Danville is in full swing again. There hasn't been any landscaping on the common that we can see, but they are working on the western side of the village, getting water and sewer lines in place, so I guess the common will be on the agenda soon. We were wondering as we came through Danville if the fair will be on the common or if it will be at the school again. We thought it went very well being at the school, but I'm sure lots of people are anxious to have it right in town again.

Our new boiler is in place and was fired up for the first time tonight. We should have hot water later this evening - and what a joy that will be! We really don't know how important and convenient it is to just turn on a faucet and get hot water until it's gone. We had cold water - and I never knew our water could get that cold! It was truly icy. Splashing that on your face in the morning is a real eye opener. We had the teakettle on the wood stove and used that for doing dishes, and that's not half bad. I grew up rinsing dishes with piping hot water from a big old iron teakettle we kept on the stove all the time, so that part was kind of fun. We haven't suffered much at all, and it's been a real pleasure having John (Hammer) working here. We're excited about the new boiler, too. It's something like 91% efficient and so quiet we don't even hear it upstairs. Tomorrow Bill Jones from across the pond is coming to patch the hole on the front of the house where the gas stove vent was. We're getting back to something like normal around here.