We are enjoying snow squalls this morning.  When I first looked out around six o'clock, there were only a few flakes coming down, now I can scarcely see the trees in the back yard.  But it will calm down soon - I can see blue sky in spots overhead.  It's a little more like March weather than mid-February.

We surely can't complain, though.  I had an e-mail from Tom and Camilla Dente in Connecticut this morning.  They are still digging out and, as Tom says, moving about very carefully because of the high snow banks hindering visibility.  Here's Tom's note:  

Well we are finally getting out after the blizzard. Our road was opened  after 3 days and is still one way but at least we can get out. I measured 38 inches of snow. If we had an antenna on the car we could put an orange ball on it so other car drivers would be able to see us at corners. As it is we are just very careful. There have been many accidents. We had to have a pay loader clear our driveway. A plow could not do it. Even the roads could not be cleared by a plow truck. Pay loaders and a huge snow blower were used. Spring is coming and this will be another memory.

Tom and Camilla live in Middletown, and our nephew lives in Guilford, which is on the coast.  Even in Guilford, they got 32 inches of snow in that storm.  Our paltry 8-10 inches over all pales in comparison.  

Friends of the Friberg family here at Joe's Pond will be saddened to learn of the death of Merilyn Friberg. Merilyn's children, Peter and Sally Friberg, Nancy and Bob Pope, and Cary Friberg and Carl Yalicki own a cottage on North Shore Road.  She will be sadly missed by her family and many friends.  

I delivered Ice-Out tickets to our outlets in St. Johnsbury and the general store in Cabot, so now all our outlets have tickets, ready for another banner year.  Someone asked yesterday if the ice at Joe's Pond is as thick as other years, and I believe it is about the same as many years in the past.  There have been years when we've had upwards of three feet of ice, but more often it runs a bit less than that.  Last report I had was 18 inches, but since then we've had a warm spell and a very cold spell, so I'm guessing it hasn't changed much.  The weather for the next several days will be about normal for this time of year, days in the 20s and nights in low 20's or teens, so the ice is probably going to remain about the same.  No real warming trend yet.  We still have about six weeks before the contest closes on April 1, and a lot can change during that time.  Stay tuned.