Ok, here we are, the 4th of January, the low last night was about 4 above, and still there is open water on the east shore of Joe's Pond this morning!  You can see the steam rising from the open water in this photo Diane Rossi took this morning. Now  I'm thinking, hot springs under Sunken Island.  We saw Don and Diane Sherwood last night and Don told us about a heated water pipe arrangement he and Bryce Montgomery came up with a few years ago, but that wouldn't account for the water being open north of his cottage.  So the mystery remains.  Tonight may get as cold as 15 below, and I'm betting the pond will be iced over completely by Tuesday morning.

We had a sprinkling of new snow during yesterday so I'm seeing 6 inches at my backyard stake.  It was feather light and didn't produce much moisture, but it's the kind that will blow around and produce whiteouts on the highways if the wind picks up.  Right now my thermometer is reading zero at the back of the house, so that promise of cold Canadian air is being fulfilled, and snow is beginning to fall.  This is what normal winter looks and feels like.