Sunny and not quite as cold - I'm seeing 13 degrees on the thermometers here at mid-day.  We are expecting further warmup and nasty weather tomorrow.   We still have only a little snow on the ground here at Joe's Pond, and when we were in St. Johnsbury late last week, there was hardly any on the ground there.  With no snow to insulate, the frost will go very deep this year, I expect.  There will be a rash of frozen water lines of one sort or another.  We are keeping toasty warm and felt fortunate we weren't one of the areas that lost power over the weekend.  In sub-zero temperatures, losing power can be devastating.  

I just came upon an article in a February, 1821 edition of the North Star telling of ships unloading onto the ice in Boston Harbor that year.  The harbor remained completely frozen over for several days and goods from ships were brought ashore by sleds.  Other ports in the area were also frozen in so there was no shipping activity.  Hard to imagine, but apparently 1821 was one of the coldest winters on record - that article compared it to a similar cold spell in 1780.

Enjoy Presidents' Day.