I forgot to mention last night that all the fishing shanties are off the ice now.  Wise fishermen!  It's really not safe out on the ice now - but I expect it was the ice pulling away from the shore that caused them to leave.  The last few days of warm weather left a lot of water on the ice and along the shoreline.  There are a few bits of junk frozen into the ice, as usual, left behind, but that happens every year as the fishermen abandon whatever has frozen into the ice.  This year there were so many freezes and thaws there could be literally layers of litter.  (Say that 10 times without stumbling!)

The temperature got below freezing last night, and that will slow down the melting a bit and also let the ground absorb some of the moisture from the rain we had earlier in the week.  Freezing weather helps the roads firm up a bit, too - it's like freeze drying.  As for the pond ice - we'll be watching Molly's Pond and Stiles Pond in Waterford.  The ice in those two ponds usually goes out a week or ten days before Joe's Pond does.  That said, this whole winter has been anything but usual, so the sequence of  local ponds being free of ice may be screwed up, too.

Have a great weekend - enjoy the REAL spring weather, set your clocks ahead, and be sure to get your Ice-Out tickets in to us soon.