Another pretty nice day with temperatures that actually got some melting going on.  The snow has settled at least a couple of inches in the past two days - but tomorrow we're expecting another 6-12 inches of snow, so we really aren't making much headway there.  As I've mentioned before - the earth is warming gradually as we have more sunlight each day, kind of like putting a frozen turkey in the refrigerator to thaw.  It stays cold but gradually thaws out, and so will we, in time.  The snow we're getting is going to be wet and heavy, so it's probable we'll have power outages with trees down and limbs on the wires.  Old timers will tell you that snow like that helps melt the colder snow beneath and therefore hastens thawing.  We'll have to wait and see.

We're almost at the end of the Ice-Out Contest - only two more days to get your tickets.  Even though we'll be having snow for a while yet, that ice is eventually going to melt and someone is going to win a fair amount of money.  This year is especially tricky because of all the weird weather and wild temperature swings.  It's hard to guess what the makeup of the ice is this year as a result of all of that.  But we know it's going to last well into April - even a stretch of 70 degree weather would not do it in quickly.  Some local folks are thinking we could even have a rare May date this year.  That has happened only twice in the past 19 years - on May 4 in 2001 and May 1 in 2007.  The first 10 years of the contest, the dates were even between April and May.  It's gone out in May only 7 times in the 39 years of the contest.  You should remember that it went out on April 29th in 2014 and 2015; April 12th last year.  Whether these figures help or hinder, get in the game and take a chance.  

I want to thank all the JPA members who have either sold or bought the 10 tickets we dole out to them each year.  It seems more of you than ever got in the contest this year, and so many of you sold way more than just those 10 tickets - some of you literally hundreds, we are very proud of all of you for making the Joe's pond Ice-Out Contest such a big success each year.  We also thank all the non-members and business owners who have faithfully bought or sold tickets for us each year.  You make it fun to be a part of the contest.  We had some tickets come in from Japan this year - I have no idea how that happened, but what fun that someone that far away is part of our contest.