It was a pretty day today, at least in the morning. Shortly after noon the sun began to fade and the temperature never did get much above freezing. People are wondering where spring is, but we all know it's just a matter of being patient.
     Some folks just carry on with whatever seems natural, like this fisherman this morning, out on the ice early. It may have been Kevin Johnson, but he was too far away to tell. Diane Rossi sent the photo. Yesterday when the Ice-Out committee met at Diane's house, we spotted a flock of birds on the ice about in front of Ted and Barbara Chase's house. We couldn't tell exactly what they were, but they were big, so probably were turkeys. Their GPS was probably not working well. I doubt they'd find much food out on the ice, and they need to eat almost constantly to keep up their stamina, especially when it's cold. 
     Fred and I were wondering if the ice will hold until May this year. Probably not - it has only gone out in May seven times and the most recent was 2007 when it went out on May 1st.  It happened pretty often (five times) in the late 1900s - but only twice so far in the 2000s - the first time was in 2001 when Kay Scott of St. Johnsbury guessed May 1. Dr. Bob Marshall was the winner in 2007. It will be interesting to see if the cold will continue and delay the date this year. The earliest it's every gone out was April 5, 2010, and the latest was May 6, 1992.
     The roads are holding up pretty well. We went to the Danville Inn this morning for breakfast (it was very good!) and we were surprised that Danville had dumped some crushed rock on the hill by Barre Avenue. That was getting pretty dicey, but in order to get to that spot, the truck had to maneuver over some really bad potholes and nasty washboard on the flat before intersecting Route 2 - and I'm surprised they didn't come back with more for that. Perhaps they'll get to it this week. It has been consistently bad along there this year. It's hard to keep that road good in the spring for some reason. I know on West Shore Road there are springs here and there, and ledges in a few spots, all of which have their own mean tendancies each spring, but I expect on that flat, like some others along that road, it's basically marsh land and takes a bit longer to dry out.
     The pussywillows are blooming, so spring is definitely on the way!