We had about an inch of rain during yesterday afternoon and through the night. We also had a brief roll of thunder in the early morning hours. I only heard one, but there may have been more before I awoke. I didn't see any lightning, but then, I didn't stay awake long, either. The snow pack has gone down unbelievably. We still don't have a lot of bare ground showing, but the snow has pulled away from trees and bushes and the sides of the roads are showing some bare ground - and of course there's some mud, but so far it hasn't been terrible, at least on West Shore Road.
     We've had a request for more pictures of the flag and clock for the Ice-Out Contest. With so much snow on top of the ice, the thing is really just sitting out there. With nothing changing on the ice, we forget that the folks with tickets are anxiously waiting and want to see what's happening. Diane sent a picture just a few minutes ago, and you can see the pond is well covered with ice - in fact, last time I was down in the village, there's no open water anywhere except a little in the narrows. After all this rain, that will change quickly, I think. There are tons of water pouring into the pond from all the brooks, and that will raise the water level and get the ice broken away from the shore. In addition, it will raise the temperature of the pond so no matter what the weather, the ice will begin to melt from underneath a bit. It's a long process.
     I'll try to remember to give more frequent reports. Things should begin to change within the next week or so.
     I had this nice picture form Andy Rudin a day or so ago. He is very kind to share pictures of his spring flowers with us - knowing that there's nothing of the sort growing here at Joe's Pond! Thank you, Andy, perhaps by the time you get here, we'll have some flowers in bloom, too! In the meantime, thanks for sharing yours!