We've had another very nice spring day here. The snow is melting rapidly and we have lots of critters beginning to move around. Most noticeable are the birds. Robins stalking insects and worms on the lawn, crows conversing loudly as they all go about their business of mating and building nests.

As I was working at my computer this afternoon, something caught my eye outside on the back lawn. Usually it's something like a deer or a turkey, but today a partridge ran lickety-split across the small bare spots out there and scampered across a patch of snow. I hardly had time to wonder what the rush was when I saw the second partridge hot on her trail about 15 feet behind her. I suspect she let him catch her eventually - that's the nature of things. She wasn't making it easy for him, though. I chuckled and thought to myself, You go, girl!

I've had some nice pictures come to me today, too. Andy Rudin sent me this one this morning of a beautiful tulip in his garden. So pretty. And tonight Diane Rossi sent a picture of the "supermoon" tonight over the pond. It is also known as a "pink moon," although it didn't seem pink to me as we watched it through the trees below our house. I'll take another look later.

We've had inquiries about the ice - how thick it is, when do we expect it will go out - actually one person asked if it already had gone. We don't have any idea how thick the ice is right now and it is too dangerous to go out there to find out. The pond still looks very solid, at least in the big pond where the Ice Out flag is. We are expecting to get some rain tomorrow night and that will hasten things along a bit.

I was thinking tonight that the clock has stopped three different times on Easter Sunday. It is possible that might happen again this year if the weather remains warm after the rain. It's hard to tell, so we'll just have to wait and see. In the meantime, tickets are all in and it looks like this is shaping up to be a pretty normal year for ticket sales. That is a surprise because many of the usual outlets had to close due to the COVID-19 pandemic and weren't able to sell as many tickets as usual. However, the numbers are still good and that is nothing short of wonderful. We appreciate that people were still very much interested and supported the contest.

It doesn't seem possible Easter is coming right up. Time slips by altogether too quickly, although when people are having to shelter in place all over the country, I'm sure most find that time drags on endlessly. We are wondering if some of our summer residents will either be late getting here this year or won't be able to get here at all. Of course, some have come early and are sheltering here, but most are still at their winter homes, probably trying to figure out the best way to get here, if and when they can leave. Some states, like Vermont, have asked hotels and motels to close until the pandemic is over, so it will be difficult to find lodging if people are driving long distances. With airlines limiting flights, and people trying to avoid flying, it's almost a case of "you can't get there from here." We wish all our friends safe travels and hope they find ways to make it to Joe's Pond.