Progress!

I had a message from Diane a few moments ago saying the two smaller ponds are free of ice this morning. Earlier she had sent a picture of the block still sitting squarely erect  - that was about 8:30 this morning. Her message a few minutes ago was that the block is now beginning to tip! That is encouraging news - the ice underneath is softening and the block could go down soon. 

Our weather today remains warm, but we had almost an inch of rain last night, and that polished off almost all of the snow piles around my house, and the last remaining bit of ice on my backyard pond. We aren't expecting more rain until late this afternoon, but then a rainy evening and possibly most of the night again. I have to think the end of the contest is near!

Here's a fun note - so far there has been a lot of interesting dates and times logged in. Our ticket input specialist, Theresa, reports she's logged in 20 entries for 4/20 at 4:20 a.m., and 45 entries for 4:20 at 4:20 p.m.! For those of you who, like myself, had no clue of the significance of 4:20, here is what I found on line:  

 4/20 (April 20) is an internationally recognized counterculture holiday celebrating cannabis consumption and advocating for its legalization. Originating from a 1970s California high school slang term for meeting to smoke, it has evolved into a day of global festivals, social gatherings, and political activism for drug policy reform. 

I doubt that the clock will remain running until 4/20, but if it did, it would be a first to have to split the winnings among 20 or 45 winners. We have had multiple winners several times - two or more, up to I think the most I remember was five. 

Diane sent a photo of the tilting block, but as often happens, getting it from my phone to my computer where I can access it to use here is sometimes a day-long process, so I decided to just let everyone know the conditions without the photo. Just know that the block is beginning to tilt - and that's a good sign something is going to happen soon!