Well, the ice fishermen who had the ice shanty on the ice of town pond for nearly a week, finally conceded yesterday.

They pulled it ashore at the old boat ramp. Storm was quite intrigued by it this morning.

I was more intrigued in how quickly the ice disappeared. Yesterday morning, we still had a consistent 4-5 inches of ice across the entire town pond.

This morning, we are down to a very thin layer on about half the north old clay pit and some on the south end of the south old pit.

I guess that is to be expected with the triple whammy of ice killing yesterday: more than a day with temperatures in the 50s and 60s, strong winds (from several directions) and a heavy warm rain of a couple inches.

My rain gauge froze and busted a couple weeks ago, so I was holding off to buy a new one until closer to spring. Wish I had it yesterday to see just how much rain we got.

Down to the 40s this morning. By the time, it drops down to freezing again this evening I suspect all the ice will be gone on the town pond.

The Canada geese were raising quite a racket this morning on the lake to the west. I suspect they have that lake just about completely open.

Storm was very cautious when he ran down the bank of the town pond and tried the water.The slickness of the ice the past couple weeks has made him wary.

A gray squirrel ran stealthily along a bare branch above us on the old rail bed, now a trail. Haven't seen a squirrel around the town pond in quite awhile. Nice to see one again.

Back in town, the women were working out again in the storefront gym. Dark enough with the overcast near dawn, that the yellow light spilled out on the sidewalk.

Back on our porch, Storm gallantly ran off a neighbor's cat, who was interrupted stalking our bird feeder.