snow falling fast here in Midcoast Maine….2 inches in the last hour….snow on snow….piles of it, halfway up the windows….and frustration: how long will it take to ever resurface this fluff?….and will we have that end-of-season scenario where we never have enough ice thickness before the snow insulation comes, and our long-awaited Spring season ends abruptly and early?…

and amid these depressing thoughts, I call Bob Dill over in Vermont…..He’s been skating for 3 days straight on a beautiful plate which was open water a week ago, and is now excellent skating.   The launch is handy for skaters, not iceboaters, near Shelburne Farms.  Today, there’s now an inch of new snow,  but ….knowing this particular plate, though slightly covered,  he’s off with experienced buddies to skate again…

This is the way life should be…..careful, mindful, professional you might say… out there in nature….marvelling at the endless kinds of ice…the artistic magic show….not grumbling here in the backwaters, wondering if the snowblower will start or be able to throw high enough…

Three cheers, Bob….may we die with skates on!