Testing the Ice

Dear Diary,

Late in the day I visited the pond and a man joined me...not to photograph but to test the thickness of the ice.  We are into the ice fishing season here in Maine.

Despite the rain and warm weather recently, he found that the ice was 5 inches thick even though there is still open water near the shore.  He went ahead and got his auger out and drilled a few holes to set up his lines. 

The "UFO's" on the other pond that I journaled about on December 19th turned out to be blocks of ice.  Whoever is fishing on that pond is doing it the old fashioned way by cutting blocks of ice with a hand saw and stacking them around the opening.

Ice fishing may be a sport to some but for this man and many like him in Maine, it is a way to feed their families.  The recession has hit this area especially hard.  It reminds me how blessed I am in so many ways.  It also reminds me of the old adage:

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.