Around these parts, signs of spring abound. Our puddles aren’t freezing at night (at least, not every night). Green grass is sprouting (or is that moss?). Every pair of shoes we’ve worn over the past two weeks is coated with a nice layer of driveway mud.

Up north, spring has yet to arrive.

That’s the word from Warden Dave Allen, who mans one of the state’s more remote outposts on Clayton Lake.

We’ll touch on a few topics today, but Allen’s e-mail seems a good place to start for one simple reason.

Maybe it’s not 70 degrees in Bangor. Maybe we can’t safely pack our parkas and mittens away. But it could be colder.

“It’s been a while since I’ve written to you so I thought I’d update you on the happenings in my neck of the woods,” Allen wrote in an e-mail earlier this week.

“After a relatively mild winter we are generally enjoying a spring with a slow melt-off,” he wrote. “Nighttime temps have generally been below freezing, slowing down the snow melt so we don’t have the usual high water runoff.

“Most of the moving waters are opening up in good shape, though. The lakes still have a good thick blanket of ice (we had upwards of 36 inches of good ice at the end of March).

“How soon the ice leaves the lakes will depend on how much rain and wind we get, but right now it looks like normal ice-out, somewhere around the first of May.”

Across the state, anglers who enjoy spending hours in their boats are getting ready to head out onto their favorite lakes and ponds.

As I mentioned on Thursday, I’d like to help.

If your local lake is recently ice-free, drop me a line at the e-mail address below … or just call and leave a message.

I’ll pass the information along … and your fellow anglers will thank you.

E-mail has supplanted plain ol’ letter-and-stamp mail as the way that most folks choose to communicate nowadays.

Therefore, it’s a bit of a treat when my actual mailbox (as opposed to the virtual one) has a letter or a package in it.

This week I received one letter that was particularly interesting.

Well … perhaps I should back up a step.

I didn’t actually receive it. Not really. My dog did.

When I started writing about my pooch, I knew that he’d be a hit with the dog-lovers out there. He’s cute. He’s furry. He’s friendly. And (unlike his master) he doesn’t write anything mean about anybody (we’re working on that, but when he starts typing, he tends to have trouble keeping his paws on the home row).

With that said, I didn’t expect him to begin getting mail … at my office.

But he did.

The package, addressed to “Pudge Holyoke, c/o Bangor Daily News,” arrived earlier this week.

I know it’s a federal crime to open someone else’s mail … but I wasn’t entirely sure if that law counts if the “someone else” is 2 feet tall, sheds constantly, and tends to drink water out of the toilet.

I took a quick glance over my shoulder, threw caution to the wind, and ripped the package open.

The note, from Sally and Jerry Withee of Palmyra, got right to the point.

“Dear Pudge,” it began.

“We’re glad to hear that you enjoy popcorn as much as the rest of us.”

A few weeks back, I mentioned that our English springer spaniel spent much of his time at the Penobscot County Conservation Association Sportsman’s Show scouring the floor for kernels of popcorn.

Enclosed with the note: A bag of microwave popcorn for Pudge to enjoy.

I’m sure he’ll love it.

Last week I received an interesting letter from a pair of inquisitive third-grade pupils at Morison Memorial School in Corinth.

These avid anglers wanted to know what my favorite lake, river, or pond is. They wanted to find out what fish I like to catch.

They wanted to know where column ideas come from … and whether “someone gives you them.”

Then (just about the time I was trying to decide whether my favorite fish was a landlocked salmon or a brook trout), they invited me to visit.

On Thursday, I did just that, and spent an enjoyable hour with Mrs. Parent’s class.

We talked about newspapers, writing, squirrels that steal golf balls, Rottweilers that don’t, airplane rides that get bumpy, and where, exactly, column ideas come from.

As you may guess, the thought of a rogue squirrel stealing golf balls makes a bigger impression on the average third-grader than an in-depth debate on bear-baiting would.

Which, truthfully, was a bit of a relief.

Just before leaving, the class presented me with a snazzy pencil-holder (full of Morison Memorial pencils) that they’d decorated with their photos, my column photo, and a slogan they thought I’d like.

“Writers Rule!” the pencil holder boldly proclaims.

I don’t know if that’s entirely true … but it was a thoughtful gesture nonetheless.

Oh. One more thing I neglected to say to the class (assuming they’re reading). Sometimes, this is where column ideas come from.

Thanks for the invitation.

A few weeks ago, I mentioned the fact that I’d be appearing on Wildfire, one of several TV shows produced by Waterville-based Ursus Enterprises.

The issue-based show is hosted by Ursus co-owner Harry Vanderweide and George Smith of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine.

Wildfire targets a particular issue each week. The show on which I appeared was less issue-oriented than some, but it did give me the chance to discuss this paper’s outdoor coverage with Smith and Vanderweide.

That show will appear on WABI-TV on Sunday – not Saturday as Ursus initially informed me – at 8:30 a.m.

Andrew Collar of Ursus sent me a copy of the show earlier this week, and I’m happy to report that (as far as I could ascertain) I successfully made it through the broadcast without drooling, spitting, scratching, nor saying “We wuz.”

As you may have heard, however, TV cameras lie, and make people look a lot bigger than they actually are. As you may not have heard, those cameras make you appear 50 pounds heavier – not the 10 to 15 pounds most people claim.

That’s my story, at least.

John Holyoke can be reached at jholyoke@bangordailynews.net or by calling 990-8214 or 1-800-310-8600.