Proving that people will wager money on absolutely anything, folks in northern climes hold town-wide “ice-out” betting pools on the date and time that a local body of water will thaw out.

The basic drill: As Spring approaches, some object — cinder block, tripod, dummy in a beach chair — is placed on a patch of the ice. That object is attached by a string to a clock. When the ice thins sufficiently and the object cracks through the surface, the string yanks the clock, marking the exact time of the blessed event.

As spectator sports go, it’s not exactly riveting. But in 1988, the first year the [Joe's Pond] contest was held, 421 tickets were sold. Last year, 8,386 tickets were sold to people in 41 states and two foreign countries. The ice went out April 16 at 3:20 p.m., the earliest ever. The deadline for entering the 20th annual contest is Sunday.

I guess the watching-paint-dry competition wasn’t exciting enough?

A couple of additional jokes come to mind: Native Americans getting into the act via casino extension, global warming as the handicapper… But I’ll refrain.

If you feel compelled to join the madness, you’ve got options. The deadline on some of these have already passed, so good luck for next year:

- From New Hampshire, the Lake Winnipesaukee Ice-Out Guess Contest

- From Alaska, the Nenana Ice Classic

- From Vermont, the Joe’s Pond Ice Out

- From Wisconsin, Black’s Cliff Ice Out Contest on Lower Kaubashine Lake

- From Minnesota, the Ely Echo Shagawa Lake Ice Out Contest