Photo of the Day

I'm sure many of you aren't thrilled by the frigid temperatures and ballooning heating bills that came with the arctic vortex, although it did help officially start some positive activity in the area.

Jay Diener of the Hampton Conservation Commission snapped this photo of local residents enjoying a game of hockey on the frozen-over Ice Pond in Hampton. The past few years have been fairly warm, limiting locals' outdoor ice time in a variety of ways.

But that's far from the case this year, which is a welcome sight for this hockey-loving writer's eyes.

Here's what Jay said in his photo submission:

"Ice Pond was purchased by the Hampton Conservation Commission and the Town of Hampton in 2007, and is available for passive recreation year round. Last Saturday, about 15 industrious people took shovels and snow blowers on to the ice and cleared two large ‘rinks’ and a path around the perimeter of Ice Pond. The near rink was used for free skating and warm-ups, while the far rink, with nets at either end, was being used for hockey.

As one resident said: 'Ohhh how it makes me so proud of our town that we can protect and enjoy such natural beauty that affords us a great quality of life.........to skate on a frozen pond in tour own home town is priceless!  I have very fond memories of doing so growing up and am delighted my children can partake in such classic activity!'"

As a note to all you photographers out there, I'm currently dealing with somewhat of a Photo of the Day backlog. If you've submitted an image recently but haven't yet heard back from me or seen your photo published — please be patient. They will be posted as soon as possible.

Have a picture you'd like to see featured as our Photo of the Day? E-mail it to Kyle.Stucker@Patch.com!