Perfect day. Even at sunrise there was no wind. It should be in the upper 60's today and for the rest of the week with the possibility of rain showers starting this afternoon.
I just started the pond water and am going to divert some to the large pines. I bought those trees for $6 each about 20 years ago when the people started a tree farm on the property to the West of Bill's. I bought seven trees that were maybe 3ft tall and they have had a strange existence until the past couple of years. Last year I discovered that it was relatively easy to water them with the nutrient rich water from the bottom of the pond, and that when I did, they instantly became healthier and grew several feet in height. I've always read about such things, but to see them in action is amazing.
Once again I did something for no real reason that turned out to be the correct thing to do. The last time I shut down the aeration system to clean it, the weather was cold, I didn't want to get wet again setting it back up, and the pond oxygen level seemed to have stabilized for the Winter, so I put it away instead. Last night I was reading about ponds in cold weather and discovered that aerators should be shut down during this time - and why. The process changes the temperature of the water and the shock of that can be harmful to the fish, among other things. I also read several articles relating to the accumulation of organic debris in the bottom of the pond. We knew that having trees and plants on the pond bank would lead to that, but finally decided that there are really so few plants in this environment, the decomposition process would even out and negative effects would be minimal (very few or no parasites and dangerous bacteria living in the dead leaves). Still hope that is true but there are days when the water is extraordinarily dark. Within the next two months we will replace a large portion of the water to get ready for Spring and that should neutralize any bottom debris problems.