December 31

It might reach 50 degrees, but is still cold. The pond is vacant today. Even Camron seems to be staying inside.

Two Days left in the Year

It snowed off and on for most of the night, and was snowing fairly hard at sunrise (which I couldn't actually see since it was overcast, snowing and dark). The colors reflecting off of the pond surface are beautiful. I saw a large bird leaving right before I walked over there, maybe the red-tailed hawk, but otherwise, the neighborhood cats are the only animals moving around the pond. I sort of don't like those cats coming over, and the dogs hate them but we keep our dogs contained so the cats don't pay a lot of attention to them. Several of them amble around the pond throughout the day. I guess it's kind of like putting a food court next to a school - unless effective restrictions are in place, someone is going to show up.

Nice Day

Rain and cold. I love the colors and the ripples in the water.

Almost 2007

20 degrees colder today than yesterday, but still nice. I topped off the pond before the storm gets here. Still haven't had time to get fish food but have that in my plans. The wave patterns are nice.

73 Degrees

Day After Christmas Day

Filled the pond and stared blankly at the accumulating debris on the pond surface. Almost zero on the enthusiasmometer.

Merry Christmas

Winter is Here

And another storm is on its way. I'm sort of lazy today from the heat.

The Cattails are Spreading a Lot of Debris

But otherwise the pond is still remarkably clear. When I first went out there, the koi were on the surface and watching for food. It's about a 90 mile round trip to get food for them so they'll just have to hunt for a few more days. I have watered all of the pine trees and everything else on the pond fringe that needed it, and finally put the pump and hoses up. I'll keep the water level high, but otherwise just let the pond kind of hibernate for a while. I like all of the colors, and especially the contrasts. Most of the nights are below freezing, and a few days have been barely above, but most have been pleasant. Today was in the low 50's for a while.

The cattails are kind of neat, at first, then they can be almost suffocatingly dense. There are tremendous amounts of single seeds tightly compressed into those heads, and when they start shedding, in the right wind it looks and feels like smoke rising from the pond.

Pond animals right now are ducks at night, and probably some of the wader birds but I haven't seen any lately.

Moisture at Last

It snowed and rained last night and has hovered near freezing for most of the day. I walked around the pond once, quickly, and came back inside.