I seem to have aged 20 years in the first few days of summer

It's so hot that I barely have the energy to even go and look at the pond, but somehow I managed to make it out there earlier. There are hundreds of 2 to 3 inch catfish feeding on the pond surface but they disappear when I try to get close enough for a picture.

(and of course the fish are really there Ron. Only a lunatic would hallucinate hundreds of 2 to 3 inch catfish.)

Too hot to move

There is a really big fish in the upper right hand corner.

Very Hot

Just another day of my shamefully neglecting the pond. The fish are active, there are dragonflies everywhere, and a variety of birds use the pond like it is a mall, but I am too busy with other things to enjoy it right now.

More storm than I knew

My sister said that the sustained winds were 70 mph the other night and that nearby towns such as Seminole, Texas had winds over 100 mph. It's a struggle to get the debris cleaned up around our places. Bill and my brother cut up most of the large limbs and hauled them off yesterday but everything is still littered with small branches. I fished a huge television packing box out of the pond early this morning, and barely escaped with my life. The place is sort of serene this evening.

1/2 inch of rain

Tremendous storm last night. It started with winds out of the North which were sustained at 50 mph for a while, with gusts up to 70 mph. All of our elm and willow trees lost parts but no major damage on this block. Many places lost part or all of their roofs, their storage buildings, and their dumpsters. I feel bad for the birds. Most will have to start all over.

Wow!

An incredible storm is taking place and I had no idea it was even here until the dog got upset. Tree limbs are broken off and strewn all over my yard. No rain yet, and no weather advisories, but a lot of damage.

Afternoon

This child has a very interesting time for her age. Despite her very pale skin she spends much of the day outdoors, and explores everything. She also picks lots of the flowers. Cashmere found the little frog in her garden.

Interesting Morning

Overcast and foggy until 9 am. Even now there is a nice breeze and everything smells great, but I can feel the coming heat lingering in the background. The fish are fairly active, especially the smaller ones, and these larger ones are probably males watching nursery balls. (Have to enlarge the picture to even barely see the fish, and you can't see any of the swirling balls of fry in this cloudy water but they are really neat).

Catfish, Dragonflies, and Koi

1/2 inch of rain last night:

The lightning was big, and incredible. The pond area smelled great at 6 am and is still pleasant, especially the shaded breezeway.

4/10 inch of rain last night

It started about 9 pm and the lightning was really interesting. Circles and spirals - followed by a heavy downpour for a few minutes, then a light rain. Lots of fish on the pond surface this morning but they are feeding rather than gasping for air and that's a pleasant change of scenery. Really though we lost only 3 or 4 fish during this springtime oxygen inversion which shows that pond population density is normalizing.