6 AM and perfect

A nice cool breeze and the fish are swirling just beneath the surface near the feeding ring. This is the first time I have seen so many in several months and my immediate thought is that they are fleeing from the killer turtle.

First morning glory of the season.

Combining efforts is working well

Cashmere is a very productive person and is encouraging her husband to become so. She has spent the past couple of days digging and planting a really nice garden, and Josh has made major headway at cleaning up his and Bill's yards.

Excellent day

I haven't accomplished anything tangible for a while (although I am planning to any day now), but I do spend a lot of time watching stuff. The red winged blackbirds just started the season of bringing their young into my yard to teach them bird skills such as hopping around, short bursts of flight, playing in the sprinkler, and eating, and there was a huge crowd in my yard this afternoon. I spent several hours watching them do amazing things. Along with being the more beautiful bird, the males are also the caregivers and trainers. After he leads the chicks(?) into the yard, the male actually shows them how to find things on the ground, and I can't tell if that would be insects or seeds, maybe both, but after they have started feeding on their own he moves to a security vantage point. For as long as the kids are there, he fights with and chases away any other birds that try to enter the area, and the way he uses the markings on his wings while doing this is sometimes positively eerie. Then at some point he rounds them up and they go back to the pond reeds where they have a red-winged blackbird apartment complex (actually two. East side and West side and the males fight each other all the time.)

Maybe that turtle is a menace. So far I haven't found a single "the turtle in my pond is not a problem at all", story, but have found plenty of "it butchered all the fish for no apparent reason", stories.

The Turtle's Days (here) are Numbered

I was outside at 6 AM having coffee and noticed Bill walking slowly around the berm with his 22, hunting for turtle. Later I found out that he has also offered a reward to Camron - $15 if he can capture it, and Camron agreed to try when he heard that the turtle will be going to live on a turtle ranch (somewhere out West?).

Perfect beautiful day.

Sometimes I say too much

The sunset was exceptional so I went to the pond to take reflection pictures (what a shock) and just as I walked up on the berm that gigantic turtle dived to the bottom of the pond. This must be its home and it must have been living here for a long time, or at least a few years.
Anyway, I was so excited that it is a water turtle, I told Bill. He said, "well, I'll start watching and shoot it as soon as I see it." I asked him, "why", and he said, "it eats the fish."
Well so what. Cranes and the other water birds eat them all the time and he thinks that is great. In fact, everything eats them but us.
Don't shoot the turtle.

More rain last night - more storms setting up right now

From about 5:30 AM until about 7:30 AM, the smells around the pond are just enchanting, and every few steps a new plant smell appears. I find myself freezing at certain points, trying to make the fragrant breath/memory last. Some of the combinations of smells almost transport me in time and this morning it was the wet sage and pinon combination.

We received 2/10 inch more of rain after midnight, but the small community South of us (4 houses) received over 5 inches.

2/10 inch of rain over the past few hours

My yard is so nice that I'll bet people in airplanes admire it as they fly over, and the pond area adjacent to it also looks almost as good. I haven't had the energy to finish the waterfall spillway yet but that's definitely next. It's still sprinkling and will probably continue all night. Everything is definitely starting to mold.