A line cast, a hope followedSunday, January 18, 2004
Today's Field Note: The duck pond water level was extraordinarily high today, and besides a circling herring gull, there was little of the usual bird activity. For the last couple of weeks there was a pair of mergansers visiting, but there is no sign of them at the moment. They are a rare visitor to our pond and I hope they are not gone but just onshore somewhere. I let Joey swim because there were no birds to disturb, but by the third foray out to retrieve the ball he was shivering and too cold, so we played in the park until he had shook off most of the chill and then headed home. When the water is high like today, it pours over the small fall into the creekbed at such a fast rate that the creek bed fills and widens and it's obvious at some point this week, by the pools of water on the path and grassy areas, that the creek must have overflowed it's edges as well. The shed oak leaves are left appearing strangely white and flattened, I suppose the effect of the last week's snow, ice and now standing water are accelerating their decay.
