Rescued77's WunderBlog

What a beautiful day- warm and sunny. We need rain very bad. I don't know what the official story is on Joe Pool Lake, but it looks to be down about 4' from early last spring. I heard we are down 6" on rainfall for the year so far. On the other hand...

It's been an utterly wonderful late summer and fall. The colors are just beginning to come. It won't be as colorful as other years, maybe, but the oaks put on a glorious show with all their golds and reds and browns. And when they're set against that BLUE sky, it's just enough to make me sing for joy.

There are few birds at the lake- kind of empty feeling. But there are gulls now- they were gone most of the summer- and a few coots. Then there are the mallards. I sat resting at one of the picnic benches by the shore and made the mistake of opening a bag to get out some raisins. First there was only one male mallard. I shared- and he gobbled them up. Well, don't ask how word got out, but very soon a parade of 20 to 30 mallards of all ages came to see what goodies were being handed out. It was fun listening to their low clucking sounds as they foraged on the ground near my feet. They love to be talked to and look up intently. Having come from farm life, this was a treat- almost like having my chickens again. Anyway, when they saw there wasn't going to be a lot to eat they formed a nice line and headed back to the place they'd been resting. There were two ducks among them that were odd. One had a black head- no iridescence and a buffy back, and the female was a buff color with none of the stripes of the female mallard. They both looked immature, but not like immature mallards. Be interesting to see how they turn out.

Took a bike ride today- it was perfect weather for it. It's a good way to see things that get overlooked from the car. And the exercise is good and badly needed. The bike wasn't shifting right and another biker I met said it looked like it needed a tuneup- yes it does, but so do I!! Huffin' and puffin' up those hills, but it was worth the effort.

There are things that I didn't get pictures of that are so beautiful- the spiders are ballooning this time of year and the silk strands catch the sunlight and wave- it's so pretty. And I saw something today that I've never seen. The water, maybe 30' out from shore began to be disturbed. As I watched there was a big swirl and lots of disturbance in a patch about 6' in length and changing shape all the time. There would be a big swirl where the rough water was. It was very strange to watch- the whole lake was basically calm with just smooth, wide ripples when there was anything. But that patch was going crazy. I wondered- skin diver?, JPL monster?, ....then a small fish jumped out of the rough looking area. I have to guess it was a school of fish feeding, or being fed upon. A strange sight.

"Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him.." Ps 37:7