WATCHING THE POND FREEZE OVER
Watching the pond freeze is nothing like watching grass grow. No, this was pretty fast! When I first looked out this morning there was a bit of ice around the edges, as I worked by the front window I could see patches join together, now there are only a few places in the pond that aren't frozen.
There's a flock of geese sitting mid-way, which reminded me of the tall tale told in the movie Fried Green Tomatoes; "There used to be a pond over there. One night it froze over with ducks sitting in it. When they flew off they took the pond with them to Georgia." How come our geese don't get frozen feet and get stuck in the pond?
The bird-watchers around the pond are all excited because they have spotted a Bald Eagle. An osprey and a hawk were on the deck of one pond resident recently. Interesting. I hope I can get some pictures for you.

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
The other day I was having issues with my printer making it necessary for me to call tech support. When you talk to support you never know from which corner of our world the support will be coming Lucky me I had a very knowledgeable person in Colorado. He said he had never been to Maryland that meant never to Ocean City. Now you know I had to describe our barrier island with its bay and pristine ocean beaches. I told him about our blog where he can see the photos of all we have to offer.
Most landscapes never change ours changes constantly. The bay can be a calm as a mirror and within minutes have waves and white caps. The ocean and the sandy beach never stay the same. How long does a sand castle at the water's edge stay? Like snowflakes, no two sunrises and sunsets are the same color.
The next time you're outside pretend you are seeing this place for the first time and let it take you breath away.

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REAL COMMITMENT

The day was rather warm for the middle of January; nevertheless the wind was blowing so hard I found it hard to walk the path of the pond to get some pictures for you. I wanted you to see that Jasper and Steve had been working on the pond fountains, battling the wind in that small skiff for several hours to remove them. Now Public Works for the Town of Ocean City can resume work spreading our sand and we will be ready for them with nothing to impede their progress.
Why take out the fountains from the middle of the pond when sand will only be spread on the shoreline? Each fountain has a hose that leads to the pump house; the motors in the pump house pump electricity into the hoses, which makes the fountains spray. The hose had to be taken up as well. This was no easy fete because some of it was buried deep in the sand. The one photo of Steve has him carrying a shovel to dig the hose out.
Both men were a sandy, mucky mess after sinking almost to their knees in the soft sand in the water.
We hope that all that sand in the park will be spread by the end of March so we can plant the grasses on the Bahia side of the pond. Coastal Bays has granted us more money for plants, and we are also promised plants from the program from the National Aquarium. I would hate to miss out on that again this year.
Because of the jute matting and careful planting the shoreline on the Oyster Lane side of the pond didn't experience any erosion this past winter….so far. Those little plants are doing their job!
Just remember when you see the pond progressing it isn't done by magic or elves it done with hard manual labor by some very committed people. Thank you, thank you!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
So far this New Year has brought contrasts and contradictions. First the date on the picture is wrong, which means I have to fix that in my camera. Those pictures were taken around 7:30 AM, January 1, 2007.
This morning I could hear the rain pounding on my windows and the wind rattling the wainscoting on the soffit. . My dog Franki, doesn't care about bad weather…when she has to go…that's it! I pulled the covers off my head and, behold, the room was pink with sunshine. Rain with sunshine is a springtime thing, certainly not for New Year's day. I opened a window and poked the lens of my camera outside to take those pictures…. no; there wasn't time to get dressed because this kind of weather can change in the blink of an eye.
We do have a few ducks on the pond the usual Mallards and Buffleheads. The Buffleheads look like they are wearing racing helmets. Cute!