Post 12

Signs of Autumn

The second day of autumn was beautiful down at OP. As I began my preparations to retrieve the last few week's deposits from visitors, a Mt. Pleasant sanitation crew pulled around and were emptying the bins and doing some trash pick-ups, too. My brothers in picker-uppering! Thank you! They asked if I was the guy with website. I didn't ask if they read it or were merely aware. Based on my Google analytics I already know the answer.
I am always amazed by the things people leave behind or decide to dump at the pond. If you are leaving your home with trash and have a specific purpose of dumping it - why not drive to the town dump? You already have the junk in your car and they even help you a little...oh, it may cost a couple of bucks. So...not only are you a litterbug and an enemy to nature & wildlife; you are a cheapskate.

Lawn ornaments, basket and air freshener 

Bathing suit or underwear?

The pond is still very low, so that gave me a chance to mud-walk out a little further to collect pond treasures. As always, the pond gives up a collection of interesting things. The winner this time was a bathing suit, 1st runner up: a car tire and 3rd place: a Pepsi bottle from the 1940's. Until next time!    

That must have been some blow-out
that it landed all the way in the pond!

Go Panthers!

Evening Stroll

Scout and I took a stroll down to and around the pond yesterday afternoon. I like to walk her there because we use a busy road and we do some focused training. Cars and trucks doing 45+ in a 30 MPH zone can really test one's ability to focus -  that goes for Scout, too. At the pond, we passed a Mom with 3 little kids. Scout was a gentle lady with them. As we walked the path they had just come from, left in the middle of it were 2 used condoms. PK uses gloves and a picker-upper thing when it is trash day and has encountered used DNA before at OP, pretty disgusting.  My question is, what does a Mom tell little kids when they need to make a wide berth around the dead slugs? Maybe that's it. My 2nd question, do parents teach their kids that it's OK to leave used condoms in public places?  At least, using protection was one good lesson learned. 

Post 11

The last time we were together, I showed you the recycle bin tossed in the pond. Yes, it was a little discouraging on many levels. I did go back the next day fully anticipating a walk into the deep end. Imagine the delight and relief when I arrived at OP and someone already did the deed!

Together again!

This gave me the opportunity to begin my intended task which was to build the path in the wet area using the log discs the town cut for me.

Start...

There are 2 wet areas separated by a wooden bridge, this spot was the worse of the 2 so it begins...
I won't kid you or bore you with lots of details but this was hard work. The ground was rock and clay with the old wooden planks rotting in place. Also, the log discs were on the other side of the pond so I felt as if I were on the Biggest Loser carrying out some torture invented by network execs for the in-shape to impose on the not-so in-shape for the sake of televised weigh-ins (lots of hyphens).
I'd like to get some gravel (requested from the town) to really make it look nicer, provide greater stability and support drainage. There was a storm a couple of days after it was finished and it held up - 3 weeks later it is still there.  In the coming cooler weeks, the PK will be back at OP to finish the job.      

...Finish

Found a 1/2 hollowed out log and
used it for a drain...it actually worked!? 

Always a chance to do a little clean-up, too. The pond freezes in winter and lots of hockey games occur, so the hockey puck is not a surprise. The hard drive was an interesting discovery. Either Trump's tax returns or Hillary's e-mails. Pond Keeper is not a hacker so it has been moved on to the town dump.  

Hockey Puck and a Hard Drive, many
games played at the OP 

Post 10

Today was a regular errand day yet as I drove past the OP something blue in the water caught my eye. Now OP has not had anything close to a blue color since the Opperman's Ice House days so this was a bit unnatural. I circled back after my errands and found the recycling bin thrown in the pond. Vandalism never seemed like a fun thing - buy hey, that's me. I didn't have my galoshes so I will head back when the heat breaks a bit. If someone else pulls it out before me that would be OK, too. One step forward, two back.

Why????

Real wildlife still shows up 

A vigilant Scout 

Bonus Post

I normally don't post 2 days in a row - not because I have nothing to say but because I want people to think I have a life beyond the pond. My photos of the wildlife around the pond have been fairly standard pond stuff - fish, frogs, turtles, crayfish, blue heron (that is pretty cool) and still-life in trash (e.g. cans of corn, a study of the galosh). A couple of weeks ago, Karen was in our yard with Scout. Now, you know my yard is in close proximity to Opperman's so we will consider this as "around the pond life." Check the video.

 

Post 9

Scout and I were getting ready to place the log disks for a new path when I decided, she agreed, that we should just take a stroll around the pond to see the state it is in. Well...we didn't start the path because the low water level revealed a whole new clean-up opportunity!

My picker-upper would have
 been underwater 2 months ago
 

Scout anxious to get started
on the path. I think she needs
a sports bra for this type of work 

   I took Scout home, grabbed my boots, my picker-upper, gloves, trash bag and headed back to OP.  Overall it was a messy, mucky day but it didn't smell too bad. Most of the trash I collected was uncovered by the lower water level so it was really good to see that more and more visitors are either taking their trash away or using the trash/recycling bins.

I always find items of interest. This time some party balloons either floated into the pond or there is even more nightlife than the empty bottles, cans and wrappers indicate. My original thought was to walk out and grab them but three steps in, my petite dancer's feet sank about 8 inches into the muck. I didn't want to add to the galosh count.     

My 1st thought was the turtles had some shell work done 

Opperman's Pond must have been on the "Meet Here In Case of Apocalypse" list. Another CAN of CORN (see Post 8)! This time UNopened...if I find another I'll know where to go...you know...in case   

Apparently, it's not all  Busch Light and Slurpees... 

...it's also large Canadian Night
 Crawlers. You know who you are! 

Finding the top of a trash bin as part of the trash is special. Can't wait to find the bottom...and possibly Jimmy Hoffa. Notice the place of honor for the can of corn. Answers to Post 8 quiz: Hardest = brown bottles because they match the water. Green is a good 2nd guess because they match the algae. Easiest = Bic lighters because they are neon colors 

Post 8

The weather has been great and the pond has seen a lot of activity - which is excellent! I let the weekend pass and thought Monday would be a good day to walk the pond and collect leftovers. I am happy to say most of the debris collected is old because the water level is low and not due to new additions. People even used the garbage bin that I found and placed near the bench. There were a few gems - the other size 11 galosh (see Post 6a), a can of corn (who eats corn at a pond?), a 3/4 full bottle of Fanta orange (who drinks orange soda? answer: no one at this pond!), a cone and a winter glove (I'm sure some kid caught some stick from his parents on that one). I didn't take Scout on a clean-up run - too many interesting things (galosh, gloves and corn). We visited last week for a walk around. Minimal new wildlife, usual suspects abound - turtles, pumpkin seed sunnies, snappers. Encountered a Bull Frog. I presume it is a Bull Frog because it was big and, frankly, pretty ugly. Don't get me wrong - I am NOT a frog hater. Yet, you have to admit, they did get the short end of looks in amphibian world. All those fairy tales can't be wrong. Thanks everyone for reading and, more importantly, keeping your Opperman clean!
Pop quiz: can you guess which is the hardest and which is the easiest trash item to spot (hint: none of them are a Kardashian).      

Alpha Frog at Opperman's

           

Scout on Opperman's Beach

New bin in use - and yes, weird to photograph trash 

Really? Corn? And you were not feeding ducks