May 21, 2026

Drought turns into days of grayish drizzle and full bird baths, which is fine by me. 

I may have overestimated the damage the bears did to the pond. It is in fact holding water. I took a net and ladled out as much vegetable debris as I could. I had to examine each netful for the flashing bodies of mosquito fish and gold fish and enormous bull tadpoles, to deliver them back into the water. All this was unmistakable sign of life. This morning as I threw some recycling into the bin, a bullfrog called from the margin, and I decided to let be for a time. Bears are a widely-publicized problem locally right now. Several have been euthanized in Black Mountain. People accuse human encroachment on traditional bear habitat, but I wonder if that’s the actual story. I lived on this street for 25 years before I ever saw a bear. My house stood for 95 years before bears tore out the basement windows. You’d think that would have happened way back, given their propensities, had there actually been bears to do it. I love the bears, but realize I limit my time sitting on the porch at night because of them, and keep a heavy bat by the backdoor in case something needs to be repulsed. 

ACLGMC rehearsal engaging. What makes something so lighthearted that was such a chore erewhile?