The pump for my pond is on backorder, so its getting kind of dirty. I have a pool skimmer that I scoop out leaves with, but the bottom is getting a film on it. Toads don't seem to mind, as I see them in here every few days. Birds also take drinks. And here in the film of the bottom are some footprints. I think they are raccoon, but maybe opossum. I have a book around here somewhere that I could confirm them with.

I got a solar-powered pump because I didn't want to have to run electricity all of the way across the backyard. But finding a solar-powered pump that was powerful enough was difficult. Hopefully I'll get mine in a few weeks.

(I am reflected in the pond water. Thats me, holding my hand over my eyes, over the footprints. And I don't know why its rotated. And I don't feel like messing with it to fix it.)

I am not really as tan as I look in this picture. I think its the white shirt and the lighting thats making me look so dark. I don't lay out in the sun. Its just not healthy. Besides, I break out into hives if I get too much sun. I have to work my way up to it throughout the spring and summer, a few hours at a time. But I do run in the sun, and bike, and swim, and garden, and frolic. I wear tons of sunscreen, but it can only do so much. I have tan lines from my watch and swimsuit and socks, but I'm proud of them. Its proof I'm being active.

I think this is a shitake mushroom. Jon and I were going to make mushroom bruschette and chicken with herbed dumplings for dinner and invite some friends over. But we ran out of time and only got the chicken and dumplings done. Thats ok, 2 friends couldn't make it, so we had plenty of food. And the chicken with herbed dumplings are DELICIOUS. It is the best thing that Jon and I make. We all ate until we were stuffed.

So tomorrow will be mushroom bruschette.

I am taking the H&R Block tax prep class. I love doing my taxes, and I'd like to learn more about it, to make sure I'm getting all of the details. I do a lot of research on deductions, but taxes can be complicated.

I'd also like to volunteer for VITA. Its a program run by the IRS that helps people do their taxes and get their earned income credit. I'm sure I'll have to take VITA's training, but at least with my knowledge from this class I'll be more likely to be doing returns rather than greeting people at the door.

This is my new lawnmower. It mowed grass. Once. Now it will not start. Well, it will start if I prime it, and run for about 3 seconds, and then die. The internet thinks something is wrong with the carb. I am very frustrated.

It was a long drive back to Texas. I dozed off a few times, but Jon was strong and stayed alert while driving. There are no interstates that go directly, so most of our trip was on a highway, going through small towns. We stopped for lunch in Clarendon. We went to some little local diner hole in the wall. It didn't look like much, but it had awesome food. There was a buffet with BBQ chicken, lima beans, mashed potatoes, and rolls. Yummy.

Day 2 of our camping trip. I'm fishing today, for the first time in a decade. It took some work to get my pole ready, but I remembered how to cast ok. One of my dad's friends in the campground gave me some flies and bubble floats and told me what to do, but I did not get so much as a bite. I switched to some salmon eggs, which the fish stole off the hook, but I still caught no fish. Luckily he gave us fish, so we at least did get to eat some fresh trout.

In the afternoon we visited Bishop's Castle. Its a large stone castle, with towers and turrets and balconies and bridges and stained glass windows, and even a fire breathing dragon. A guy named Jim Bishop is building it all by hand. He's doing it as a free attraction to show people what one guy is capable of, and to spite the government and its zoning laws and restrictions. He's not a big fan of the government.

Another of my dad's friends has a kayak, and she let me borrow it! I've only been kayaking a few times, but its tons of fun. I went out on the lake for a little while, and retrieved a bobber that some fisherman had lost (it was not the one that broke off of my line though, I didn't see that one). It was nice to look at all the views of the mountains around the lake.

We made Jiffy Pop over the fireplace, and Jon lost some more knuckle hair. But all in all, camping has been a complete success. We saw birds that I've never seen in the eastern US, and some deer came down to our meadow. We cooked over the campfire, and played cards after dark. The skies were full of thousands of stars. Camping is great.