Life On a Lake 

Dedicated to the Joys of Waterside Living

October sunset over lake Ketchum

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Tell me, if you fail your prostate test, do you have to keep taking it until you pass it?

(I passed mine.)

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The buffleheads have returned to the lake, after a long summer's absence. Does it take the cool nights to move them? Today five such ducks fluttered in and landed out in the middle of the water. One male and four females. The one pictured above is a female. The males have black heads and bodies are brilliant and outstanding. So it is easy to tell them apart, even at considerable distance.

They dive often and are fish eaters, though I suspect they nibble a bit of weed, as well. And they offer seasonal punctuation to a year that is rapidly drawing down to a decline. Soon it will be winter. The buffleheads will be with us. And often the groupings will be predominantly females. Males and females seem to shun each other until the mating season.

No, I won't try to draw an obvious parallel.

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So, what is so special about a rhododendron in lush bloom? Oh, nothing much, only it is the end of October, for Pete's sake, and they aren't supposed to do this, here at the lake, or anywhere else, for that matter.

And what are they going to do, come spring? Bloom again? Well, maybe so, but it will be a sparse foliage, I suspect.

The rest of the rhodies are dropping leaves, like the one pictured below.

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Okay, okay. I've looked at these three dudes' pictures every Sunday on my way to the funny papers that I finally got tired of ripping out the half-page of their ad in order to get to read Bloom County that I decided to pay them back for their impertinence. I didn't draw mustaches on them, but those specs bridging their three respective noses are my snide contribution to the photographic art form.

If you are looking for a way to thank me, money will do.

AP Photo by Emilo Morenati

"The Enemy?"

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When you go into a country and starting killing people, it is a very good idea to depersonalize them, so that you are shooting at people most unlike yourself. Ugly, inhuman people--men, mostly, dark-skinned, with big noses, mustaches, etc. But sometimes women, too. They may be hiding a bomb under their long skirts.

Above is a picture of the enemy in Afghanistan. Sure, they look like school girls of nearly pubescent age, but don't let appearances fool you. This is The Enemy, cleverly disguised to look like us, or like our daughters. It is important to remember the lessons of Close Order Drill and the Rifle Range, the Combat Course, Weapons Inspection, etc.

Osama Bin Laden may be among them, crouching down to look shorter, his mustache hidden beneath a veil or shawl. Do not doubt it. The enemy is clever.

Shoot first, think second. On second thought, don't think at all. Just fire your piece, Soldier. What do you think automatic weapons were meant for?

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I am greeted by herons. Well, one at least. He/she (it is so hard to tell them apart, the two heron sexes, that even aged herons have difficulty, and sometimes make embarrassing mistakes) stood still enough for me to make these two quick sketches, before he/she flapped off to the East and out of my eyesight.

Tonight the baseball league playoffs begin, ho-hum, and the vice-presidential candidates debate each other, another ho-hum, and the Seattle Storm try to capture the three-game women's basketball playoffs against Connecticut,  hip-hip-hooray.

And a storm is rolling in, after about two weeks of Indian summer. And why should it be a summer special to Indians, and not all the rest of us?

They have all the gambling casinos in the state. Why should they want exclusive claim to what is left of the bland and merciful summer?

They don't?

Thanks for the visit,
Robert C. Arnold, Editor