This is the annual report, more or less:

Perhaps six years ago, my wife Pat said as we were wandering through the
mall pet shop, "Hey, my goldfish tank would look nice with that cute little
Koi in it." So we bought a 3-inch fairly nondescript Koi and brought him
home. A bit over a year later, he was perhaps eight inches long, and
needed to bend his tail to turn around in the 55-gallon tank. On advice of
a local fellow who does "water features," we netted the Koi that spring and
put him in a big plastic bin with some of the aquarium water and trundled
him down to our pond -about 2/3 acre earth pond, bass-infested, hardy
lilies in pails, etc. Letting temperatures equalize while we sang "Born
Free" the Koi, now named "Walter" was released into what must have seemed a
giant ocean.
Sadly, Walter has outlived his mistress by several years now, but if I'm
not trying to find him he appears, two feet plus long and fat and sassy.
This morning I wandered down to the pond (the ice just went out of it this
Thursday) to check out the lilies, and see which ones should be pulled out
for dividing. There was Walter with a retinue of teen-aged bass, swimming
along liked he owned the place.
We've weathered another winter, Walter and I, and the cycle of life is
beginning again. It's a beautiful day.

Peace,


Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at home.earthlink.net/~garygarlic
Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G