pond puzzle solved

Last night I was outside and saw the truck return from two nights before. The one Peko barked at, and the voice that sounded familiar. Normally I don't pay any attention to who is at the pond, unless we are planning on swimming or fishing. I always defer to the visitors. This time, however, I went into my own sneak mode. My curiousity had been aroused.

I saw a guy get out of the truck, and then a woman from the passenger side. That confirmed an afterthought I had that when the voice said, "sorry about that" he had been speaking to someone waiting in the truck for him, not to me for startling us. Then he took some gear out of the back of the truck, and a stepladder. Now I was really feeling nosy.

I grabbed the cam as a cover, and wandered over to the landing. Another truck with out of state plates was there, and they had all headed to the dam to fish, speaking in loud voices I couldn't help but overhear part of their conversation. ;)

As I had suspected, the fellow with the ladder had trimmed the branches, most presumably for his out of state visitors fishing pleasure. Then I heard someone approaching, so I spoke out as to not frighten her. I was actually more pleasant than usual, and the batteries chose that moment to die, so I made my way home and heard her following me. Not caring, I headed up the drive happy to have found an answer.

The neighbor who owns the property might not have been so happy to hear that folks had been trimming branches on her property. Her deed allows for a twenty foot wide right of way to the pond for public access. Her deceased husband had hated folks that parked up in the woods, and his last winter, he used his tractor to haul logs out to mark the right of way. They never posted the property, though. The neighbors on the far side of the dam, did, and right there in the middle of the dam is a no trespassing sign.

Although we have both exchanged verbal permission to each other for property access, neither of us takes advantage. We stick pretty much to the right of way. Her daughters I had to call onto the property after a runaway dog-they are very concious of respecting other folks property.

Last year the saplings and I were at the pond swimming, and a couple of guys showed up with sledehammers and proceeded to chip apart a large boulder in the right away that always made the right of way nearly impassable for a boat trailer. I had to call the kids out of the water-rock chips were flying that far. Still, hard to tell from y posting, I am rather easy going and engaged the rock smasheres inconversation, sort of amazed that they could and did annihilate that rock by hand in short time.

During the conversation, the more vocal fellow revealed that he was a dedicated fisherman, with a bass boat, and state law allowed public access to every water way and I guess he was rationalizing his right to take out the rock. I let him know who owned the property and suggested he should speak to her, as he starting sharing his vision of personally putting in a culvert and bringing road gravel in.

A few days later I ran into the landowner and mentioned the guy taking out the rock, and he had been to see her. *laughs and giggles*. Well, dear reader, you are at a disadvantage at my private joke, for you have never met the woman. I don't know how to describe her without being insulting, but let's just say, since I am a doglover, that she is a bulldog with a nasty disposition and lungs to match. (I have never seen the fellow with the bass boat since.)

I saw her daughters walking on the road today as we were headed out, and I was sorely tempted to ask them if they had given someone permission to trim, but decided not to. I saw one of the girls lose a lure in one of those branches hanging over the dam this spring...and although ballsy beyond belief to trim property that does not belong ot you for your personal use, they did do a good job.

But now I know why the guy was acting so sneaky the other night. Good dog, Peko.

Tonight I slipped over to the pond and noticed two things. One, the branch that I pointed out in the Peko pond post has been trimmed. Which amazes me to no end, since the only time I have ever seen branches actually cut over there was to retrieve fishing lures stuck up in branches.

The other thing was that all the sedge behind Peko in the picture had been trampled. The two may or may not have been related, as I saw a couple walking a dog out of there last night. Peko didn't care for that dog too much. It was sort of ironic, as they are the far neighbors, whose dog in question has lunged barking at my car every time I have passed them walking for the last five years. Now it was my turn, I guess.. "He's new," I offerred in apology while dragging the lunging barking Peko into the woods with the little Willow and camera. for some dusk stream shots. (which didn't come out well-too late in the evening)

This morning I returned alone with the camera to get the mushroom pics. I passed a car that someone was sitting in and startled me, "Hey, how's it going?" I said, as I turned into the woods with the camera, wondering what they thought of that...he he.

Tonight the Willow and I took the dog down and saw a truck at the pond, so we turned up the hill to see if the road sprayers had hit our roadside with herbicide this morning, as much of the road ditches were showing signs of herbicide application this afternoon. We turned and headed back down the road, me pointing out the huge mud dauber nest to the Willow that the Firebird and I had discovered two days ago, and Peko started to growl.

I looked up and saw the truck, and chastised the dog for his imagination, and then noticed boots from under the tailgate-someone was at the back of the truck, good eye, Peko. Peko let out some good, "hey, I know you are there." barks, while I tried to hush him and head back up the drive.

"Sorry about that," a voice called from the truck.

"It's ok, I replied, pausing at a familiar tone in the voice, but unable to make out more than the boots, so I turned and headed off with the Willow and the pup, still wondering if I knew that person.

The Firebird suprised Peko on our return, and I had to drop his leash before he took one of us out with his lightning circles and jumps-he was really being a happy dog. Willow and I picked some blackberries, and the phone rang...and by the time I decided to take a solo look at the pond, the truck had left.

I will probably never puzzle out the mystery of the trimmed branch and trampled sedge, but at least the alder probably feels better. :)