I spotted a grasshopper today while I was filling my car with fuel. I could easily reach down and touch it because it was cold and probably also dazed by the gasoline fumes. I fgured it was there because of the sheltering roof over the pumps. Best I could do for it was to move it a few feet away from the pumps.

It was lucky I didnt spot it in my yard because I would have hoped for a frog to still be out sitting by the pond. However, they all seem to be in hibernation or at least in some sort of shelter away from the cold and rain. The fish are doing well and there was some movement from the tadpoles so I'm hopeful that they'll make it for now.

I noticed that the front yard pond may need to be cleaned some. The water in it is clear enough that I can see down about six inches where there appears to be some sort of algae layer. I really don't want to disturb that and create a muck that would interfere with the fish in that pond, but I suspect that I'll have to reach in there this weekend with a fine net that's worked before for straining out muck. The trick is to avoid catching any fish because once they're in that, it's almost impossible to get them separated unless they're really large and easy to spot.

After that, this blog will probably also go into semi-hibernation unless something eventful occurs.