Thursday -- August 18, 2005
Water Level at Little Falls: 2.9     Water Temperature: 82

Sunday -- August 21, 2005
Water Level at Little Falls: 3.1     Water Temperature: 82

I'm slowly getting back into the rhythm of things down here after my vacation. There is a lot of grass-cutting to catch up on so I've been keeping myself busy with that.

The fishing derby was yesterday and I was woken up abruptly by the bell at 8:00 AM Soon all the donuts disappeared and all the eager fishers paddled out to find their quarry. It looked like a good day for fishing because everyone seemed to catch at least something, and of course are champions, Steve Newman and his son Matt brought in a large string of a variety of fish. Even the caretaker caught a fish! The best part of the day was the picnic and awards supplied by the Malusky's.

Interesting story in the Post magazine this morning. I didn't realize there was a Frank LLoyd Wright house so close to me.

Thankfully the river is cooling off and the swimming is excellent.

Monday -- August 22, 2005
Water Level at Little Falls: 2.9     Water Temperature: 82

It looks like it's going to be a beautiful day! A Perfect day for canoeing.

The water is quite clear now with visibility at about eight feet. Yesterday afternoon, as we waited for the ferry, we amused ourselves by watching all the little fish swimming by the steps there. Then as the ferry pulled up close we saw a huge thing swim by and at first I thought it might be some kind overgrown carp, but then we were surprised to realized that it was a beaver swimming by with a tree branch trailing from its mouth.

Tuesday -- August 23, 2005
Water Level at Little Falls: 2.9     Water Temperature: 82

Another beautiful day, hopefully we'll have another magnificent sunset like we had last night.

We watched Jupiter set last night as well and with the spotting scope we could just barely make out two of it's moons. We're going to try to stay up tonight so that we can see Mars, apparently it won't be this close again for a very long time.

Thursday -- August 25, 2005
Water Level at Little Falls: 2.7     Water Temperature: 80

This is the kind of day that I was dreaming about earlier this month when the humiture was over one hundred degrees. I love Autumn.

The Washingtonian is sending a photographer down here today, maybe I'll get my picture in the magazine.

Two paddlers reported seeing a peregrine falcon on the river yesterday, they had a good look at it while it perched on a tree. This was exciting news, I've never seen one down here before.

Sunday -- August 28, 2005
Water Level at Little Falls: 2.7     Water Temperature: 79

Monday -- August 29, 2005
Water Level at Little Falls: 2.7     Water Temperature: 79

Get down here now before hurricane Katrina starts to ruin everything. Right now the swimming is great, the river is low, the temperature is perfect and the water is nice and clear. The conditions are also good for fishing but I'm afraid it's all about to change. Even if we don't get flooded I'm sure we're headed for some heavy rain and that means a muddy and uninviting river. I'll be pleasantly surprised if the island doesn't close on Labor Day because of high water.

Tuesday -- August 30, 2005
Water Level at Little Falls: 2.7     Water Temperature: 79

It looks like we may dodge the worst of this storm. I feel so fortunate, and yet I'm sad for all those people whose homes did get flooded.

Wednesday -- August 31, 2005
Water Level at Little Falls: 2.8     Water Temperature: 79