Today is April 15th, 2006. Phil and I got up around nine o’clock and started getting ready for our trip down to Misty Mountain. We arrived around 130 and were greeted by Auntie Marjie, Uncle Nat, Auntie Jeannie, Uncle Dave, Mom, Dad, Rachel, Claudio, Chris Rebecca, and their daughter Ava.
The sky was bright blue, and the air was warm. Right now I’m sitting on the west deck gazing into the blazing fire. Dad and Dave gave us the ‘OK’ to break down one of the ancient picnic tables. It was a good table, serving us well on the mountain for over 13 years. My dad has this thing with camp fires…he loves them and gets excited when there are people up to share it with him.
I’ve always enjoyed the weekend getaways to the cottage. On a clear night, the stars are especially spectacular. The Milky Way is a sight to see while on the mountain top. There is no light pollution to ruin the spectacle. I remember spending nights in my youth staring for hours into the night sky. Life was simple then. My uncle Nat is our resident expert of the night sky. He has a MEAD telescope which when properly aligned to the night sky allows the interested stargazer to see the rings around Saturn, and the craters on our great moon. Meteor showers are a great sight to see, I wish I had the time to observe more of them.
Peaceful tranquility – what a majestic place this is. The pond is full of life. Bass, tadpoles, and water critters. Misty Mountain is an ongoing experiment in nature. Over the years numerous tree species have been introduced. It feels just like yesterday when I helped plant the line of blue spruce down the west side of our acreage, they were barely a foot high. Now they tower at least twenty feet into the sky.
The crickets and frogs are making their usual mating calls by the pond. Phil and I noticed the tadpole gel sacks. The gel sacks contain thousands upon thousands of tadpoles. They are located within the secondary overflow pond. This smaller pond is used as a breeding ground for water life before being introduced into the main pond.