Your Caretaker has been inveigled to resume the daily log on the Island's web page, and to provide river level and water temperature as part of a daily reporting routine. This may be useful to those wanting to check to see if the Club is open, or the river canoeable, or if interesting things are afoot. The NOAA river forecast is usually posted by 1000 hrs, so I will try to have the daily musings ready by 1030 hrs at www.sycamoreisland.org under "Caretaker's Log." No promises on content, but certain days of last month's log have been excerpted to give you a taste:

Wed 9 Feb Peter Jones and Tryon Wells came down to ice skate on the slough around 1000 hrs, at which time the Caretaker's Wife walked across to go to the store. Later the boys decided to take a canoe out to the open water on the river, but not until after spending twenty minutes cutting a channel from the Captain's Float using a sledge hammer. It was therefore a surprise when the Caretaker walked across the slough to the steps on the towpath to escort the Caretaker's Wife back to the Island and, only 15 feet from Wife and steps, fell through a soft spot in the ice up to his armpits. Surprised, but not really frightened, until about the third time he was unsuccessful in crawling back onto the surface of the ice... as the ice kept breaking and the hole enlarging. Fortunately, it is standard procedure to walk across the ice with a hand on the ferry pull rope and the current did not sweep him under the ice. Fortunately, the Caretaker's Wife does not allow him to play on the ice without wearing a life preserver ( and is certainly not now ever likely to). Fortunately, and unthinkingly, he finally rolled over onto his back to float, and then pulled hand over hand backwards on the rope until the ice behind him stopped breaking and he reached ice solid enough to support him, mainly proving that DNA sometimes knows what to do when the reasoning faculty is inoperable.

Sat 12 Feb This morning we cut a channel for the ferry through the ice remaining along the Island shore which still had the ferry locked in tight, despite several days of above freezing temperatures. This means today is the first day the Island has been open since 20 Jan. We were much relieved to get the ferry operational, as we were prepared to employ desperate measures to cope with the crisis of having no cat food... meaning we would either have to cross an icy river without the ferry or spend the night in a tent. Anyone who lives with cats will understand the problem. Also, this meant the computer repair person could make his much delayed visit, making a quantum difference in the quality of life for the Caretaker.

Tue 14 Feb We are happy to report that the pileated woodpecker is now seeming to make a semi-regular visit to our feeder every morning around 0800 hrs. In each of the last two years he has landed on the feeder once in the Spring and made a show of staying there for a long while as if to declare to the awaiting multitudes of smaller birds who is "King of the Feeder". But on these occasions he was not observed to actually feed. This year with the cold and snow he comes to feed. You will recall that there is a pair living on the Island in one of the sycamore trees near the river. They are frequently seen together but it is unclear whether one or both visit the feeder. I say "he" because one often hangs back... and at least in the animal world sexual stereotypes are not yet politically incorrect.

Thu 16 Feb Last night there was a ruckus in the men's locker room, and upon investigating, discovered a racoon trying to get into our garbage can. Fortunately, the can has a latch which has thus far proven to be critter proof. Unfortunately, what with being iced in for so many weeks and having limited opportunities to get garbage up the hill, the can was full and there were even bags thrown up on top the lockers. This guy did not look like Rocky, our former Island resident who was not seen last year, and in fact did not act the part either, being more skittish, You will recall that Rocky's familiarity with humans was downright un-nerving.

Fri 17 Feb Today young Alex McCoy asked about the age of the map hanging near the kitchen door depicting the area near great falls. He had studied it and noticed a small designation for a gold mine. Seems he has a great interest in trekking around our river area and discovering neat things of interest or re-discovering old things. Now, the Club has a casual group of older trekkers who periodically get together to check out things like the Indian weirs or the old civil war fords or other forgotten points of interest along the river, but I was surprised and impressed to find what seemed to be the same instinct in a teenager. But then, I probably should not have been. Seems to me there is a lot of river lore and interesting history about our area of the Potomac that should not be forgotten, and that in fact, it would be a worthy mission for the Club to undertake the generational transmission of the history of this area of the river. Each year since I have been here we have received at least two visits a year from non-Members investigating some aspect of the local lore and history. Since the Centennial Edition of the Islander has been archived on the web, I have had occasion to direct numerous calls to it. It is fascinating to see the traditions, lore, and history of the Club (and hence the river basin) laid out for over a hundred years. So many people with all of this interest... all of this effort... all of this talent... and none of it connected! Therefore, I propose that an informal group be constituted as the "Sycamore Trekkers". This can be done simply by instituting a telephone list of people who might like to be notified anytime a Member has an impulse to trek around to some interesting site. All you have to do is notify the Caretaker you wish to be put on the list and provide your telephone number and e-mail address. If there is a certain critical mass of interest the decision can be taken to go to the next step in formalizing the group by actually having a meeting on the Island some beautiful Saturday, followed by an organized trek to investigate some interesting place nearby.

Sat 26 Feb Such a disappointment... today was to have been so beautiful but this morning's forecast calls for fog and drizzle off and on. Yesterday was a day of firsts... the first crocus bloom... the sudden realization that the funny purple tips sticking up are actually the first appearance of the bluebells... and the discovery in the afternoon that hundreds of spring beauties had sprung into bloom without our noticing. Goose clamor continues to intensify... there are now 12 regulars and one spent the day checking out the top of the canoe shed, perhaps the same one that nested there last year. In the late afternoon a big beaver was seen swimming in the slough and sort of hung out in the ferry channel. Then, suddenly he disappeared and could not be seen resurfacing anywhere. Where could he have gone aground?? Curious, I did a survey, and if you stand on the canoe float and look at MD, a newish hole in the bank can be made out at the one o'clock position. Even the bugs made their first appearance of the year. Our new kitty, Miss T, discovered her first flies and spent the day chasing around madly... stopping only to pant. Many other moths and crawlies made their first appearance, and the day had the magical innocence of Spring right up to that moment in the late afternoon when I got my first mosquito bite.

-- Doc Taliaferro, Sycamore Island Caretaker