Mon 1 May Next to the bulletin board upstairs there is a wooden contraption that looks as though it might be a magazine rack. Members should note that this is now the official place for the red binder that holds emergency numbers, substitute caretaker instructions, a membership roster, locker and canoe rack assignments, Club rules and by-laws, and various other official Club information. In the same place is the Island's log book, in which Sunday caretakers are encouraged to write whimsical comments about their day, or make any official log entry regarding incidents on their shift of duty that the Club should know about.

Fri 12 May Yesterday Jim Drew was sitting in a canoe fiddling with some of his fishing gear... his rod propped up vertically and his lure dangling about a foot out of the water... when a large small mouth bass jumped out of the water and took the lure. Took the lure and might have carried off with the rod had not some quick reactions grabbed hold. So to those of you who wonder if they are biting down here... one might say they are downright desperate to get caught.

Sat 13 May Yesterday afternoon Members near the swimming area were treated to the sight of a black snake crawling up the large tree there and entering a small hole about 15 feet up. A starling attacked the snake as best it could, but the snake ignored it and the starling gave up after a while. Moments later a second and even larger black snake (8 feet long... surely our own "Blackie") also crawled up the tree and into the hole. Perhaps some commented, we were witnessing the prelude to a romantic Friday evening dinner of egg a la starling. And indeed it must have been a romantic dinner, because about a hour later both snakes emerged and began mating... there was no question their behaviour could have been anything else! They engaged in a continuous intertwining dance... often while hanging down along the trunk of the tree... usually while only Blackie kept his tail tightly curled around a branch... much like an inverted caduceus... and in fact it is now clear this medical symbol could represent nothing else than the mating of "the serpent." After a while it seemed as though their bodies were glistening with a moistness, and it was easy to suppose that one purpose of the constant writhing was to make sure this moisture was rubbed over every bodily surface so that some of it would get to the one place it was supposed to go. Often their bodies looked like a braided rope, but the movement was constant... their heads often only inches apart... and it was easy to imagine an affection from the gentle way they moved with and against each other. They kept at it for almost two hours and were still going at dark. It was a grand show, and many families and children were thrilled and educated. This morning Blackie's body could be seen in the hole of the tree and also the head of the female just looking out.

Wed 10 May Both charcoal grills were ready to cook shortly after 7 PM despite the dramatic squall line that swept through an hour before. The weather cleared beautifully and as many hardy and interesting folks showed up with things to cook, the evening before the meeting became one of good food... good frolic... and good fellowship. Henceforth the grills will be ready before all monthly meetings at the Island in the hope of re-creating this spirit of fun. My thanks and appreciation to those of you who did not come to the meeting last night... the Caretaker's Wife provided brownies and the Judson/Esch family provided smores (yes, that's right, smores!! )... so your not attending meant more for me!

Larry Leasener, Chief of Special Projects, Fisheries Service, Maryland Department of Natural Resources, presented a slide show and spoke regarding the fish ladder downstream of the Island and the fish restoration of shad, herring, sturgeon, and other species in the Potomac River as part of a larger restoration effort for the Chesapeake Bay. It was a great show and it is intended that future meetings will also incorporate educational and entertaining evenings.

Thu 18 May The song birds seem particularly loud today, but surely this is a day to sing for. We have noticed that the great flocks of cormorants have moved on... about two weeks ago it now seems... and there is left only a flock of around thirty. I remember once earlier this year during high water a bunch jumped on a small drifting log... reminded me of some poem about cockle shells... and the cormorants came sailing by very close to where we were sitting at the head of the Island on their log boat like a vision from Alice in Wonderland. It was as close to a cormorant out of the water as we have ever been, and while they are beautiful birds there is something about the aspect of cormorants that makes it seem as though they are leering... almost buzzard like... especially from a distance when gangs of them hang out in the trees at the foot of Ruppert's Island in that section designated by the Caretaker's Wife as the Hotel Cormorant.

Sat 20 May There have been deer tracks on the Island for the last several days. Day before yesterday while I was mowing the up Island paths and had stopped the mower and moved ahead to clear fallen tree debris, I startled a large deer that leaped out of the foliage only a few feet away. Let me tell you... scared the dickens out of me... that large body moving so suddenly... so near! Just another lesson about how we are surrounded by a world we do not see and are not aware of because we are of our world but not in it like the rest of Nature's children... essentially sharing the same planet but living in different worlds. How often we stride noisily through Nature absorbed only in our thoughts or with our voices, oblivious to the larger world around us... paying attention only to ourselves instead of the beauty of God's world around us. How often does Nature sing to us through Her songbirds... and we, Her most favored children... how seldom we listen or notice.

Mon 22 May Down here it was a black day... filled with dark humors and un-Christian vocabulary... but if you had seen it on your TV it would have been giggles from beginning to end. It started when the smoke alarms went off in the early morning. Please note the plural... because at the prompting of the fire marshall's recommendation two years ago and by the wisdom of the Club Fathers a new, loud, hardwired, redundant, loud, efficient, loud system of 6 smoke detectors was installed professionally. Did I mention loud... as in designed to raise the Caretaker and his Wife from perdition if necessary? And not just one... because they are designed so that when one goes off... they all go off... I can assure you there is nowhere to hide.

Well, you all know the drill from you own homes... race around with nose to air... did I mention how loud... and when a wild eyed investigation shows no smoke... cut the power. So up to the circuit breaker box to flip the switch in the hope that only the one unit triggered would continue to sound... loudly. No luck! Such clever design. Even on batteries they all sound... loudly... when one sounds. Now we are dragging ladders around (did you ever appreciate how high some of our ceilings are... I assure you we did not... and do not now) trying to identify the failed unit hoping this is not the routine one must follow every time one of the suckers has a low battery, and the first failure we come up against was human failure. By human failure I mean the failure to have paid proper attention when the little beasties were installed. Did I mention professionally installed and hardwired? And loud? So you can imagine the scene where we are trying to figure how to detach one of the suckers from the wall or at least get the cover off to get at the battery... this is the same scene you have seen in the sci-fi movies where the sirens and klaxons are mind deafening and the starship is going to self destruct in thirty seconds unless you can find the right wire. Believe me it was lucky the first unit was not damaged when I tore it out of the wall and disconnected it... but I didn't care. At least then we could figure out how to do it... although not how to get to the battery. By the second unit I was surely legally insane and wishing for a loaded shotgun to quieten the other four. Did I mention the high ceilings? When unit number three came out the others stopped... but not number three. No amount of brute force could crack the cover to get at the battery... and we would have thrown it in the river if it had been closer... but instead we ran to the warm room and stuffed it under the cushion and ran downstairs... where it could still be heard but barely. Much later, when nerves and hearing had recovered somewhat, the Caretaker's Wife was brave enough to go back upstairs and when she pulled number three from under the cushion it fell on the floor and the battery fell out (She swears this is really what happened.) And what caused the crisis? When unit three came out of the ceiling so did a lot of water from last night's rain... so what you see as a silly story is really a report that the upstairs kitchen roof leaks.

A set of six keys has been left at the Island... 3 small and 3 large... leather attachment says "Mexico."

-- Doc Taliaferro, Sycamore Island Caretaker