Thu 1 Nov November temps in the mid 70s... is this what we call Indian summer??? There is not much use in writing a log entry today... as surely anyone with time to peruse the Log will not waste time thusly when the same time could more wisely be spent getting down here. There are fishermen out today who are hoping the swimming fauna will be frenzied in their effort to fatten up for winter... but still everyone laments that this has been the worst fishing season in memory.

Tue 6 Nov It is no fun to walk the Island at night now... not because of the cool... but because of the dead leaves. The leaves have removed any illusion of stealth from the dark Caretaker walks... not that he is still silly enough to think that any non-human neighbor on the Island can be approached and watched in secret... but critters at either end of the Island can surely tell when he steps off of the swept wooden walkway. This works also for critters, as the voles and geckos can go nowhere without making lots of rustling and scurrying sounds... but the cats cannot approach anything sneakily. Another disappointment to report is the appearance of new outdoor lights across the river where one of the homes on Crest Lane has lit up their grounds. The feeling of encroachment is palpable... as when these lights are on a largish area is lit up almost directly across the river where the house itself is hidden and it definitely brings the city to the river gorge.

Fri 9 Nov Visitors are warned that coming to the Island they will now find the Club canoes locked up. Members will recall that after a canoeing accident this last winter dumped a Member into frigid water, the Club changed the rules regarding the use of Club canoes such that they cannot be used when the water temperature falls below 55 degrees or the river level rises above 5 feet at the Little Falls Gauge. This does not affect the use of privately owned canoes.

Mon 12 Nov Jim Snow was down this morning to retrieve the cane seats from his canoe for repair. He is in possession of a rare resource... knowledge of someone who can do such work... no doubt another of those disappearing craft skills. Those of you with cane seats in your canoes should take note.

Tue 13 Nov During a presentation of the history of the Club during Saturday's orientation, Tryon Wells let drop several tantalizing tidbits not generally known. For instance... when women were allowed to have membership in 1914, one third of the then male Membership at the time resigned from the Club. There was a further backlash towards female Membership in 1922... when, because of an issue to do with locker availability... a quota limit was imposed. There was a lot going on that year, as Membership was increased from 35 to 100... and this was also the year that alcohol was banned on the Island. Wouldn't it be wonderful to know the interplay of all these influences... the relationship between women, increased numbers, and alcohol? Tryon prepared a Club History timeline sheet as a handout, and this will be displayed on the bulletin board in the Clubhouse.

Fri 16 Nov It was a bleary staff awakening this morning. Night before last we had been jolted upright in bed by the frantic activity of two cats skittering and scrambling across our bodies... seemingly in pursuit of some critter. One can imagine the reaction of the Caretaker's Wife as realization set in that some "thing" had been chased across the top of our bedcovers... and so now in the early a.m. everyone was looking for the pursued... to no avail. Well, with all that activity and adrenalin it was a while before sleep came again. But it did not last long. Gazing up from the Caretaker's side of the bed one looks into a weird ceiling corner... with exposed pipes and steel beams and valves... and next to the bed a tall but narrow book shelf sticks up into that space. Barney, our very large, shy, massive, white, very heavy, seldom seen, very weighty, Czech kitty can creep into bed without incident, but when he "bounds" into bed it is an earthquake drill... and again and again the lights came on to see what the fuss was about. Most worrisome... Barney kept trying to jump from the backboard of the bed to the top of the bookcase... and as he did not always make it there some amount of yowling and bouncing and matressing as trampoline and such. Worst of all was when he would decide to jump down from bookcase to bed, and the bed would shake as if beneath a B-52 attack. Accordingly, the Caretaker was in ill humor at being awakened every ten minutes at all this... and the vocabulary was certainly exercised towards the hapless Barney... because despite constant rising and searching, no interloper could be found. It actually took a while before the Caretaker caught on that the Caretaker's Wife was unable to get back to sleep... I mean really... just because some strange, unidentified, wild creature had run across her sleeping body and was thought by the cats to be hiding in the ceiling recesses above her bed.

Well... you can be sure there were cranky humans the next morning... without any kind words for feline crew. And, when mid-morning mayhem erupted again as cats came scrambling and scurrying and chasing something into the living room... knocking over anything in the way... it was a relief to see that it was a Carolina wren loose in the quarters... soon captured and released. Of course, the Caretaker's Wife was mollified that the mystery was solved and that the previous evening's intruder was identified as such a harmless critter... and a good night's sleep was looked forward to.

But it was not to be. Again, last night, the process began to be repeated, as groggy humans awakened to frenzied cats. There was a definite adrenalin spike as looking up above the bed... a strange tail could be seen hanging amongst the pipes. At first it was reminiscent of a horror movie where the monster keeps coming back... but in fact it was merely just a very juvenile squirrel that had gotten in, or been brought in as a plaything. Eventually... it was a long night... the squirrel was coaxed into a shoebox, taken outside, and released... and the Caretaker's Wife finally slept.

Mon 19 Nov It is not possible to walk into the men's locker room and not notice the change... the new back door with the glass panes. Donated by David Holdridge, the new door gives an airy and lighted feel to the room even when shut. The previous door was always open as a way to get light into that part of the room in order to see and obtain the life vests for canoeing. This allowed wind and weather to always be in this part of the building. Today we actually had mosquitoes in the screen porch, and any folks that have asked why the screen door is never closed have learned that it is because it was always futile because with the back door always open there were always mosquitoes lurking in the locker room. With light coming in the new door, the downstairs area will now likely stay closed and somewhat sealed against mosquitoes (and coons, possums, and other neighbors).

Wed 21 Nov The endless summer is gone... last night it froze on the Island... and that is why yesterday the water was turned off in the Clubhouse... so visitors take note: You must bring your own drinking water and know where the heated bathroom is in the Men's Locker Room. To Members, the Spring and Fall Workfests are the transition between high and low season down here... but nothing is quite as serious a demarcation as turning off the water and draining the pipes. The habitable portion of the Island is thus limited to the Caretaker's quarters... and on cold days the next warm space is reached only by crossing a cold river and climbing a cold hill. The exception to this is the small, newly (as in last year) constructed warm room upstairs adjacent to the Clubroom. Members should know that they can still experience beautiful river and Island panorama and still have a warm refuge.

Fri 30 Nov If this is really the last day of November... why were there joggers in shorts and short sleeves on the towpath this morning? Well... one reason is that down here it was 60 degrees at 0900 hrs. and 70 degrees at 1200 hrs. How long can this warm good weather continue? But do not worry... take comfort that our government has reassured us that the planet is not getting warmer. Disappointed fishermen may like to know that Marianne Ross has a son that runs a rockfish farm nearby, and those too embarrassed to return home empty-handed can obtain fresh pound-and-half fish. Of course, there may be clever gourmets out there also interested in this resource. Call Marianne at 301-229-6690 for more information.

We regret that it is necessary to remind Members that it is bad manners to enter the Caretaker's quarters when Caretaker and Wife are off the Island... or at any time... without express permission.

Excerpted from the Caretaker's Log at sycamoreisland.org

-- Doc Taliaferro, Sycamore Island Caretaker