The Muddying of Puddlepond

I was perplexed to say the least. My refurbished Puddlepond was forever in a state of disarray and was forever muddy. This is strange since the pond has a plastic liner and clean gravel in the bottom. Then there was the problem of disappearing water. Yes, I realize we are in the middle of a drought and yes, I realize evaporation can cause ponds to go dry but my goodness, this was a bit ridiculous! I was losing gallons upon gallons of water every day..which is a lot from the little Puddlepond. I was truly beginning to believe that there was another leak..a large leak in the bottom of the pond. Surely not..we just replaced the liner about a month ago! Perhaps the deer that I feed need a drink. It would not be a far-fetched idea for them to make their way to the Puddlepond for fresh water after eating the corn that I leave for them. Let a number of them slurp their way through the pond and I am quite sure that the water level would definitely drop. Still, why so muddy?

Today, I sat in my favorite chair under the oak tree. Son-in-law and Daughter came to visit and while she and I talked, he threw the ball for Ezzy. Now, indeed this made the dog happy. She chased that ball as often as he threw it and boy, could he throw it! As a former baseball player, his throws were nothing like my feeble tosses. His went long and far...Ezzy went long and far...on and on and on, this game went. The more he would throw, the more she would run, until she just could go no further. Then..she went to get water..in the Puddlepond! No, Ezzy did not just lap up a cupful or even a bucketful of the cool water. She decided to go headlong into the pond...SPLASH! And there went the water....everywhere! She wallowed around in that Puddlepond not unlike the hogs used to wallow in the pond on the farm years ago. The head would go under and she would splash around like a sealion. This dog loves the water, so much so that she would flip from side to side..splashing water like a sprinkler system. I had my answer, the Muddling of the Puddlepond was done by Ezzy!

Later, I discovered that we had another visitor to the Bayou. It seems that we are inheriting cats by the boatload! I do wish people would just take care of their cats and stop thinking that the Hill above the Bayou is a good dropping spot for their unwanted pets. This one is a surprise, though, as Ms Put likes him! She has not tried to maim, mangle or mutilate him. She has not tried to maul this cat like she does any others that show up around here. Actually, just the opposite! She seemed to encourage him to eat from her bowl. My, oh, my this was strange! I wondered just what was different about this cat.

Actually, there are several things different about this cat that has now been named "Blinky" by Darling Daughter. The first and most noticeable difference?.. He is a tricolor cat. Almost a calico and very unique with his markings. Being a calico is not so much different but being a male calico is sort of rare. Only about one in every three thousand is male. Next bit of difference..this cat has five toes on its back foot! There seems to be an extra toe sort of just stuck in there between two other toes. I was remarking at just how large his feet seemed when I realized it was because of the extra toe. The last difference (and the one that got him his name) is that he is cross-eyed. Poor Blinky! How in the world did his former owners think he would ever survive??? Son spent a good bit of time trying to coax Blinky to the food bowl and finally succeeded. He ate ravenously! Poor Blinky...poor cross-eyed, five-toed, male calico, Blinky..the odds are against you. I guess you will just have to stay at the Bayou House where people will take care of you.