Andy Rudin has just asked me if I have any photos taken of Sunken Island during the time a few decades ago the dam was being rebuilt and the water level was way down.   I am sorry to say, I don't have any pictures, but I do recall seeing a good bit of earth above water one fall years ago, and that may have been what was going on.  My parents and I were canoeing - I think it was late September or early October - beautiful fall weather and we were the only ones on the water.  We had a makeshift dock in the cattails above where Richer's house is, but we had a hard time launching, I remember, and carried the canoe down the shore to a spot out of the weeds where we could reach the deeper water in the channel. If anyone has a photo showing Sunken Island, I would like a copy and will share it here on the blog.

We have an injured pet this weekend.  Woody got into some kind of trouble night before last and has a sore paw.  He was outside when we went to bed - he's really bad about coming in at a reasonable hour, so we adjust the kitty door so he can get into the garage but can't get back out.  That has worked well, and he has always been ok, but this time when Fred went to check on him sometime after midnight, he could tell Woody was in the garage because some of his food was gone and Fred knew he couldn't get back outside; but when he called, Woody didn't come as he usually does.  Fred found him huddled in the storage space over the garage, muddy and limping with a badly swollen paw.  He carried him in and got him  cleaned up, and in the morning we tried to figure out what might have happened, but we really have no clue.  There was no blood, no evidence of a puncture, and so far we haven't been able to see any outward evidence of injury.  The paw is still swollen, but not as bad today as it was, although he still isn't putting any weight on it at all.  Other than being very quiet, he seems okay otherwise - eating and drinking as normal, and doesn't seem to be running a temperature, so we will see how things look and if it isn't much better by Monday, we'll get him to the vet.  It could be he has a bad sprain - I don't think anything is broken as he is able to flex all the joints - it's just sore.  I haven't been able to see his claws on that foot because of the swelling, and he doesn't want me to touch it, but I think if he'd torn a claw there would have been blood. We are pretty sure he had a tussle with something, and may be one lucky kitty that he made it home ok.  And we're feeling lucky he made it home, too - but then there's that guilty feeling that we should keep him in at night, even though to him that would seem extremely cruel. Oh, well.  Cold weather is coming and he'll be happy inside again. But I have to say, having him ailing is almost worse than when the kids used to get banged up - at least they could tell me what happened and where it hurt.