Pond in Late Fall

I just confessed to a few close colleagues that I was feeling like a bit of a fraud.  It's been weeks since I've been to the pond.  The pond that is seriously, just outside my back door.

As I type this my fingers are cold and stiff, because they've just returned from exploring the frigid December pond water.  My sweater cuffs smell a bit like boggy pond water, (this happens when you plunge your hand unthinking, into uncertain depths to grab something before it swims away), my jeans are damp, my dress boots muddy (don't ask - I wore my dress boots because I went from town doing errands directly to the pond without stopping to change boots.  It's December, I "knew" there would be nothing to see and I'd be back in short order.)

Interesting thing.  It wasn't until the end of my little traipse when I stopped at the end of the pond, by the dam that I was gifted with a treasure, several actually.

I sat thinking about how the oak leaves have collected by the dam, after a recent rain that  has water levels quite high at the pond and running through the property.

I watched a number of fat tadpoles darting in and out of the leaves, dancing with shadows, playing hide and seek.  Then I noticed the back swimmers and oarman beetles (I still have a hard time telling them apart.)  I noticed that a number of the leaves have small conical shaped snails on them.  And I do mean small, slightly bigger than a grain of sand, but smaller than a pebble.  

But the best treasure was saved for last, and confirmed something I read this week (at which point, I'm starting to feel alive again) there are caddisfly larvae in the pond all year round.  I know, I saw at least a half dozen of them.  Yes, I"m sure they were all different ones, because by nature there are no two caddisfly larvae alike, as they build their shell from debris around them.  They were each unique, and beautiful.

If you are interested in the two articles I stumbled upon this week, here are links below.

http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2014/07/hubert-duprat-caddisflies/

http://www.ecouterre.com/artists-enlist-caddisfly-larvae-to-build-jewelry-from-precious-metals/

My hands still ache, my jeans are still soggy, my sweater cuffs still smell of boggy pond water, but I just couldn't pass by the computer on my way to change without stopping and sharing, before I became distracted with the many household tasks that are begging for my attention.