September 6 - Fall came on September 1. The weather in Overland Park changed from 105 degrees and no rain for months to 84 degrees and two days of rain which totaled 8 inches.

john and joyce visited relatives in St. Louis over Labor Day. They went to the St. Louis Zoo to see the new penquin and Puffin exhibit. The St. Louis Zoo is one of the best in the nation! Want to know the difference between a good zoo and a bad one? Money. St. Louis has a zoo tax for all the counties in the greater St. Louis area and thus can continue to improve their zoo.

This morning there were four ducks in zenpond. Yesterday afternoon, one duck. She came over to the window and looked in at john. He waved and she recognized him then walked over to the small pond for a swim, finally she walked up the stream to the large pond where she stayed for a few hours more.

September 11 - Last night 6 ducks flew in for dinner at zenpond. john finished the spa deck and is now installing low voltage lighting in the steps. john got three of seven lights installed before it started raining this afternoon. It is a nice rain, slow but steady. This gives john a chance to catch up on the web site and maybe do a little reading. He just finished the new Tom Claney book and has started reading the new biography about Benjamin Franklin. He is also reading "Philosophy For Dummies". Tucky just got up at his usual time (3 pm) and came in to tell john "hello". joyce is completing another photo album while watching Dr. Phil on TV. When john finishes updating the web site, he will get on the treadmill for an hour. he plans to re-watch the video "The Ezy Rock Way to make Fabulous Artificial Rocks". Some people need to get a life!

A couple of evenings back, john received a phone call from a good friend he knows from his Air Force days at Elmendorf AFB (Anchorage, Alaska). He hadn't heard from Gary since he left Anchorage in 1965. It was great to hear his voice, but another common friend, Tom, from those times had just died of the same disease that Jerry Lewis has. john called Tom's wife, Judy, and talked with her for about half an hour. Tom was the same all these years. He always lived today and didn't put off living until tomorrow, like a lot of us do. As a result, Tom had a full life and didn't feel cheated when his health started to fail. john will miss him. He has thought often of those times in Alaska when Tom would drive Frank, Gary, john and himself in his Mustang convertible to places like Fairbanks (the Malamute Saloon), or to the Chugach mountains near Anchorage (where at midnight the sun would cast long shadows), or just downtown Anchorage (Fourth Ave) for Saturday morning breakfasts of waffles.

September 18 - Yesterday john noted that there were at least 3 dozen painted ladies on the Sedum plants in the P.J. Garden of zenpond. Today, john saw on T.V. that this summer had been quite favorable to Painted Ladies and they are in the area in record numbers. They are feasting just before their long trip to Mexico and another country john doesn't remember. Here are a couple of pictures of them: