September 4 (Labor Day) - the temperature in Overland Park has broken records for the last several weeks. Yesterday it was 106 degrees at zenpond. Around Overland Park, a number of people have died from the heat and one local lake lost 15,000 fish due to lack of oxygen. john put on extra air pumps and aeration for zenpond. john doesn't want to see his water and electric bills for the month of August. There was some break in the weather yesterday evening and john and joyce and several of their friends were able to sit out on the deck.

The bull frogs are quite tame at zenpond. john and joyce often get within several feet of one and the stare down begins. joyce and john usual blink before the frog does. The little green heron has not been seen lunching at zenpond since the really hot weather began.

A friend of john's told him about another friend, Greg in Lenexa, who is clearing some of his extra water lilies out of his pond and wants a "donation" of $3.00 for each one. john went over and got three really nice lilies from him. If anyone is interested and lives in the Greater Kansas City area, contact john and he will see if Greg has any more. Supplies are quite limited.

Work has gone very slowly on the retaining wall behind the large waterfall and on the pump house. With the break in the weather, john and his helper eddie are planning some major work days over the next several months. john promises pictures of the progress.

Now zenpond is beginning to have an impact on john and joyce's zenhome. They are talking to an architect about a renovation that would include a number of large windows for greater viewing of zenpond from inside the house.

zencat is celebrating labor day today with a major nap. joyce is zenning out by taking full advantage of all the labor day sales. You, of course, know what john is doing; meditating over this site.

September 17 - there has been a reason john has not been recording the events of zenpond for a while. joyce and john's best friends, gail and jerry, went camping at Wolf Creek camp grounds in Colorado starting on September 3. On September 7, they took a long hike up the mountains. When they returned, gail started feeling pains in her chest. They went into Pagosa Springs where they were told she was not having a heart attack and was given pain pills. She suffered at the camp site the next day thinking that perhaps the pain might be caused by a gall stone. On Saturday, they drove the 75 miles to the emergency room of the excellent (!) hospital in Durango where gail was immediately admitted. She had emergency gall bladder surgery that evening. john flew out via Southwest Airlines to Albuquerque, NM and then via Rio Grande Air to Durango to help take down the camper and to drive gail and jerry back to Overland Park. gail was dismissed on September 13 and the slow drive back began. They all arrived safely, but very tired, on September 15. This page will be continued shortly.

September 21 - The Fall weather has begun. This morning john and his helper, Eddie, worked some more on the retaining wall behind the large waterfall. The temperature was probably in the mid 50's. The lower portion of the wall, four feet high, is nearing completion. The second portion is back 4 - 5 feet and will rise another 4 feet. A third portion may be necessary to get to the 10 feet level of the top of the waterfall. john had a fish kill in the small pond yesterday. He lost about 18 fish when he filled the pond with fresh water and used less tap water conditioner than he should have. He ran out of conditioner, but thought that the amount left would do...wrong...wrong...wrong!

September 29 - The lower section of the retaining wall is done. The upper section will be started tomorrow. The Keystone block wall is impressive and the flower garden on its terrace should be outstanding next spring. john has been using too many words for the last several months and not enough pictures, so starting now...

john wants to remind everyone that the guestbook is still broken after the move from one host server to another. Hopefully, john will finally figure out what broke soon.