Cleaning The Fountain At 1:30 a.m.

I was out working on the fountain around 1:30 in the morning. Yeah, you heard it right; 1:30 in the ayem. Happened to be out there with a friend and, as we were chatting, I said that the ball top of the thing seemed to be gummed up somewhat. Earlier in the evening, I had been using a toothpick I keep out there to clear the pump of whatever leaves and gunk get in and used it to poke through the holes in the ball.

We both agreed it would probably be best to wait until the sun was up. Be a lot easier to see what I was doing that way, rather than thrashing around in the dark.

I’m never sure how this stuff gets in there. Maybe leaves, or junk that’s blowing around the courtyard, somehow manages to slide under the ball and into the reservoir. I really should give it a good looking over one of these days, and also check for leaks; the thing seems to use more water than I can account for by evaporation and bird drinking.

There’s a major robin and a minor robin at the fountain. When I come out of my apartment, the minor robin takes off. The major robin just looks at me and keeps on doing what he’s doing. If it’s a hot day, he might just be sitting there getting wet. Eventually, the minor robin will catch on that I’m harmless and will stick around.

Everybody has a story.
Robert Bach, a former local resident, passed away in January (with his obituary just in today). “His great interest was traveling and he took great pride in the fact that he had visited over 75 countries.”