ROAD TRIP TO TOPEKA ZOO

to see KAY’S GARDEN

Sunday, September 13 Leave from Towne East

parking lot south of Penney’s at 10:00 a.m. or navigate your own way to the Topeka Zoo.

Kay’s Garden is a large Japanese garden, including a large koi pond (not many koi yet). The grand opening is August 27, so it is very new. We will caravan/carpool from Towne East or you can navigate your own way there. See directions later in this newsletter and other details in my President’s Letter. Mike

UPCOMING EVENTS Sep 13: Topeka Road trip Oct 3: KPS Meeting? Nov 7: KPS Auction at Botanica Dec 5: KPS Holiday Party Jan 9: KPS Meeting Feb 6: KPS Meeting WELCOME NEW

MEMBERS Davy & Joellen Armstrong

Michael Bryan Albert Brouwer & Brenda

Aldinger

President: Mike Kandt 838-6681, koikat@cox.net

Vice-President: Wanita Wright, 733-6626, wrightd9@aol.com Treasurer: Larry Determann 945-0017, ksscouter@cox.net Secretary: Susan Kandt, 838-6681, koikat@cox.net Newsletter Editor: Mike Kandt 838-6681, koikat@cox.net Webmaster: Wayne Determann, wdetermann@gmail.com

FROM THE PRESIDENT By Mike Kandt We are taking this “reopening” slowly. Instead of a meeting in September, a road trip is scheduled for Sunday (yes, Sunday), September 13, to Topeka to see “Kay’s Garden”, a new large koi pond and Japanese garden at their zoo. Kay’s Garden is named after Kansas Supreme Court Chief Justice Kay McFarland, who established a living trust to help fund her dream of a world-class Japanese garden. You can meet us at the south parking lot of Towne East Square at 10:00 a.m., where we will start a caravan. Or you can just take off on your own and meet us in Topeka. (See the directions later in this newsletter.) We will plan to meet at the garden at 12:45. Park in the zoo’s lot or along the street. Go on inside the zoo and ask for directions to Kay’s Garden. Admission is: adults $7.75; seniors (over 65) $6.75; kids 3-12 $6.25; and kids under 2 are free. This will get you into the zoo, also. There is a café/snack bar there, but you might plan to eat at one of the fast-food places along Gage Boulevard before you enter. We will meet at the south gate of the garden (12:45). I will do a brief talk about the construction and pond features, then you will be on your own to explore the garden and zoo. Be prepared with a mask. The zoo closes at 5:00, but people can leave earlier if they want. I would like to get a head count for the zoo folks, so please send me an e-mail or call and leave a message on my phone if you are going and how many will be in your party. Feel free to start looking for car-pool partners, if desired. October is still uncertain. We still are under a 15-person meeting limit, but it expires on September 9 unless extended. We’ll let you know. We do have Botanica reserved for the auction in November, just after the national election. Hopefully, things will have lightened up by then, but who knows? We are optimistic that our December holiday party is still on, so be thinking about that. If you haven’t checked out the KPS Virtual Pond Tour, you can view this on YouTube at https://youtu.be/o8nB5_8HR-g. Bruce Blank did a great job of putting this together. We said we were going to have special prizes

for best photos. We will award these at our November meeting. In the immortal words of Roy Rogers: “Happy Trails to you, until we meet again.” Keep masked up, socially distanced and safe.

September 2020

WEBSITE PASSWORD

Every year we change the password to the “Members” tab on our website:

www.kansaspondsociety.org. We do this to restrict access to paid

members only. The new password is:

GOLDFISH (All “CAPS”)

Please do not give this to friends who are

not paid members.

SWAP SHOP If you have articles, plants or fish to sell or give away, let me know at 838-6681 or koikat@cox.net Want Fish: There are several members who have new ponds and are looking for fish, primarily koi. If you have fish that you want to get rid of, contact Wanita at wrightd9@aol.com or 733-6626. UV fish spitter: Up to 2,000-gallon pond, needs a new bulb. $25; retails for close to $300. lweeks@usd260.com. Lisa 316-295-3592 (landline) or 316-259-1685 (cell)See https://www.pondgardener.com/products/aquauv-aqua-fish for details. DIRECTIONS TO THE TOPEKA ZOO FROM WICHITA If you are leaving from Towne East Square and lose the group in traffic or at a stop light, here are your directions to the turnpike entrance; • Exit Towne East Square parking lot east to Rock Road. Turn

north. • Take Rock Road to Central. Turn east. • Take Central to 127th east. Turn south. • Get on I-35 (Turnpike) north to Topeka. If you just want to

meet us in Topeka, then find your way to the turnpike (I-35). • Follow I-35 to Emporia. Continue north on I-335 to Topeka. • Take the first Topeka exit 177 for I-470W. This is also the exit

for Lays Potato Chip factory and the Army Reserve Center. After the toll booth, bear left toward US75/Topeka.

• Continue on I-470W 2.3 miles to Gage Boulevard (exit 4). Turn north.

• Follow Gage Boulevard 2.9 miles to 10th Street. Turn left (west).

• Turn at the first right (0.1 mile) into Gage Park (Zoo Parkway).

• After 200 feet, turn left onto Munn Memorial Drive (don’t turn right as GPS instructs) and follow this (about 0.3 miles) to the zoo parking lot just west of the zoo entrance.

MEMBER PERKS

ANDOVER RENTAL CENTER- 10% DISCOUNT (NEW) HILLSIDE FEED & SEED ------ 10% DISCOUNT (everything in store) HONG’S LANDSCAPE -------- 25% OFF POND PRODUCTS KANSAS NATURAL STONE– 10% DISCOUNT (on all stone) LIVING WATERS -------------- $50.00 OFF ANY SERVICE livingwatersict.com SCENIC LANDSCAPE --------- 10% DISCOUNT (pond plants & supplements -Dechlorinator, beneficial bacteria, etc.) WOODARD MERCANTILE ----- $2.00 off 20-lb fish food YOU MUST SHOW YOUR CURRENT MEMBERSHIP CARD TO RECEIVE THE DISCOUNTS

Topeka Zoo

Did you know… A koi pond ideally has a turnover rate (volume of pond water through the pump/filter) that quickly gets the load of ammonia produced by the koi to the filter before this toxin damages the fish’s gills. Recommended turn rates range from 100% in 1 hour to four hours, depending on fish volume. ……..wcw.

MOISTURE-LOVING PLANTS

By Mike Kandt

SWAMP ROSE MALLOW Hibiscus moscheutos The rose mallow, also known as the swamp rose mallow, is a native plant that occurs in eastern North America from southern Ontario to Texas, east to Florida, and north to southern New England. It is one of the largest wildflowers in North America. A large, attractive plant suited for sunny, moist, even wet and slightly acidic sites. Multiple stems will come from a single plant on this shrub-like perennial forb. This plant can reach 6-7 feet high. The large leaves are dark gray-green and hairy on the underside. The stunning white or pink flowers can reach 6" across, with dark pink centers, and long cream-colored stamens. Great for a late-summer living fence, a wetland edge, or rain garden. The preference is full to partial sun, wet to consistently moist conditions, and soil containing loam, silt, or some sand with organic material. Hardy in zones 5-8. Blooms from July to September. Rose mallows are perennials, which die back in the cold weather and re-grow in the spring. They can live for several decades. Interestingly, the sap of a relative of the rose mallow -- the marsh mallow native to Europe, West Asia, and North Africa -- was originally combined with sugar to produce marshmallow candy. But today, marshmallows are made with corn syrup, sugar, corn starch, and gelatin.

THE INTERNATIONAL WATERLILY AND

WATER GARDENING SOCIETY The Kansas Pond Society is now a member of the International Waterlily & Water Gardening Society. As such, we now have access to the IWGS website. Go to IWGS.org, click on Log In and enter: User ID: KansasPondSociety Password: KansasPonds Only one member can use the website at a time unless you subscribe as an Individual Member, which is recommended. It’s only $25 per year.

The KOI CHRONICLES By Wanita Wright

FILTRATION BASICS - PART 2 In June we discussed mechanical filtration, which removes physical particles from the water. This month we will discuss biological filtration and types of media. Biological filtration converts toxic ammonia and nitrite into nitrates. Nitrates naturally fertilize plants in the pond and are harmless to fish (unless concentrated). The agents that convert toxins to nitrates are naturally-occurring beneficial bacteria (see The Nitrogen Cycle). These bacteria will naturally grow on all the surfaces in your pond. However, a pond with a lot of fish, large fish or heavily-fed fish will need a bio-filter that concentrates a massive colony of biological bacteria which can detoxify the water. A bio-filter is a container filled with a material (media) that has a lot of surface area for growing colonies of bacteria. Water is pumped through the media at a rate that allows the bacteria to feed on the toxic ammonia and nitrite. The surface area of the media allows the bacteria colony to grow to a mass that consumes all the toxic chemicals present in the water. The three most common styles of pure biological filters are:

trickle filters fluidized bed filters bio-wheels We will have additional discussions on these pure biological filters in the future. .

FILTER MEDIA Cost, maintenance, performance, ability to collect debris, available surface area for bacteria, space requirements, durability, and resistance to clogging, channeling, and compacting are all factors to think about before deciding what to use as filter media. Commonly used media include gravel, mixed plastic media, buoyant bead, lava rock, filter brushes, filter mat, plastic ribbon, open-cell foam, ceramic media, plant roots and sand. Each of these media types can be used for mechanical and biological filtration. In most cases, they serve to function as both, and the following discussion, addressing cleaning, implies a combination of filtration functions. A pure biological filtration system would never need cleaning, theoretically. Plants, if used as the sole means of filtration, should be housed in a connected, separate pond. This plant pond, or bog, acts as a filter chamber. It should be the equivalent of 10% to 20% of the surface area of the main pond and 10 to 18 inches deep. For plant filtration to work, water must move slowly through the plant roots. The total volume of pond water should travel through the plant bed no faster than every two to four hours. The best plants for plant filters are bog plants, which include bulrush, cattail, water iris, pickerel weed, lovage, etc. Also consider floating plants such as lettuce and water hyacinths, both of which grow long roots that have bacteria and which also catch and stall out smaller particles of fish waste and other debris. Also, try to keep 60% of the main pond’s surface covered with water lilies, hyacinth, lettuce, etc. Besides looking appealing, they provide shade and will reduce the number of planktonic algae that will grow – a real asset! Plants will clear water, remove nitrate, and provide habitat, shelter and food for various water creatures. Plants do not remove accumulated solids and should never be considered a replacement for man-made filters in ponds with an average or heavy fish load. Plants may slow the movement of water enough that dirt and waste particulates which don’t float as well will sink and will raise your ‘soil’ level over time. A bit of removal of this to the garden periodically will alleviate that issue. Take care that your pond does not have too many “oxygenating” plants. These plants use dissolved oxygen during the nighttime hours, robbing your fish of precious oxygen they need to survive. Also, a major facilitator in biological filtration of ALL kinds is high levels of oxygenated water. Be sure you have air pumps going in various areas of the pond, including filter beds. Gravel and sand both require large volumes to provide sufficient surface area upon which bacteria can live. I find both difficult to clean and they become clogged quite quickly if there isn’t heavy air turbulence to oxygenate the bed. Without aeration, gathered debris particles can turn anaerobic, trap large amounts of ammonia created from

the deterioration of wastes, and when disturbed, release those pockets, which can harm and sometimes even kill fish. I recommend avoiding both. Foam is so dense that it can quickly clog and requires constant cleaning. This limits the growth of strong bacteria colonies, due to the high maintenance requirements. Filter mat may be a better choice for under-water box filters, skinners, etc. Lava rock is an excellent cleaner and water polisher. In fact, it is so effective that with a heavy fish load it will require cleaning once or twice a season, at least. If you choose this, fill laundry bags half full of the rocks so you can pull the bags out easier and hose them off when the rocks get caked and need to be rinsed. If you have city water, you can fill a barrel, add DE chlorinator or wait 3 days until the chlorine dissipates, and put the bag in the barrel and swish it up and down to get the heavy residue removed. Filter brushes are also quite effective as biological media. My experience with these has been that they also attract a great deal of debris and need to be rinsed periodically. Mixed plastic media, buoyant bead, plastic ribbon, and ceramic media are all very effective media types for biological filtration. Mixed plastic media can even be scrubbing balls used in kitchen dish washing. The key is that they have huge amounts of surface area in which biological bacteria can attach themselves and remove ammonia and nitrites from the water as the water passes over them. These also are easier to handle if contained in bags that can be removed individually when they require rinsing. Bead filters use buoyant beads to remove the ammonia and nitrites. Beads can get clumped together and cause channeling if not stirred up on a frequent basis. My preference is plastic media. I switched from beads to plastic wheel spokes and small tubes a few years back and have found that they are more effective, keep themselves from channeling, and do not require the removal and thorough cleaning that beads require. Plastic ribbon is very effective, also. One of our members provided us with plastic shavings for several years, and these were very effective as biological media. They too require some cleaning. I have no experience with ceramic media on a large scale. Cleaning Biological Filter Media Yes, many, if not all types of biological filter media need to be cleaned periodically. Even plant bogs need to be thinned and sometimes have some of the root media removed so it doesn’t become clogged and prevent the water flowing through it. My recommendations for cleaning:

• Keep an eye on your media. It will show you when it desperately needs cleaning. The pond will become cloudy, the water may not move through it evenly, it may be stuck together in big clumps, or it may look like muck is covering everything so heavily that it will just drop off if lifted. If you lift a bag out of the water and it leaves a dark cloud of debris, it needed to be cleaned yesterday.

• Set up a regular cleaning schedule to keep your filtration operating at peak performance rather than waiting

until everything becomes clogged. • Cleaning some media this week and some next week (so to speak) provides two benefits. The first and very

important one is that you have not flushed all the biological bacteria away. The media not being cleaned will continue to work while the cleaned media needs time to grow colonies such that it is back to its full capacity. A little at a time keeps the pond biologically ‘clean’ all the time.

• DON’T clean too thoroughly. If in doubt, leave some ‘dirt’. You want to get rid of most of the waste you

see, but do not wash everything perfectly clean. In doing so, you are removing all the biological bacteria and your media has to start all over growing the biological colonies again. This takes about 6 weeks if your media is not seeded after cleaning. Rather, a couple of strong dunks in a tank, a good stir of the plastic media in your tank and then a flush, or a good spray with a hose and no scrubbing, works great. A good example is the moss on the walls of your pond. It houses a tremendous number of biological bacteria that eats ammonia and nitrites. It is best to spray it until the water runs somewhat clean and then STOP. Leave the moss on the walls. It is just as or more effective than our man-made filtration.

• City water with chlorine and chloramine will KILL biological bacteria instantly. There are several options to avoid this. Rinse with well water if you have it. Or fill a barrel full of city water and dechlorinate it before using it. Or you can reseed the pond after cleaning with city water. City water is another good reason to clean a little at a time, rather than everything at once. If in doubt, choose caution and test your water for ammonia two or three days after the cleaning. If the test shows ammonia at any level, then next time do less at a time, or seed if you cannot do cleaning in phases.

Wanita

The Most Expensive Koi Fish in The World: check out this video. It is rather long, but VERY interesting!!! https://youtu.be/HuFkuxi5Edo

Cattail Casserole Recipe 2 cups scraped cattail spikes 1 cup bread crumbs 1 egg, beaten 1/2 cup milk salt and pepper 1 onion diced 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese Combine all ingredients in a casserole dish and place in an oven set to 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Serve when piping hot. Feel free to add sliced hot peppers or bell peppers for a contrast in color and flavor. Anything that will go good with corn will make a good addition to this casserole. Extra casserole freezes easily and stores for 6-8 months. (Recipe from Valentine Floral Creations.)

HOSTA SALE AT BOTANICA

Sponsored by the Wichita Hosta Society

Saturday, August 29 9 AM – 3 PM

Lotus “Green Maiden” Water Lily “Red Blue Ocean”

TIP OF THE MONTH

Ever wonder how those beautiful water lilies are hybridized? I found this article from Kirk Strawn, who

developed over 50 cultivars that we would recognize. Dr. Strawn passed away in 2008.

Water Lily Hybridization by Kirk Strawn, PhD

Text provided by John Loggins of Lone Star Aquatics Image provided by Charlene Strawn

Dr. Strawn demonstrating how to hybridize a waterlily in 1998

In the hot weather of summer, many of the otherwise fertile hardy water lilies are sterile. In College Station, Texas, I pollinate hardy water lilies mid-September through mid-October, but pollination in the spring would also be good if it weren't for all of my time, which was going to digging and shipping.

To hybridize, find first-day flowers. They have a pool of liquid covering the stigma. This is a large area in the center of the flower. Put the pollen from a second-day flower into the pool of liquid and stir it around. It would be good to do this as soon as possible to beat bees and other insect pollinators. However, the second-day flower may not release its pollen until later in the morning. You can use pollen from third-day flowers. However, the bees may have removed all the pollen from anthers of the third-day flowers. They can also remove the pollen from second-day flowers before the morning is over. To keep insects from removing the pollen, you may have to cover second-day flowers with netting before they open in the morning. The liquid covering the stigma may dry up before the flower closes. Rub pollen on the dry stigma and you may still get fertilization. I tend to remove one anther full of ripe pollen from a second-day flower and stir it around in the fluid covering the stigma of the first-day flower.

Covering a flower before it opens the first day with either netting or a plastic bag to prevent pollination is probably the best procedure. However, I have gotten very good results when insects have not been excluded prior to my putting pollen on the stigma of the first-day flower. After putting pollen into the pool of liquid covering the stigma, I cover the flower with a plastic bag. Use the tie that comes with the bag to snugly attach the open end of the bag to the stem below the flower. When the seeds are released, the stem will keep them from being lost from the bag. Even if you are slow to collect the seeds, and the stem rots, many of the seeds will remain in the bag.

The seeds have a covering that makes them float the first day after they are released from the seed pod. They could float longer if the weather is cool. I leave them in the bag until the covering rots off and the seeds sink. I tie one end of the plastic ribbon to the bag and the other end to a stake. This keeps the bag from getting lost on the bottom of the pond. The colored plastic ribbon helps one locate the seed.*

The washed seeds can be stored wet in the plastic bags. Keeping them in the refrigerator prevents sprouting in the bag. Tropical seeds can be stored dry, but hardy seeds need to be stored wet.

I plant the seeds in pans of soil outdoors in light shade. I have planted seeds under artificial light indoors, but the little plants have died when exposed to sunlight outdoors. I scatter the seeds on soil an inch or two thick. I cover the seeds with a thin layer of sand after scattering the seed on the soil. I put an inch or two of water over the sand. Laying a piece of newspaper over the soil before slowly adding water keeps the seeds from being washed out of the soil. When the seedlings have two or three surface leaves, they can be transplanted into pots. I use gallon pots. In my hot climate, they may bloom by the summer following sprouting, but in cold climates it takes longer. Most seeds of hardies planted in the summer and over-wintered outside in my part of Texas sprout in the spring, but some sprout the summer planted. Some hardy may not sprout before the second year or later.

Marliac had a policy of not releasing fertile water lilies, and his descendants continued this policy. I believe that a few of Marliac's hardies have some fertile pollen. The plant sold as Arc En Ciel is fertile. Most hardies by other hybridizers are fertile. Most tropicals are fertile. My best success getting excellent new hardy varieties has been using Texas Nympheaa Mexicana pollen on fertile hybrid hardies. I have not tried the reverse cross.

For propagation from hardy tubers, cutting off the main plant from the rest of the tuber will cause the eyes behind the cut to develop into plants. The eyes may die otherwise. You have a head start on growth of new plants if you leave the posterior parts of the tuber rooted in the soil. You can get worthwhile survival of eye pieces even if the tuber is dug up before the eye pieces are planted. Transplanting the main plant gives more reason for the new plants to develop. Any eyes cut off with the main plant can be potted individually in shallow water in gallon pots. Include a cross-section of the tuber with each eye to give it nourishment and help survival.

* Bob Strawn added in 2005: "Dad started putting a small chunk of Styrofoam in the hybrid bags to further insure that they could be found."

WATER LILIES AS CUT FLOWERS

“Water lilies make wonderful cut flowers, either as part of arrangements or on their own! Select first-day flowers for cutting, and you can expect them to last three to five days, depending on the varieties selected. Those with short stems can be floated in bowls for a lovely effect. Long-stemmed flowers can be kept erect with floral wire. The life of cut flowers, including water lilies, can be extended using a mild solution of sugar and water or products made especially for the purpose such as Stafresh.” “Unless "helped" with several methods described below, the flowers will open and close as they would if still on the plants. Both day and night bloomers will follow their usual schedule.” “Dr. G.L. Thomas, Jr., in his book Garden Pools, Water-Lilies and Goldfish (1958. D. Van Nostrand Company, Inc. p. 128), wrote:

"There are two sure ways of keeping blooms open. You can place stems in a vase of ice water, and store them in the refrigerator until time to use them as decorations. You will find that they will then remain open for a few hours. Or you can let the blooms unfold to their fullest before cutting them, and then put a drop of melted paraffin or wax from a lighted candle at the point where stamens, petals, and sepals join. Hardening the paraffin or wax forms an unseen but sturdy cast which holds blooms open. Either procedure keeps flowers at their loveliest for three or four days, with no loss of luster or fragrance. A word of caution: Water-lilies set out in this way as decoration bear up well under heat and even a bit of handling, but a strong, sustained draft of cold air will kill them. So don't set them directly in front of an air-conditioning unit."

KPS EQUIPMENT FOR LOAN

The Kansas Pond Society has a 3,000-gph submersible pump and discharge hose and two water meters that members may borrow when you clean out your ponds. The water meters are critical for determining the exact volume of water that your pond and stream hold. The only thing we ask is that you pick them up and return them quickly so that others may use them. If you are interested, call Mike at 838-6681 or 619-7501.

ADVERTISING RATES Business Card Size Ad (about 2" x 3 ½"): $15 / 3-month period; $50 / yr Quarter-Page Ad (about 3 ½" x 4 ½"): $30/ 3-month period; $100 / yr Half-Page Ad (about 5" x 7 ½"): $60 per 3-month period; $200 per year Full-Page Ad (8 ½” x 11"): $400/ yr

Bill Vawter & Associates, Inc. Insurance and Financial Services

110 E Waterman, Suite 150, Wichita, KS 67202 Office 316-789-1919 Email Bill@Billvawter.com.

In the Insurance Business since 1984. Helping people with Insurance and Financial Planning Offering Quality Products from Selected Companies Annuities, Health, Life, Long Term Care Insurance and All lines of Medicare Insurance. Please call me for quotes from multiple companies

MEMBERSHIP CARDS

Also, please note that your membership card is good thru December 31st, which is the same date through which your annual dues are paid. EACH YEAR YOU WILL NEED A NEW MEMBERSHIP CARD FOR THE NEW YEAR. The vendors who are so generous with their discounts to our members have committed to honoring membership discounts for active cards for the current year only. They have not committed to giving discounts on expired cards. We truly appreciate their generosity and ask that everyone honor them by being considerate and showing them current-year membership cards. In lieu of having a membership card with you when you shop, you can pay for another year’s membership which will credit toward your next year’s dues.

FISH TALES by Susan Kandt

2020-WORLD Wow. It seems like a month of Sundays since I last wrote a whole column. Like it was another era. Like it was in an entirely different world. And it was. The days of the pre-pandemic, pre-plague, pre-apocalypse, pre-Covid, pre-crud – whatever you choose to call it -- that all seems like something from the history pages now, doesn’t it? I feel positively rusty sitting down to try to write about “normal” stuff. You remember normal? Back as late as 2019, when our worries were largely centered around keeping up with a social schedule of movies and lunches with friends, scheduling doctor and dental appointments, coming up with food to take to club meetings or Tuesdays on the Terrace concerts at Botanica, keeping house clutter picked up in case somebody dropped by, keeping up with the laundry, finding time to water and pull weeds in the yard, remembering to clean out the fish pond filters, running to the store to pick up something for supper. For me, all those “normal” activities that used to be second nature have now taken on a weird sort of vibe. Everything, regardless of how minor it is, seems to require exhaustive planning and serious decision-making these

days. Movies? I used to love going to movies, usually fitting in one a week or so. Now? You couldn’t pay me enough to go sit in a movie theater. God only knows what nasty organisms are lurking in that recycled air and on the theater seats. And that teenager sacking up our popcorn? Didn’t he just cough within inches of the fake butter dispenser?

Same with going out to lunch. Used to do it all the time. It was a favorite way of keeping up with friends and new restaurants. But now? If somebody asks me out to lunch, I get a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. I know I need to go. I know I want to go. I hate the thought of losing touch with my friends, and I want those locally-owned eating establishments to stay in business. But the idea of going inside and breathing the same air as a bunch of strangers just makes me downright twitchy. So I only agree to go to a place where I can sit outside, hopefully in the shade, and ideally as far away from other human beings as I can possibly get. In south central Kansas, a table outside in the shade, I’ve discovered, is a rarity, so that seriously limits my choices. And in an overpopulated world, the same goes for keeping social distance. Tuesday night concerts at Botanica are a thing of the past, at least for this year, and doing errands as basic as running to the store to pick up one or two items has become like planning a military raid. Don’t forget the mask; oh, and better take a backup along just in case the elastic breaks on the one I’m wearing (it’s happened – more than once). Check out the people going into the store. How many are wearing masks and how many aren’t? I’ve gotten good with mask statistics. After every trip to the store I take results of my observations back to Mike: “Four out of five people were wearing masks”, or more alarmingly, “This time, I’d say two out of five were wearing masks.” Oh, and don’t forget to deliver the field report on what’s missing from the shelves as of late. Toilet paper seems to be back, but paper towels have become iffy again. And spray Lysol and Wet Wipes? Forget it. Still largely MIA.

But going to the store is generally a team effort with us now. Again, like military strategy. Kind of a, “If I have to do this, so do you”, or a safety-in-numbers sort of thing. And if I come back from Leeker’s or Dillon’s and suddenly go into a sneezing or coughing fit (because it’s always allergy season these days and I forgot to take my Zyrtek), I momentarily panic. Is this Covid? Or is it just whatever’s blooming this week in my pollinator garden? It’s always the latter, but you never know. Even the cats jerk their heads up out of a sound sleep when I

start sneezing. “It’s okay, Junior – it’s just allergies. You can come down off the drapes now.”

Strangest of all? How I parse out the routine tasks around the house. Because I don’t go to out socially these days, I stretch out doing the laundry. I figure if I do all the laundry today, what am I going to do tomorrow? Better wash the darks today and save the whites for another day so I don’t run out of stuff to do. Oh, this is new. To get out of the house and get some exercise, I’ve started bicycle riding more and taking midnight walks. Most of my friends and neighbors think I’m certifiably nuts to be out walking at midnight, but I feel safe on our lighted street and I take precautions. (I carry my cell phone, a miniature flashlight, and a small souvenir Louisville Slugger baseball bat.) The street is quiet, traffic-free and cooler late at night. I don’t deviate from Sullivan. I walk straight up to 61st, turn around and come back – no side trips onto the courts and side streets like I’d do in the daylight. To keep the walk from getting boring, I make creepily detailed observations. Between our house and 61st, there are exactly 23 houses on the west side of the street and 25 houses on the east side. I know who has which trash service from the dumpsters I see sitting out on which nights of the week. I know who stays up late

and who turns in before midnight. I can tell by the flicker through the window shades who’s watching TV in their bedroom as opposed to the living room. I know who has dogs that are kept outside at night. I know who’s been partying in defiance of the large-numbers mandate (I’d make an excellent narc were I so inclined). I’ve noticed exactly what kind of landscape lighting each house has and when one of them gets new lighting. (Ben, who recently moved in ten houses north of us, has really cool lights that look like flickering torches. Three nights after I noticed and admired those torch lights, the guy who lives across the street put in the same lights. The next time I see one of those guys – in the

daytime, not at midnight – I need to ask where they got them, because I have got to get me some of those.) So yes, my life in 2020-World has changed in small, weird ways. But some things are the same as always. I still can’t stand to go out and work in the yard once the mid-July/August heat hits. And when I do go out there, I see that the blister beetles and the grasshoppers are greedily munching away on my hostas, just like they do in late summer of every year. I need to spray something, but I don’t want to kill my pollinators. What to do? And seeing those insect bites in my leaves is, oddly, somewhat comforting this year. I guess I figure that if the bugs are behaving the same in 2020 as in past years, there’s hope the world hasn’t completely spun off its axis. Okay, gentle readers, I know you were hoping I’d write something funny and diverting this month, but I had to get all this off my chest, so, sorry -- I’m just not there yet. Hopefully, after the news on the vaccine front sounds like hope is definitely on the way (and the election is over), I’ll start feeling normal again.

After all, fall is on the horizon, and the trees will soon gussy themselves up in splendid shades of red, orange, and yellow – just as they’ve always done. The evenings will turn crisp and I’ll get to drag out my favorite sweaters, like I always do. We can haul in wood and start a warm, comforting fire in the fireplace and bask in the glow as we do every year. Even a plague year, with all its scary surprises, can’t take those joys away from us.

And I know it could be infinitely worse. Mike and I both realize how lucky we are, compared to a lot of people. We don’t have young children to worry about: do we risk their health or the health of their teachers and staff by sending them to school, or risk their education by keeping them at home? And we’re retired, so we don’t have to fear getting called back to work and co-mingling with other people – or fear NOT getting called back at all because our jobs don’t exist anymore. 2020? This too shall pass. Regardless of all that’s happened this year, a song keeps running through my head: “Happy days are here again.” I don’t know about you, but I’m counting on it. See you in September? SUSAN