Greeting, Pond Boss faithful!
I can't express how humbling it is to stroll through this website forum and see how people help each other consistently and bring the newcomers into our ever-growing Pond Boss family. We have a strong backbone of people who volunteer to keep this forum healthy, family-friendly and respectable...and mostly on subject matter. The moderators are the best in the nation. These folks are charged with keeping the rules, keeping the peace and offering friendly, helpful advice. They do it, too.
We're all pretty busy people, doing what we do. I thank you for taking the time to take advantage of the resources we have to offer.
Back in December, Bill Cody sent me an email, encouraging some time spent in this blog. He said, "Maybe even just add your editor's letter in the next magazine." I loved that idea, so further down, you'll see my editor's letter and a preview in the next issue of Pond Boss.
One of my New Year's Resolutions (Yeah, who keeps those, right?) is to participate in the forum on a more frequent basis, so look at this as the beginning of that promise.
There is truly lots to share and I'll do a better job of that in 2016.
As an update, Pond Boss now does a monthly email newsletter, totally different than the magazine. We'll do everything from little timely tips to product reviews to news things that are out of date by the time we go to press. If that's of interest to you, and you don't receive it, send an email to info@pondboss.com. In the subject line, write, "please add to the email newsletter list".
Also, we have a Facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/PondBossMagazine/If you do FB, hit "like". We often post things from the field as we do them...newsy stuff that's interesting.
So everyone knows, I'm always looking for interesting stories, especially from landowners and pond managers who have a story to tell, to publish in the magazine. If you have a story, drop me a note and let's discuss it. We publish those types of stories often...there's another one coming up in the March-April issue. If you haven't subscribed, click here and join up.
http://www.pondboss.com/subscribe.aspGlad you're on board!
Here's my editor's letter for March-April, 2016
As these words cascade from my brain and roll through my fingertips onto this electronic machine, scoot across the open prairie of an Internet cloud to be readied for printing, I’m feeling reflective. On the heels of a whirlwind trip to Merida, Mexico, consulting on a unique lake construction project, my mind is darting back and forth from Mexico to the United States, and back again to that part of Mexico. I’ll admit, I’d never heard of Merida. Many of you have, but not me.
We met some fascinating people who were more than willing to listen to our experiences and advice. We spent most of our time with businessman Eduardo Gasque, a passionate man fulfilling a lifelong dream. He immersed us into his culture for those few days, with respect and high regard for both what we needed and what we know.
Naturally, I compared cultures. In our country, we tend to think ourselves as a first world country—whatever that means. We see other nations with less than we have as underdeveloped, third world countries. What I saw was a big city doing what cities do, with the hustle and bustle associated. I also saw quaint villages with people either afoot or in a pedal-powered taxi-cycle, going about business. I’m sure there was some despair somewhere, but mostly I saw content people living their lives in communities built around a central church and adjacent plaza for commerce. Many people walked, some rode bicycles, and others drove cars.
Almost everyone had a smart phone. It didn’t matter if they were on the back of a donkey, curled into a small seat of a motorcycle taxi, or walking, I’d see that proverbial downward glance at some handheld device.
I saw fresh fruit peddled from wagons, freshly plucked chickens hanging outside waiting to be cut, cooked, packaged, and taken home for supper. That aspect of the culture was definitely different.
I asked Eduardo what he thought about Donald Trump’s claim that Mexico will pay for a fence between our countries. He smiled a huge smile and shook his head. He didn’t have to speak. That look spoke a universal language.
While that short trip was fascinating and insightful, so was coming home. We were coming off two other trips, one to Florida for the inaugural Society of Lake Management Professional’s Summit and Conference, immediately followed by a fish habitat meeting sponsored by South Dakota State University and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department in Athens, Texas.
Boy, do I have a lot to share with you this upcoming year!
Speaking of sharing, we have some great stuff lined up this issue. Associate Editor, Beth Lahaie, said, “I think this issue is one for the record books—outstanding content!”
She’s right.
Do me a favor, will you please? Refer us to a friend with a pond, a neighbor, or people from church. Pond Boss is ready to expand our readership, and I truly think the best way is to ask our friends, the Pond Boss family, for referrals. I know you believe in us, or you wouldn’t read these words. I’ll make it easy on you. If you’ll send us an email at info@pondboss.com with names and addresses of friends, neighbors, acquaintances, and anyone that could benefit from these pages, we’ll send them a free issue of the magazine. If you send us ten or more names, we’ll send you a Pond Boss hat or a coffee mug, your choice.
With the July-August issue, Pond Boss will start our 25th year, and we want to celebrate that milestone with as many folks as we can.
We’ve started sending out email newsletters, too. They are short, with product reviews, newsy things, and timely tips—whatever we think might be helpful during that time window. If you don’t get those newsletters, send us an email asking for it, and we’ll add you to the list. That’s part of the benefit of your subscription.
In case you’re wondering, we’re still collecting and processing information from all those surveys you guys sent in after the Jan-Feb issue. Great response and helpful information. We’ll share that in the May-June issue.
Speaking of information, here’s what’s in store in this issue. Arthur Litteken, if you read these words, your request to bring back “Birdman Mel” Toellner’s “Backyard Nature Notes” tipped the scales. We’ve had several requests, so I dropped him a note. He’s a busy guy, but also knows inquiring minds want what he knows. Be sure to read the feature about Merida, you’ll enjoy it. It’s way outside any box you and I might reside. I’d been communicating with Tony Vaught from northern California for some time. Our article about Jordan Winery caught his eye. His story is about different pond types in his diverse state. What you read will parallel what you have and offer insight into how you think about your waters. Otto tells some woes of last spring’s incessant floods in his neighborhood, and what happened to save a lake and repair a freshly eroded emergency spillway. Michael Gray repairs a sinkhole. Did it work? Read all about it. Cornwell revisits bucket biology, Eric West digs into crappie ideas, Brian Graeb offers easy-to-understand science, Beasley figures out watermeal, Wes Neal brings a solid discussion about genetics, and Claude Boyd writes about alkalinity in your water. Dan V gives a lesson about aquatic furbearers, and I’ve got columns about timing water samples, and how we’re about to renovate a pond here at LL,2. A good friend of mine, TJ Greaney, takes you through his journey building a small pond in his front yard in rocky Austin, Texas—you can do what he did. My favorite story though, is “Pond to Plate.” It is an astonishing recipe with breathtaking images. You will want to cook that dish immediately.
Lastly, included with this issue is our annual Resource Guide. Please keep that as a reference and give those people a call. We’ve vetted all of them and like what we see.
