Lynn, and what a beautiful avenue of American Elms. I share Johnstown's saddness in the loss of them. We lost our majestic elm two years ago. It was what first attracted us to the lot that we bought on which to build our retirement home.

I came home tonight to feed the horses, saw they needed water, so I turned it on, went and fed the cat and returned after a couple of minutes to check the water. There were three raccoons in the paddock grabbing up each piece of grain that the horse dropped. They scrambled up a tree and were staring down at me. I got the camera, and when I came back out, two had fled, but one was still there. When the water trough was filled, I turned off the water, went in the house, and heard a noise from where the cat's bowl is. It was this guy: The flash of the camera scared him off, but 10 minutes later I heard noises again. I assumed it was the opossum again but this time it was a jumbo sized raccoon, probably heavier than all three from the paddock put together.

She is gorgeous, isn't she? Belongs to a neighbor. She is kept indoors, but when she escapes it is our yard that is a favorite to visit.

There are 3 domes in Mitchel Park: Desert, Temperate, and Tropical. The orchids are grown in the tropical dome. Sadly, these domes are ageing and in peril. A couple of years ago, some pieces of concrete fell and it is almost impossible to repair, and the cost is beyond present day budget. One option was to remove these domes. Structurally, these fully glass pained geodesic domes are in no danger of collapsing, but falling chunks of concrete is a hazard. As a stop gap measure, metal mesh nets were installed and who knows how long these domes can be kept open. I haven't been there since these nets were installed, but I can't envision those nets helping appearance. These nets will reduce light admittance a bit.