Water lilies

The water lilies are growing in our pond at an alarming rate! I'm not really worried about them taking over since our pond is pretty big (about 12-15 acres), but we will have to start eliminating some of them soon.

This morning I decided to go out in the boat alone, armed with both camera and fishing gear. I managed to catch (and release) three bass....one of which was 3 or 4 pounds. I snagged two others (one big, one small), but both managed to get away before I could get them in the boat. I know the towel distracts from the fish in the photo, but it's the only way I'll handle them! (go ahead, call me a sissy)

Despite the fact the lilies are a nuisance, they are rather pretty when blooming. Here's a poem about lilies to go with some of my photos:

WITH A WATER-LILY
by: Henrik Ibsen

See, dear, what thy lover brings;
'Tis the flower with the white wings.
Buoyed upon the quiet stream
In the spring it lay adream.

Homelike to bestow this guest,
Lodge it, dear one, in thy breast;
There its leaves the secret keep
Of a wave both still and deep.

Child, beware the tarn-fed stream;
Danger, danger, there to dream!
Though the sprite pretends to sleep,
And above the lilies peep.

Child, thy bosom is the stream;
Danger, danger, there to dream!
Though above the lilies peep,
And the sprite pretends to sleep.

'With a Water-lily' was originally published in 1863. This English translation by Fydell Edmund Garrett is reprinted from the Westminster Gazette of May 6, 1903.