Mike had been bugging me to scuba dive my lake, and the cattails badly needed to be thinned out. So Mike very kindly arranged for me to rent gear, and he and I spent some time cutting cattails! Jana, meanwhile, worked incredibly hard in the boat to remove the stuff we were cutting. Chris baked snacks. Jason provided moral support and took pictures. Thanks for the help, everybody!

Before...

Suiting up!

Goin' in!

While cutting, the stuff accumulated overhead, making it exceedingly difficult to move around. Also, the airlines would get tangled up in stuff which made it hard to hang onto the regulator...

...but it was pretty, and the fish wanted to play!

the Swamp Things

Jana hauled bargeload after bargeload of cut cattails! This is one where Mike 'helped' (who's sitting and who's paddling?)

After: a view of the lake from the house again!

Later, Mike gave Jana an intro to scuba in the pool - she did great! Aren't they cute together? :-)