kevin_standlee | Farewell Lake Imerys

Just down the street from my house is the Celite plant, owned by Imerys Minerals. (Celite is a brand name for absorbent materials made from diatomaceous earth, like kitty litter.) Because of the lay of the land here, there is a large depression across the street from the plant, and because Fernley is built on an ancient lake bed, standing water doesn't drain away very well, but instead sits in depressions until it evaporates.

There were some heavy thunderstorms just before we got back from Oregon, and what we call "Lake Imerys" filled up sufficiently that the plant put up cones so that trucks wouldn't drive in to the "lake" and get bogged down trying to turn around at the plant. It's not immediately obvious, but the white dot you see in this photo I took of the "lake" a few days ago is a seagull taking advantage of the short-term lake.

With temperatures in Fernley forecast to go up to 40°C this week, I expect that "Lake Imerys" will be gone for the summer by the time I get home this weekend.