Every cell in nature is a thing of wonder. If you added up the parts in a simple yeast cell there are about the same number that make up a 747 jetliner.

Then, they work in an area so small you'd need a microscope to even see it. There are about 1.25 billion cells in one square inch of cork.

Yet yeast cells are nothing compared to the complexity of human, animal and fish cells, plus ours carry on an inter-relationship with each other.

Surprises at this level of knowledge turn up all the time.

Just about 20 years ago, it was discovered that nitroglycerine (the explosive) is converted into nitric oxide (common in air pollution) in the bloodstream and soothes the heart pain of angina by relaxing vessel linings. Some bad stuff can do good things.

Your heart pumps about 75 gallons of blood an hour or 1800 gallons every day, 657,000 gallons a year feeding your cells. Comparatively, according to the USGS and the City of Auburn, about 3000-4000 gallons of water per second flow out the Owasco River at high flow.

During these type of rains, about 20,000 gallons per second are flowing in. That's why the lake level can go up about a foot for each inch of rain.

Just turkey hunt, drive around or fish any of the Finger Lakes area and you'll experience the high water of this current infusion.

Just like your heart carries life to your cells, water carries billions of things for the ride. The amount of siltation is disheartening and most of it remains behind in the lake.

The biggest bad thing that rides along is phosphorus. It is an irrefutable fact that phosphorus overloading creates many of the problems with water quality worldwide. It grows weeds and algae that among other things makes balancing water treatment much more tricky and expensive. Just ask Fleming.

Millions upon millions of cells, living and dead are in all this stuff. For instance, pretty much all your surface cells are deceased, in fact you are generally lugging around about 4-5 pounds of dead skin.

Everyday, billions of cells die willingly for our benefit and more clean up and take their place. However some don't expire in an orderly fashion and multiply wildly.

It is amazing these complex processes rarely spiral out of control. There is a much better chance of winning the lottery than cells forming a malignancy as a percent of the millions and billions of times they divide.

That is why it is common sense, we aggressively reduce risk by reducing phosphorus loading. We know the increased deceased life forms it creates combine with our common water treatment chemicals to form carcinogenic trihalomethanes.

This is an even bigger "no brainer" because at worst, less algae growth also results in more water oxygen capacity for better fishing.

The water smells and tastes way better without all the dead stuff decaying too. Most living cells only last a month or two with a few exceptions.

Brain cells last as long as you do, they don't multiply and we are only gifted one package of several hundred billion at birth.

It is estimated that about 500 of them die per hour so if you need to think much about calling your municipal representative and ask them when we are going to hire lake stewards to address this growing problem, there is no time to waste.

Fortunately turkey season starts today as fishing is not the best until the water calms down. I have not heard reports of smelt running but that should be starting too.

I'd like to thank Anne Colgan for the great job on writing the weekly trap and skeet reports.

Be careful turkey hunting and have lots of fun out there.

Trapshooting is growing at an astonishing rate this Spring. Last Wednesday, 19 new shooters signed up at Otisco Lake Rod & Gun Club, bringing the league number to 188.

The scores posted for the evening were remarkable as well. Straight 25's were shot by 28 participants. Weedsport (tied with Otisco Lake) had seven shooters with perfect scores: Howard Archambo; Gene Carson; "Moose" Dibbern; Pat Logan; Tom Spingler; League President, John Stanley (50); Dick Treat. Otisco Lake: Bill Beare, George Boulet, Steve Ganley, Jack Gutchess, Al Reich, Chris Stevens, Pat Stevens, Gary Wood.

Baldwinsville and Falcon tied for third and fourth. Baldwinsville 25's: H. Fitzpatrick, Chuck Parker, Parker Rockwood, Dave Shipman (50); 24's: Chuck Parker, Buddy Sartwell. Falcon 25's: Tim Collier, Ben Haynes, Jeff Sheppard, Steve MacEwen; 24's: Frank Bozeat, Mark Cowlin Sr., Bob Dankin, Bruce Hall, Mike Spears, Don Wells.

Salmon Creek took fifth place with three 25's: Lou Crandall (50), David Erickson, Jim Smiley Sr.; 24's: Robert Batzer, Chad Landon, Al McAlinn, Mike Perkins.

Jordan, placing sixth for the shoot, had only two 25's: Skip Chapman, Bill Parfitt; 24's: Ralph Fall, Len Kallfelz, Pete Kehoskie; 22's: Bob Milton, Kip Perkins, Glenn Polmanteer, Jason Polmanteer, Bob Weigand and Mike Westlake.

League positions: Weedsport 15 1/2 points, Salmon Creek 11, Otisco Lake and Falcon 10 1/2, Jordan 10, Baldwinsville 5 1/2.

Sign-ups are still open through May 18, with the next scheduled shoot being held 5-8 p.m. on May 4 at Falcon Sportsman Club on Turnpike Road in Sennett.

Kozlowski, a local sportsman who is the president of the Owasco

Watershed Lake Association, is

The Citizen's outdoors columnist.

He can be reached at

alkoz@baldcom.net