Here I am, son of a sailor, a sailor myself, and descendant of a long line of seamen on both sides of the family – landlocked. I have to drive an hour to get my regular prescribed dose of salt-scented air. Shocking, I know.
But I do have a little bit of water on my home plot. Yeah, it’s not Buzzards Bay, Plum Island Sound, or Penobscot Bay, but it’s wet, and on a summer day, it’s peaceful to sit by. It’s our own little pond.
When we bought the lot, I was quizzed by the kids one day, “Daddy, can we have a pond?”
My wife and I were plotting a home renovation, so we probably said, “Sure.” A few days later, I returned home to find the four darlings excavating a boulder from a pit for the pond. Ever since, the water feature has been a main part of the woodland garden in our backyard.
Unless your manmade pond is tiny enough for a plastic tub liner, you’ll need a flexible liner of a vinyl-like substance to cover the excavation. In 2014, we needed to rebuild the original construction with something more sturdy. We bought a large sheet of a material that would be safe for the fish and frogs we hoped would populate it. From the photos, you can see that it wasn’t a small job.
But every summer, it repays us with a comfortable place to take leisure and provides a refuge for wildlife in the area.
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We live less than 5 minutes walk to the water, but it’s inner city and rather unnerving to go there alone. I miss the water… hugs
It’s beautiful! And the path down to it, too. You have a little slice of heaven in your backyard, Lou. We have so many rivers and then the Gulf and bayous around us–not in our backyard like you–and it is wonderful how relaxed just looking at the water can make you feel. Nothing else like it.
I have liked being by the sea, when I’ve visited. But we have so many grey days around here, I’m happy just to visit and settled for living in the country.
I know! A glitch in my Apple iPhone gives me the weather every day for Leominster in the UK. It seems like the rain is always ending or starting.
Yeah that’s a wet part of the country! Big on apples and cider. Funny there’s also a Salisbury in New Hampshire I think and… you gotta be careful on those weather apps 🤣
This must be a valuable haven for you and the critters. It looks beautiful. Water always makes me happier.
They must “patrol” the area!
I love your pond.
Thank you!
LOVE that pond! All those frogs eating mosquitos and flies would make someone very happy too. I miss real nature. High desert doesn’t offer much here. You have some great kids to have started digging right in to create with you.
Two are still at home, and they are a great help to me.
That’s almost a swimming pool! Or an ice rink!! Yes, a very big project for you. Fabulous. Looks like it has always been there.