The Pond

This blog is a place where I express some small piece of my thoughts as I start my day.  Yesterday I mentioned our Texas Sage (Barometer Plant) and showed a photo of it blooming which is a strong predictor of rain.  It started raining around 4:00 a.m. this morning and was still lightly raining at 8:00.  Ah, if only I could be so accurate in my predictions!

As I look out my window this morning I see our pond in the distance.  It has been mentioned in previous posts and is a comfort to the eye.  This time of year, everything is green and the leaves are becoming fully unfurled on the trees which are abundant on our property.   That abundance occupied much of yesterday as we spent several hours of the day clearing away dead, fallen limbs, tangled vines and unwanted vegetation.  It is a lot of work but is something that I enjoy doing because it is easy to see progress as small pieces of the puzzle begin to show signs of becoming what we want them to be.

The pond on our place is one of those pieces of the puzzle that I haven't yet decided how to handle.  On one hand, I like it as it is.  It has the character of a pond lost in the deep woods of East Texas.  On the other hand, it doesn't teem with life in the way I would expect.  The water is full of tannins from fallen pine needles and trees. We see many turtles perched on the logs which have immersed themselves in the water at the behest of the Texas wind and in the shallows, you can see small fish -- minnows or shad -- darting along as if seeking shelter from something larger.  What we don't see are clear signs of larger fish.  Sometimes a small silvery creature will make a splashing leap above the surface, but it is rare.

In asking a friend what he thought it would cost to clean out the pond and do some rehabilitation, he stated that it was going to cost over $20,000 for his own and thought ours might require an even larger expenditure.  We don't have that kind of money laying around for such a purpose.  There are numerous other things that take a higher priority.  So, for now, I think we will enjoy the pond as it is.

Like so many things in life, we have to weigh the current investments against the expected future benefits.  With a lengthy list of priorities, that can sometimes be a challenge.  In time we will deal with it.

Given the title to this post, you may have expected something more along the lines of what Thoreau would have written.  

"It is life near the bone where it is sweetest." -- Henry David Thoreau