My friend Jonna over at blah ---, blah ---, blah ---, Ginger! posted a personal confession about two weeks ago.
She is not a country girl.
If you have been following her remodel of a home in centro Mérida, you are already aware urban flows in her veins. Cities were built for the likes of her.
But she also appreciates her slices of country -- as long as they serve a city purpose. Her pond is the best example. It has been a centerpiece of her garden since it was constructed. But it is definitely a city pond.
I also have a pond. But it is no city accessory.
Let me brag about it a bit. It can be beautiful. Like these water lilies in their natural state.
Jonna's pond constantly needs tending and maintenance. It takes a lot of work to make a good pond look natural.
My pond needs maintenance, as well. But it is wholesale maintenance. Left on its own, it would die and become a field.
When I moved into the duplex in 2009, our little inlet pond was carpeted with a patchwork of water hyacinth and water lettuce. It was almost impossible to see any water.
Because the vegetation floats on the surface, it was cutting off the exchange of oxygen between the water and the atmosphere. The laguna was dying before our eyes.
And we were not going to let that happen. At least, in the area where we had some control.
My land lady, a mutual friend, the maid for the duplex, a hotelier neighbor, and I took matters into our own hands. (weeding with benito).
And you saw the results. We opened up enough space at the end of the inlet to attract wading birds, fish, and the odd crocodile. After hours of pulling out raft after raft of weeds.
That was over a year ago.
When I finally returned from my meanderings through Mexico, I found our work partially undone. Aquatic vegetation is like anything else in nature. Let it be and it will return to its -- well, natural -- state.
So, out came the grappling hook and the rake. There was weeding to be done.
After an hour or so of weeding each day over the past two weeks, this is the result.
It is still not a city pond. But it is a country pond with enough wildlife to sponsor my own Audubon tour.
Now, I just need to come up with a way to improve my internet signal. It would be great to sit beside the pond pretending I am some reincarnated shogun.
Water tends to do that. We start indulging in delusions of adequacy.
Jonna's pond constantly needs tending and maintenance. It takes a lot of work to make a good pond look natural.
My pond needs maintenance, as well. But it is wholesale maintenance. Left on its own, it would die and become a field.
When I moved into the duplex in 2009, our little inlet pond was carpeted with a patchwork of water hyacinth and water lettuce. It was almost impossible to see any water.
Because the vegetation floats on the surface, it was cutting off the exchange of oxygen between the water and the atmosphere. The laguna was dying before our eyes.
And we were not going to let that happen. At least, in the area where we had some control.
My land lady, a mutual friend, the maid for the duplex, a hotelier neighbor, and I took matters into our own hands. (weeding with benito).
And you saw the results. We opened up enough space at the end of the inlet to attract wading birds, fish, and the odd crocodile. After hours of pulling out raft after raft of weeds.
When I finally returned from my meanderings through Mexico, I found our work partially undone. Aquatic vegetation is like anything else in nature. Let it be and it will return to its -- well, natural -- state.
So, out came the grappling hook and the rake. There was weeding to be done.
After an hour or so of weeding each day over the past two weeks, this is the result.
It is still not a city pond. But it is a country pond with enough wildlife to sponsor my own Audubon tour.
Now, I just need to come up with a way to improve my internet signal. It would be great to sit beside the pond pretending I am some reincarnated shogun.
Water tends to do that. We start indulging in delusions of adequacy.
