This is the first time I have chosen to accept the daily writing challenge from WordPress. I’m having trouble remembering what I bought for myself over the years, but they will come to me as I write. There are several things which I consider to be over priced items that I bought for me. Number one is my recumbent bicycle, topping out at $3500. I can swear that no one ever rode that bike but me. The next item has to be my fishponds. There were two. The first one, I dug, lined, and put flagstone rocks around the perimeter. The cost was lower than that of my bike, but I can’t put a price on my labor. Next was pond number two. Since I couldn’t bring the first one with me when I moved to another house I had to build it. By the time this took place I had grown much older and I decided to hire a company to create the pond of my dreams. I choose number one as my favorite. It was totally designed and built by me, and I had the most success raising Koi and Comet goldfish in that mini-lake. Pond number two was designed by me, but I relied heavily on the contractor to know what he was doing. As a result, pond 2 is shallower and relies on a commercial filter, which after a few years of raising fish, I have deemed to be adequate only for a table top goldfish bowl. I have had this pond for seventeen years and have enjoyed it to the max, and decree that I spent $12000 wisely.
I could delve into the intricacies of design that make Pond-2 inferior to Pond-1, but I’ll pass because Pond-2 is aesthetically more pleasing than Pond-1. Overall, the two ponds were fascinating, and I wouldn’t want to live in a home where I couldn’t raise water lilies and Comet goldfish.
One feature that I had in Pond-1 was a Garden Railway. Railroading is fun, but I decided that the hobby was too time-consuming, and I cut back to design a layout that encircles the garden around the pond. That provided me with projects galore: Like a bridge to cross a river, a trestle to climb a grade, and a tunnel to bypass a waterfall. The railroad was always a hit when our yard was included on the Prestwick Garden Guild Garden walk.
There are two memories I cannot forget that occurred in Pond-1. The first was watching a rather large frog catch a Goldfinch for its meal. The frogs developed a habit of laying in wait on the edge of the stream, and the birds would come to the stream to bath and to drink. This Gold Finch got a little bit too close to the frog and Zip, he went into the frog head first The second was the sight of a mink escaping the pond with my prize Koi in its jaws. I really liked that Koi. The kids named him Big-Al because he had grown to become over fifteen inches long and would eat out of their hands. The mink was not much larger than Big Al when I last saw them disappear into the underbrush of the back garden.
I thought of replacing Big Al by buying a Koi of his size, but changed my mind when I saw the price tag, which was close to a thousand dollars. The mink decided to have Koi for supper rather than a much cheaper and smaller Comet. Right about that time, my wife Barbara had a heart attack and the focus of my life changed radically.
After this period of my life, the most significant gifts I bought for myself were trips to Arizona for the winter and three tours to Canada.
Filed under: Biography, Birds, Fish, Garden, Pond | Tagged: dailyprompt, dailyprompt-2117 | 2 Comments »
