APS 2013 Tour Logo

Another tour has come and gone
it will be year before the next one
although not every pond did I see
I saw enough to satisfy me
as I went out on both days
Saturday and Sunday and in many ways
it truly was a lot of fun
to meet the people whose pride and joy
was to show off their pond along with their Koi.

Some ponds were big with lots of show
dramatic water tumbling down
from rocks above almost to the sky
and you had to wonder why
until you really looked around
and quickly discovered that the ground
was not flat as some ponds are
and they really had no other choice
but to build the pond up to the stars.

Others that were on flat ground
the owners went to the other extreme
of bringing in fill to raise the stream
so that a waterfall could flow down
back to the pond on the level ground.

Some content with what they had
made use of the rocks and landscape serene
and let the stream flow this way and that
until it ended in the flat
part of the yard and there could be found
another pond, some big, some small
but all of them answered the call
that ponders have had over the years
to build a pond and throw in a few Koi
to hear the sound that water makes
splashing over the falls and the rocks
soothing to the ears with a mesmerizing sound
until something else brings them back around.

People that work with their hands this way
enjoy every single day
that they spend with their ponds and streams
and it is no mean thing
as it takes time and effort too
to keep things shipshape and filters clean.

In the end it is well worth the while
to sit on the decks around the pond
with family and friends and even the pets
relaxing in the comfort of the song
that the water makes as it finds its way
over rocks and waterfalls’ and bubbling urns
twisting this way and that as it turns
with the streams that were so carefully made
so that the water could cascade
from the top to the bottom of the flow
not knowing where it needs to go.

It is with much pride as you sit there
comfortable in your favorite chair
listening to the sound and surveying the scene
knowing that in your own way
you have helped to make this day
as wonderful as it can be

With family and friends enjoying the view
all of them knowing that you
built what it is that they now enjoy
but I wonder if they know why
all of this work and maintenance too
and they probably haven’t a clue
that closer to Nature it makes ponders feel
and the building, heck, no big deal
a labor of love even though some of those rocks
weighed a ton and made us grunt in our socks
but we always found a way
and ingenuity saved the day.

Would you do it again, you bet, you say
only please make it a different day
for today I’m too tired and  just want to sit
and listen to the water as it splashes away.

B.J’s Ponds

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