An object lesson for life on the Happy Planet
I've spent the day getting my backyard pond back running and up to snuff. I've been a pondkeeper for 15+ years. The pond always transports me into the transcendental. The waterfall makes its music outside my bedroom window. But I've had it down, non-functional for over a year. It's back up now. The aquatic plants I've saved in tubs are in the pond. The poor fish living for a year in the fish ghetto are now in the 450 gallons.
I've always thought about pondkeeping as an analogy for being a god, that creator the fundies carp about. We pondkeepers create the biosphere ... we populate the environment with plants and mammals. We monitor the ecosystem, and alter it with chemicals when it gets out of balance. I nursed those two fish into the BIG pond, and have been watching them ever since.
Namaste. Thou art god. I think I should write "The Zen of Pondkeeping". There is the Zen of Tennis, the Zen of Golf. and of course the bible, The Zen of Motorcycle Maintenance.
I still have a hairline leak in the bigger of my two ponds. I have to deal with that. In the meantime I've added stuff to take out the chlorine, condition the water, add salt (very necessary). I've been a good steward to the biosphere I created.
Imagine that you are the creator of our biosphere. What would YOU do?
Addendum Tues., 7:15 AM: I went outside at dawn to see if I could see the fish ... if they survived the transfer. At least they are not floating. A good sign. I think they were hiding among the plants. When you have a pond, it's always on your mind. It's like being a parent, and I would think it's like being the creator of the Universe. Always on my mind. I'll talk more about some of the horrors of pondkeeping later. Yes, Virginia, there are horrors when you're a pond goddess. ;-)
