The babies are very small, quick and hard to see.  They generally stick close to the walls of the pond which – now, incredibly, in this 11th episode of “A Man in His Pond” – is five years old.

The blurry (sorry!) little baby is center right.  The girls think we have six babies – our own sextuplets.

Speaking of babies….I’m glad to have all four of mine home after their summer jaunts.  It’s been a few weeks since we’ve all been together.  Julia and Rachel returned from children’s church camp today.  The washer and dryer have not stopped since they hit the door.

(l-r)  Hannah had a week at Sarah’s house, plus youth camp.  Julia had a week at Sarah’s, plus children’s camp.  Rachel had a week at Sarah’s, plus children’s camp (as a counselor.)  Lois had a week at the national Latin competition in Fargo, ND, plus youth camp.  Keith and me?   Well, we got to spend one night in a motel when our air conditioning at home went out.  Plus we took weekly oh-so-glamorous trips to Costco and Sam’s.  We’re wild, we are.

Now it’s all about back-to-school.

College.  High School.  Elementary School.

And of course – our new school of koi.

Julia is convinced they’ll fly back to visit.

They may come back to the pond to drink.   San Antonio is in a prolonged drought.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how our family is changing with Rachel’s upcoming graduation from high school.  She’ll be only half-ours when she’s in college and after that – she’ll be responsible for her own food and shelter.  I’ve spent a chunk of every day worrying over this first baby bug – feeding her, making sure she wasn’t too hot or too cold – putting her near the light when she needed it.

Senior Awards last week – DECA State Competition in Fashion & Apparel, School Store Manager and Choir – Woot!  She was the very last of  300+ honorees (whew!), so, lots of applause!
Lois and Hannah are coming right up behind her, with Julia bringing up the rear.

You rear them to let them go.

But I, too, am hoping they “flutterby” often.

Notice the reflection at the water’s edge.  I am going to have fun with my waterproof Olympus this summer!

He’s made major progress since March, including replacing the back fence, which looked like this yesterday (yawn):

Boring!

But now today – wow!  Finally!  These whimsical terracotta creatures have been buried in blankets in our cedar chest for four years.

Parrots, frogs, lizards, a dragonfly, a moon and sun – and a huge snake that I personally carried across the border at Laredo, when it was still safe to go there.

My favorites – the turtles.  But watch the video.  You’ll see we both have a thing for turtles.

The koi arrived home in water-filled bags, which Keith placed in the pond for temperature acclimation.  Hannah and Julia were allowed to pick out their own fish.  Bart:  Keith has forbidden me to show “Tortuga Giganta” until he’s nestled in the landcaping (still to come.)   So deep breaths!

“Did you get video of the stream?”  “No, dear.”  “Get video of the stream.”

Stay tuned!  And when do you think we’ll have fish in the pond?  Take the poll in the left nav bar!

Today, the deck is rebuilt with much higher quality lumber.  Note the lovely copper post toppers.  It’s about 90% complete.  If we were independently wealthy, Keith would stay home and design/build “things.”  He can not only fix anything, but he can also design/build anything.  My job in all this remains the same:  I bring ice water.

As of Sunday – the pond has water. Note the small wooden bridge over the waterway from the bog.  The grass is brown because it’s February in Texas.  If anyone knows a rain dance – feel free to shake a leg, we could use some help.  Keith tells me the fence must be replaced soon, and of course, the sidewalk between the house and the garage is still torn out.  We have some very cool stepping stones piled in our bedroom, awaiting a new home outside.  So the backyard has a’ways to go.

Engineering Team of Woodworth and Woodworth, a.k.a., Keith and his brother Byron, pondering the perplexing pump.  Most of the pond innards are located under the deck.  I have signed for innumerable boxes which – upon their opening – Keith has mumbled, “For the pond.”   I do not know what the pieces of plastic and metal actually are, nor do I know what they do.  It’s easier that way.

We have less mess inside, though it’s not what you’d call “tidy.”  At least there is no table saw in the entry way, nor hammers piled on the kitchen counter,  I think you could classify the inside of the house, “no worse than usual.”

Keith tells me the next step is “rock work.”

So stay tuned for the next episode of “A Man and His Pond.”  It probably won’t be the series finale.  But at least you don’t have to worry about a writer’s strike.

It’s baccccckkkk!  And at the end of its third season.

Keith is tearing out our original backyard deck to build a pond-plumbing-friendly deck.  This new deck will be stronger and better designed than the original, and will allow for the plumbing that needs to run under it.

The pond (on the left) looks a whole lot like the last time we visited it.  That vegetation is not overgrown.  It’s….ummmm….”natural.”  Yes, that’s it.  We’ve gone back to nature.  Next thing you know, we’ll be beating tamborines and humming “Kumbaya.”

The deck stairs now lead to….nowhere.

Watch it, Hannah!  Without the deck to walk out upon, that first step is a doozy!  And straight down several feet to limestone bedrock. We’re locking – and blocking – the back door in the kitchen.

Keith is the only man I’ve ever known to actually wear out hammers.  When this project is finished, that seven-year-old with three-years-of-pond-construction Fiesta T-shirt is going in the trash.  I wouldn’t even give it to Goodwill.

Because this is not enough mess/confusion – he is also replacing the carpeting in the living room cum office with laminate flooring.

Basically, you can take any object – file cabinets, drill bits, CD’s, CAT 5 wiring, storage boxes, lamps, saws, PVC pipe, chainsaw, empty Diet Coke cans – and set them down in any room of our house, or anywhere around our house – and they look like they belong, since there’s something dust-covered and similar plopped next to it.

Stay tuned for the next installment of “A Man and His Pond.”  Maybe it’ll be the season finale?! 

Keith is standing in the bog, which is several feet from the pond.

What is that big black thing?

If you guessed “giant slip and slide” – I sure hope you’re wrong.

Keith – assisted by good friends Dan, Brett, Rick and brother Byron – laid the 500 lb. waterproof pond liner today, a crucial new chapter in the saga of “A Man and His Pond.” He paid them in brisket, ribs, beans and pecan pie – certain small (though tasty!) recompense for lugging the equivalent weight and texture of hundreds of deflated inner tubes across baked limestone.

He had one other friend from church help him one day last year.  Other than this assistance – he’s done it all himself, even with a nail through his hand, even with his knee in a brace. No Bobcat, no electric jack hammer, no dynamite (shudder) – just a cement saw, hammers, picks, buckets and lots of elbow grease effecting his vision in the limestone.

Stay tuned to this blog for the next installment of “A Man and His Pond.”  I’m thinking we’re getting close to it being a wet one.