Making It Up As I Go Along #469

Where Did They Come From?
Where did the fish come from? The logical question to ask of a man made pond.

Ten years ago it was a bog. The land filled with grasses and bushes… shrubs… and the odd tree. Field mice would have been plentiful I’m sure. Skunk and shrews as well.

Sure there would be gullies staying constantly damp. The mossy ground would give under foot with a slosh. But nowhere would you find a fish.

In the wet times, maybe tadpoles would flutter through the gullies. And dragonfly larvae would hover in the still water. Mosquitos called this area home for generations… swimming in a half foot of stagnant water before breaking the surface to buzz over the land as a growing, living cloud. But never a fish.

Eight years ago, the pond was dug. It was originally set to be a storm water facility… a dry depression of land when the rains were rare… a place for water to collect now that pavement now sits where peaty mosses once did.

And the waters trickled in. Filling the depression and never leaving. The waters always replenishing before evaporation is able to return the spot to grasses.

As time goes, ducks fly in… joined by geese in the fall… and shore birds take up nests in the maturing trees.

And frogs colonize the waters. An evening stroll had to be taken with eyes on the ground. Otherwise, frog guts would have to be scraped from shoe upon the return home.

But with each of these new animals, no great mystery is felt. Frogs can make the journey over land. Ducks spot the site from the air. And the larvae of the dragonflies and mosquitos are deposited within the water in a most logical sort of way. Even a beaver stopped for a while… most likely happening upon the spot accidently while out for a meandering waddle through the fields.

And two years ago it happens. Looking into the cloudy waters from the shore, a small school of fish is seen milling about. Small enough to be confused for those dragonfly young at first… but, upon further inspection, for sure to be actual fish. Pricklies, being the name given to them when I grew up. Stickle Backs being the more common name.

And even though you’re surprised to see them there, they’re so small that you can trick yourself into believing they can make it. Swimming through pores in the ground… or maybe even being created from the lakebed mud itself.

But then this year, the miracle became complete. Full sized fish have found their way to the pond.

One of my walks has me come across a three or four inch fish, laying dead upon the trail. Scaly and reddish in hue. And this brings sense to what I saw a few days prior. When I thought I saw a gull dive into the water from above, to come out, obviously not a web footed gull but a taloned falcon or hawk… with a small red speck hanging beneath it as he soared back into the sky.

And each day that I walk, I now see one or two of those falcons, or hawks, gliding in circles and occasionally splashing down into the water… looking for a meal.

So how did they get here? These red fish that seem too plentiful to be a discarded pet or two. There’s no swimming through the pores of the land… they’re much too big. And a miracle from the mud seems far fetched too.

But they’re here. Be it from storm water drains, swimming along as fish explorers venturing from previously known ponds and streams, through culverted rivers, and fortunate enough to reach these waters before their transportation… and lifeline… dry up.

And now it seems the transformation is near complete. From a wet field of mice and shrubs with the occasional gully, to a little lake ecosystem. Where generations of ducks and muskrat now live… and where fish have appeared almost out of nowhere, yet still unable to hide… from soaring birds… looking for a bit of lunch.

THURSDAY…
--- Work day… tired… feeling a little run down… but get through okay anyway.

FRIDAY…
--- More days. I’m run down and feeling close to sick for much of the day… improving by 3:00 or so.
--- Rain all afternoon. Pouring.

SATURDAY…
--- Up for physio… shoulder is still not happy and hasn’t been on an upswing for ten days now.
--- Work is quiet… quite quiet tonight.

SUNDAY…
--- Another quiet night. Drive by my new place after work (at 6:00 AM). Got walls up for the first floor now. Nice.

MONDAY…
--- Sleep until 11:00ish. A walk of the pond after time on the phone there with mom (getting a bit of a sun burn as I talk out in the sun). Some groceries in the evening and a bit of TV.

TUESDAY…
--- Meet Sarah to get tickets for an August concert. Steve Earle and City and Colour.
--- Physio after that. A lesser level than normal to try to get my shoulder back into better times.
--- A couple of groceries after that.
--- Thunder storm this evening… pretty heavy for a short while.

WEDNESDAY…
--- Dentist in the morning. Looks like some filling work will be done in the next year. Nothing need doing right now though.
--- See, via Twitter and then CBC, that there is a big accident just near mom and dad’s place back home… even see a Subaru involved and I’m not sure what type mom and dad’s is. Luckily, I get in touch with them and it isn’t their car.
--- A few laps of the pond. Falcons now hover over and dive bomb fish.

Making It Up As I Go Along #468

The Pick Up
Through the trees along straightaways
Come where west meets north
A quick turn and turn again
A new westward straightaway.

On the edge of the city but feeling like countryside
Pass parking lots for walking trails
Pass farm houses, brick and tree laced
Turtle crossings and horses in place of city scapes.

Along one straightaway an unwinnable race
Me driving the road
Over my shoulder, passed
The jet descending over farmer fields
Shooting by and disappearing behind the trees.

Aboard are hundreds
Peering out towards the earth
Surveying the land
Spotting my car, and wondering where I go.

Arriving at the finish ten minutes behind the plane
I park and venture in.
Standing in a hanger sized room
Stories high, televisioned and water falled.
Others have gathered here with me.

And escalators bring the race winners
Slowly descending as on the plane
Surveying the crowd as they did the land
And spotting me as my car
My parents coming down.

This landing comes with hugs
Kisses and gentle squeezes of shoulders
We wander to the carousel
Awaiting their pieces of home
Packed tight in wheeling bags.

Back along the countryside
Now three where once there was one.
Another plane dropping over farmer fields
Reminds me to share my earlier race

Quiet chatting as we skirt the city
Comments of the difference in seasons
Changes in the land from where they left
To where they now are.

Noticing a sign for fresh berries
For local vegetables
Mom calls from the back seat
And we pull off at the stand.

Soon after back to my parking lot.
Baggage pulled from the back
Farmer delights carefully carried from the seat
We walk to my door.

Together once again
Another few weeks of family time
And as we reach the steps
Mom nudges at dad
Pointing longingly at the flowers


WEDNESDAY…
--- First day back to work isn’t a good day. I slept about 2.5 hours last night… see moronic signs plastered in the office because there is a complete void of leadership in the place. At least the “No Loitering” sign didn’t go up at the help desk… a fine way to keep work away from the place people are supposed to go to discuss issues.
--- Blessed with a new round of political adds on TV. Over to the provincial politics and, a real original idea… the guy in power is trying to pass “sneaky” taxes and I’ll lower taxes. Oh please shut up.
--- And the Canucks are too beaten and battered… and Thomas is quite good… and there goes the Stanley Cup to the classless Bruins… perfect, just perfect.

THURSDAY…
--- I sleep better but wake with the memory of disappointment. The worst I’ve felt about watching a hockey game since Calgary beat Montreal in 1989. And the Vancouver riots… oh boy. Time for everyone to over analyze and over react. It was stupid and nothing to be proud of but really… the news talks to a guy in Detroit and he says people in Detroit are embarrassed for us. Really? Some guy in Detroit looks at this and feels embarrassment? Canada is now a threat to American tourists… a city of millions is told to feel shame for the work of hundreds. Get a grip people. And I’m sick of the Canuck hate by hockey fans. Saying how glad they are that Vancouver lost because they hate how they play. This is how messed up hockey fans are… taking dives is to be despised… the fact that two members of the Bruins were responsible for two hockey players having broken vertebrae this season is forgotten when it comes to who deserves good fortune. The Bruins were classless thugs no more deserving of victory from a moral standpoint than anyone else.
--- Happy that I don’t get dumped on at work as a Canuck fan. I was concerned some would do it… but maybe my years of not doing such to others has paid off… there is hope in friends!
--- Leave work early. Go with Janice for a late lunch and patio time. A nice afternoon and it helps cheer up after the hockey foolishness.

FRIDAY…
--- Night shift. Goes pretty normally with just Keith and I.

SATURDAY…
--- Up for a little TV before physio. Afternoon nap right after physio and then up and ready for night shift.

SUNDAY…
--- Father’s Day. I call dad before bed in the morning and then sleep until about 11:30. Some baseball and golf on TV and a few movies and such in the evening… a relaxing first day off.

MONDAY…
--- Laundry and a walk. Do three laps of the pond. Should have brought the camera as the local heron flew low across the water in front of me… it’s reflection as clear as it was.

TUESDAY…
--- Some idiot put out recycling today… about 60 hours before it is supposed to be out. Living in a neighbourhood of hicks.
--- Physio… my shoulder is actually feeling a little more rickety today… oh my.
--- Three laps of the pond again today… a nice walk.