That's what my cousin F wrote to me in her eMail tonight. I had written to her about all the rain we've had recently, and I told her that our pond was nearly filled to the brim and looking so pretty and pond-like again. "Have fun.... enjoy the pond.... send me some pictures."
My cousin lives in Long Island, at the end of Suffolk County near Port Jefferson. Not exactly The City, but not Way Out In The Country, either. I wrote back and explained to F that the only way I enjoy our pond is from a safe distance.... from the road as I either walk or drive down our hill, from the front porch, or from the upstairs balconies. This city-girl does not, does not, walk out to that pond for a look-see.
Sometimes, there are ducks in the pond, which are really cute... but even a duck family doesn't make me want to walk way down there and have a picnic by the pond's edge. More than likely, a bunch of snakes will also be near the pond's edge...... and having a picnic with snakes wasn't ever exactly on my Bucket List. (Does a city girl even have a Bucket List? Wouldn't she have a "Macy's Shopping Bag List?")
When we first moved here, I have to admit that I did walk around the property with my husband a few times, but that was only after the fields were mowed and the bales of hay were scattered around the pastures. On those days, I wore tall leather boots (in case I stepped on a fire ant mound) and I carried a long stick (in case there was a spider web in my path). And, sad to say, each and every time I walked the property with my husband, we came upon something that would make me sad........ like the tiny fawn that had been torn apart by coyotes, baby birds that had been de-feathered by raccoons, sun-bleached bones of rabbits and squirrels...... it was always something to not make me want to walk out there again. And after enough dead-animal sightings, I finally told my husband "I am done with this.... I can see the property just fine from up on the porch." He's been walking the property by himself ever since.
When we first moved out here, I had visions of walking around our pastures with our dog Gracie. We'd take the Frisbee with us, toss it out into the field for Gracie to catch.... she'd race to get it and then run back to us and drop it at our feet with that "Let's do it again!" look on her doggie-face. That Little House On The Prairie scene just didn't happen more than once or twice...... there were too many burrs and nettles out in the pastures..... Gracie would run to catch the Frisbee and come back limping, with one paw up in the air because a sticky-burr was caught in her paw.
Gracie was raised in Clear Lake... she was a city-dog who liked to run on the grass and she didn't have to side-step armadillo holes and jump over snakes. She knew how to sit-and-stay when she got to a street corner, but she had no idea how to deal with riding mowers and tractors. Gracie got to the point where she just treated those machines like vacuum cleaners--- she stayed out of their way. And that dog would have never, ever, jumped into our pond on a hot summer day just to feel the cool water on her fur.
So.... a note to my dear cousin F....... yes, the pond is filled, and yes, it looks beautiful and peaceful and serene.... but your city-girl cousin isn't going anywhere near it.
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