Progress has been slow but steady in the pond this week. Even though it’s hard work sawing through those roots and hefting chunks up onto the edge, it’s gratifying. The water is cool and buoyant, and I don’t hurt when I’m in it. A lot remains to be done, but there is plenty of hot weather ahead to enjoy doing it in. This afternoon, in 96℉, I cooled off and tried one method to lift sludge from the pond floor. It wasn’t too effective, so I’ve begun researching other options. Anybody got a pond vacuum I can borrow?! Meanwhile, GT will have his work cut out for him moving all the rush chunks I’ve cut out of the water.

The rushes overtook the pond, choking the life out of it, in much the same way that pain and other health concerns sapped my own vitality: encroaching incrementally, unobtrusively, until suddenly I was forced to pay attention and found both the pond and my joie de vivre unrecognizably congested. I am grateful that I’ve seen the light before it’s too late, and have begun to rectify both conditions.