The Dynamic Duo

Think now, what is the most pleasant, most relaxing sound in the world? It is, of course, the sound of gently gurgling water, as in a bubbling brook, stream or creek. It is one of my most favorite sounds, and one that always makes me feel more at peace and connected to nature. I now have that sound (and sight) whenever I wish, just by stepping out into my own backyard.
As you may remember from a previous post “A Pond? In My Own Backyard?” our hero pondbuilders, Jimbo and Johnny, had to leave before they finished the job. The UltraParents made a little more progress, but only a little. If the job was going to be completed the duo would have to return, which they did just last weekend. This would be Johnny’s last weekend in the area before returning to Vanderbilt in Tennessee for Law School, Round 2 out of 3. The kid spent the summer working for an Idaho Supreme Court justice, and I was pleased and proud to hear said judge has already offered Johnny a clerkship upon graduation if he should so desire. Way to go!
The boys arrived late Thursday night, having driven 5-6 hours after Jim had worked all day. They stumbled into the house and had just enough energy to inquire as to the location of their beds. Friday morning found UltraMom taking a day off work, and found Johnny and Jim up bright and early, and eager to get to work on my waterfall. “Mom,’ Jim lectured me, “I told you that you would need to move those plants. They are right in the way of the waterfall.” Well, yeah, I knew that, but somehow had never quite gotten around to it. Facing certain destruction of the wooly, elfin and mother of thyme plants I had nurtured along, I got around to it then.
Meanwhile the boys planned and cut to shape the black pond liner that would form the foundation of the waterfall, directing it down the hillside and into the pond. On top of this black, heavy-duty tarp, Jim would layer the large, flat pieces of slate we had earlier excavated from our lawn. It was soon apparent that a trip to town would be required before we got too far into the project, so we headed into Elko a little after 1:00 P.M. If we went any later, we would miss the 2:00 lunch deadline for dining at The Star, which you may remember serves the best steak sandwiches on the planet. Before long, we were seated at one end of a long table at The Star, munching on salad, wonderful French fries and steak sandwiches. Jimbo, I noticed was eating his with a knife and fork. “Jim,” I asked curiously, “Why are you eating your sandwich with a knife and fork?”
“It’s a little thing called manners,” he informed me. “Perhaps you’ve heard of them?” The trio seated at the other end of our banquette overheard this and thought it quite funny. Now that I think of it, it was pretty funny: the thought of Jim giving ANYONE etiquette lessons sort of boggles the mind.
After running a few more errands, we picked up the pond filter and misc fittings we needed and arrived home in time to feed and greet UltraDad before he headed off to a night shift at work.
Saturday was almost entirely devoted to the pond/waterfall. UltraMom also, of course, did all the laundry and cooked homemade pizza, but as we know, she is a wonder and never complains. We hooked up the pump and filter and both seemed to work fine, except that the garden hose made a much more reliable conduit from the pond to the top of the waterfall than the corrugated black hose purchased specifically for that purpose. The problem? The hose was rather a bright green in color and was a jarring note in the otherwise harmonic predominantly black and brown color scheme of this water feature. The guys brainstormed: cover the hose in black electrical tape? Nah, it would come off in the water. Spray paint the hose black? The Carlin hardware store couldn’t guarantee the water-proofness of their paints.
Jimbo placed a phone call to Pat, who was in Elko picking up teaching supplies for the soon-to-begin first day of school. She came home with a long, black garden hose, which the boys were able to cut to length, routing it up the hillside to carry water to the top of the waterfall. Thanks, Pat. Remind me to pay you back some time. At one point in the proceedings, remembering the boys’ last visit, I asked Jim if he was feeling sick this time. “Sick of your pond,” he replied rather ungraciously, but I could see his point.
The trip to the hardware store was not unproductive; there we got directions to some nearby gravel pits, to procure the small rocks we needed to fill in-between all the slate. Johnny and mostly Jim worked all day on the project, placing rocks, installing the pond filter and pump. The filter had a small pump that could power a fountain, and this we used to direct water through the turtle. I was relieved to see, in spite of what Johnny had been telling me, the water came out of the turtle’s MOUTH. At last it was time to try the waterfall out and Jimbo expectantly aimed the hose at the top rock. The water disappeared into the gravel, reappearing a few moments later at a point under the bottom rock, where it proceeded to splash into the pond. This was not good. The rocks weren’t even getting wet. It finally appeared the only solution was going to involve cementing in-between the rock and force that water to go where we wanted it to go. Johnny, Pat and I went to the hardware store to purchase concrete, and arrived back home to find newly awakened UltraDad along with worn-out Jim in the middle of some rather serious looking rock rearranging. In the new arrangement, each rock overlapped the one below it. The end result was much more satisfying than our trail run. Some of the water still went down in the gravel and came out under the final rock, but a lot of it was also running just where we wanted it, over the rocks. Thankfully, we didn’t need the concrete after all.
At the top of the waterfall, Johnny wired a Grecian urn pot through which the hose had been inserted. The water would flow out of the vase and form the start of the waterfall. Halfway down on the rocks, the turtle stands, spitting more water down the falls. In the pond itself, floats a solar-powered, glow in the dark water lily (no, its not a real water lily). The pond is not very level, but as we can do nothing about that now, we have decided not to worry about it.
So, UltraMom has the pond/waterfall of her dreams. We spent a good part of today standing around watching and listening to this natural looking wonder and discussing further possibilities. Would I put plants in the pond? How about around it? Would all the water splashing onto the nearby rocks cause a problem with the pond’s water level?
We were able to get a couple of games of pinochle in, and true to form, whoever was on UltraMom’s team caused her to lose time and time again. We switched partners once in a while, but UltraMom and partner’s losing streak continued until the very last hand. Here UltraMom redeemed herself and saved the day by ‘Shooting the Moon.’
The boys had to drive back to Idaho today, and left quite a bit later than they had intended. Getting up for work at 5:00 AM tomorrow morning will not be pleasant for Jim; Johnny will begin his long drive back to Tennessee. But while they were here, they performed a miracle. They turned my barren boring hillside into a living, splashing waterfall.
I can’t wait to see how they’re going to top this for my next birthday.

Spoiled and loving it,
UltraMom

The Waterfall Begins

Placing the Rocks

Trying It Out

The spitting turtle

UltraMom had just sat down on some logs here and got pinched really hard. Jim laughed at her pain.

The finished product

More of an overview