One of the features we like in our new house is the backyard water garden. Actually, I'm surprised that I enjoy it so. Maybe I'd like it less if I had to go in and actually dig it out, but give me a pond that's pre-dug and in working order, then, hey, count me in.
Anyway, yesterday, the pond was full and gurling away contentedly. Today, we emerged onto our back deck and found... this:
We conservatively estimate the size of our pond as at 700 gallons. The water is typically two feet deep. And while the grounds around the pond are damp, they're not soggy. And while there is water in our garage from a previous rainstorm (that's another story), there's no sign of any additional water being added to the mix. There doesn't appear to be a leak in the lining and, besides, if there were, why isn't the ground around it a complete swamp?
So, we're left confounded. Our best working theory is that the pump which sucks the water from the lower pond to an upper pond to produce a waterfall was badly positioned, and so poured water outside the pond lining where it was absorbed in the ground (and went where? We don't know). Either way, we think that the pump and filter need to be replaced, so we're going to go to a garden nursery nearby to ask questions. Such is the joys of home ownership.
Though my blog has been mostly quiet, I have been getting some writing done. My regular gig at the Kitchener Post keeps me writing politics at least once a week, Transit Toronto continues to command a lot of my attention, my real estate contact has some new assignments for me, and I'm starting to edit other people's work. I'm also pushing ahead on The Sun Runners, a possibly YA science fiction novel set on the dark side of Mercury. I crossed the 12,000 word mark earlier today, so it feels that I might actually have a book on my hands. Time will tell, though.
Here's a selection of some of my latest work:
- Kitchener Post: Cab Companies Need to Uber-up to Compete.
- Kitchener Post: The Rules Have Changed and We Have to Accept It.
- Kitchener Post: Affordability is Essential Along the LRT line.
- Kitchener Post: Better in the Classroom than the Playground.
- Kitchener Post: Agreeing to Disagree the Best we can do.
- Transit Toronto: The Dovercourt Streetcar (Deceased).
- Transit Toronto: A Short History of the Dufferin Streetcar.
- Transit Toronto: A Brief History of Public Transit in York Region.
- Transit Toronto: The Lansdowne Streetcar (Deceased).