Last week I connected with a fellow “ponder” on my neighborhood listserv. SIDE NOTE: If your neighborhood association has a listserv and you are not on it, join it. Immediately. It can provide hours of rib tickling fun in between the lost pet posts.
In this case it brought me in contact with a lovely person, Gracie, who lives a few blocks from me but who I had never met. The topic of grey herons was brought up by a woman on my street who posted a photo of one in a tree in her yard. She was taken by how “majestic” it was. They are imposing creatures. They are also opportunistic assholes. I’ve had my pond for nearly 20 years and feel fairly certain that it’s listed in the Zagat Grey Heron Guide to Finer Ponds in Austin (“Come for the goldfish! Stay to torment the cat!”). I told the woman who posted the photo that the reason he was in her tree was that he was no doubt waiting for the buffet to open up across the street. It was at this point that Gracie joined the conversation and commiserated that she too had lost goldfish to “Mr. Heron” as she referred to him.
I told Gracie that I was preparing for the annual cleaning o’ the pond during which I would be thinning out the water lilies and asked her if she had a need for any. She said she most certainly would like to have some and so I arranged to leave a bucket of them on my driveway for her. Imagine my delight when I received this pot planted with a star cactus, an African aloe and a hens and chickens plant, all from her yard, with a sweet thank you note (I love that she dated it; I’m guessing she’s an accountant).
If only we could move our economy to plant-based currency I would be RICH. As it is I feel pretty fortunate to have met Gracie and we’ve agreed to exchange photos of our water lily/cactus blooms in the future. And if you have need of any water lily plants tell me what ya got and maybe we can cut a deal.
I'm Just Being Frank 