by Christine Hayden

Created on: May 17, 2009   Last Updated: October 26, 2009

"Alright Daisy, it's time to go to work." Daisy wagged her tail with the delight and enthusiasm of a two year old kid, shifted her ailing hips to a more comfortable position, then laboriously arose from her bed in triumph to follow me out to the back garden.

After twelve years, my black lab and I had fallen into somewhat of a routine and today was no different. While I gathered up the necessary accoutrements' for cleaning up the weeds and pruning the foliage around our pond, Daisy sniffed and puttered around the area, making sure nothing was amiss. Mostly, I'm sure, she was searching for something to eat as was her main purpose in life. Love and food, not necessarily in that order, were the fuels that fed Miss. Daisy. Her basic needs were no different than ours are, except hers came with no conditions or complications.

We strolled from the garden shed to the pond area and I couldn't help think to myself, for the umpteenth time, how amazing it was that I lived here, on this beautiful piece of property. This was our own little acre of paradise replete with lush green lawns, beautiful, sprawling borders and beds of perennial, indigenous flora, all lorded over by majestic cedars a hundred years old.

I perused the pond and as usual giggled to myself thinking of it's conception. My vision of a pond that would grace the cover of "House and Home" had bubbled in my brain for some time and with a little research and muscle I was sure that executing that vision was going to be a breeze. My husband and I searched out the rocks and had chosen a lovely, golden flat slate. The waterfall was to be at the back of the pond, slightly shaded by the cedars. Rivulets of water would trickle from behind and through the stones to gently cascade into the main pond, which would then ebb into a smaller basin. The hidden pump would return that water back to the fall and voila, the grandiose water feature of my imagination was now a reality.

I peered down at Daisy as she lumbered over. "Well girl, it may not function as we hoped but we managed to make it at least look good, didn't we?" I lay down my tools which was Daisy's cue to lay herself down in her favorite place, a shady, grassy area under the drooping branches of our largest cedar. I believe she had strategically chosen that particular spot for a reason. I likened her to that of a castle sentry. From there she could vigilantly observe all movement in the kingdom. The kitchen door, the garden gate, the driveway and garage.

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