LittleNortherner had a Kindergarten Orientation a week or so before he started school. It was a chance for the kids to check out their classrooms and meet the teachers. It was also a chance for all of the newbie parents, who had never experienced all the new challenges and changes in routine that come with "real" school, to check out the admin staff and get a million different questions answered. (Not that NorthernMommy or Daddy were nervous at all....)
While all the kids were grooving down in their classrooms, the parents got sent to the cafeteria for their orientation - and to meet the other parents. Normally, NorthernDaddy stresses out for these kind of things - he's not one for small talk. (NorthernMommy does quite well in these situations: she likes meeting new people and she has the social grace to do just that.) The only thing that saved the day for NorthernDaddy was meeting the neighbor. The neighbor lady (Daddy is a little embarrased to admit that he can't remember her name) is the mom to one of LittleNortherner's t-ball teammates, and they live three houses down the road. The really interesting thing - other than her tattoos and piercings - is that she grew up in the house that we currently live in.
When NorthernMommy and Daddy bought this house, it had been lived in by - well they don't know much about the previous owner other than that he did absolutely no maintenance. The grass was knee high, the hurried paint job (only done to sell the house) had left splatters, and the garden.....the garden was SOL. FUBAR. Anyone know more acronyms for "messed up beyond belief and beyond hope"?
As NorthernMommy and NorthernDaddy worked to clear up the property, they found evidence of a beautifully crafted perennial garden. There were rock walls, slate paths, and decorative features all over the garden - badly overgrown by weeds and in need of TLC, but they were there. They even found a chicken coop after working on the yard for a year. (How does one let it get to the point where you freaking lose a shed-sized chicken coop?!)
As they worked in the yard and on the gardens over the years, NorthernDaddy and Mommy often talked about how they wished they could see pictures of what the place used to look like - because, based on the remains, it had to have been fabulous.
So, back to meeting the neighbor that grew up in our house.... NorthernDaddy had a nice conversation with her about what it was like back then, and did his best to plant some mental seeds about how nice it would be to see some old photographs of what things looked like back in the day. There was talk of the horses that were raised there, the trees that were planted and how well they are doing, the layout of the rooms in the house and the remodel that was done - all things that the Northerns kinda already knew. The shocker from out of left field was an offhand comment asking if the pond was still there.
The pond?
What pond?
Apparently, years ago, there was a pond dug just off the chicken run. It was supposedly of good size, with a small island (with a tree) in the center. Now, the Northerns were able to find the Lost City of the Chickens (the coop) after some work, but there hasn't been the slightest glimpse of evidence of a pond.
NorthernDaddy has taken on the challenge of finding this pond - this Lost Lake. He's started to bush hog and explore the over-grown area next to the chicken run. The photo doesn't show it well, but there is an exploratory road that curves around and into the weeds up in there. The lay of the land shows that a pond could have existed here, but the edges and the "island" remain elusive.
NorthernDaddy is going to keep searching for the "lost lake". If it existed, he will find it!
(If he finds it, it might never be allowed to be re-created: the environmental laws in this Northern state are quite strict!
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