Is it really worth it?

[Rembrandt]

I thought long and hard about the title I selected for this thread.
As you may or may not know, I am a claims adjuster and in the past 20 years, this is the busiest that our office has ever been. Since the hurricanes Katrina and then Rita, we have been working 7 days a week till midnight and sometimes as late (early?) as 3:00am to keep from falling any further behind in our claims processing. It really hit close to home when Rita litterally came right down our throats. We have been maintaining this pace since the week just after 09-24-2005.

This brings me to my topic:

During the construction and particularly the rebuild (grrrrrrr), I have to be honest and tell you that I have asked myself that question time and time again... is this really worth it?? It was only until this storm turned our worlds inside out that I came up with an answer to my own question.

I am not one of those people who can just come in, lay down, sleep, get back up, etc. I have to wind down even if it is just an hour. I would come home and Cinn would have the torches lit and the pond lights on. I would grab a cold beer (only after kissing Cinn) and walk out onto the bridge over the pond. The world of chaos suddenly would be replaced with serene tranquility. The fish knew I was there but would never be alarmed. They just danced in the lights and showed off for me. I can't think of another way to describe it. The sounds of two waterfalls running.... the flickering of the torches.... the trails of orange, white, black, and combinations thereof just taking it easy.
I hope I am painting the "picture" appropriately. Before I would realize it, an hour would have gone by although it only felt like minutes. The experience is so relaxing, if I could bottle it and market it, I wouldn't have a need to do this work. It is just plain therapy. I have never appreciated our pond as much as I have in the last couple of months. You too Cinn. I have to give credit where credit is due.

Yeah it was a tremendous amount of work building it. It was scary too for we had delved into unknown waters. Budget? LOL Yeah right budget. That is another chapter. Once we started, we were committed and just had to not think about that part too much. As far as I am concerned, our pond is PRICELESS! It has helped me maintain my sanity over the last couple of months. If you ask me, " Is it worth it?"... I have to honestly say, you BET ITS WORTH IT!!

Thanks for letting me take up your electrons.
Rembrandt.

....Oh yeah, feel free to reply.

[Jackie Ramo]

REM, thank you so much for summing up how we feel about our ponds. Some days they are lots of work but the work and money is repaid a thousand fold.

We call it pond time, the time it takes to have a coffee by the pond is much longer than the time it takes to have coffee in front of the computer or tv. When we are late we always say, sorry stopped by the pond for a moment.... which means a half hour easy.

Sorry to hear that the hours are still long and that Cinn has no time for us being busy chopping trees and getting things back to normal. Know that we think of you both and miss you. But like the pond itself we are here waiting to show off for you when you have time to pop by

[Cinnamon]

Jackie I haven't been able to give an update in the past 2 weeks as I have been having problems with my new computer. It only affects my internet connection :( It is working for a little while so I finally got to read what Rem posted and thought I would give a reply :)

Is it worth it??? YES!! over and over yes. People remark how clear my water is and I smile. I explain it is not an easy task to keep it clear but I have managed to do so.

I did get to mow 2 weeks ago this Friday. Wow! I am now working on what we call the South 40. It is a mess as we lost a lot of trees over there which I did not clean up. My FIL brought in heavy equipment and made a royal mess over there <sigh> I work a little at a time. I did take pics and will post them soon.

I now have a new camera thanks go to Rem. I have taken some video of my fish but now I have to put them up. I couldn't find any decent sites to upload them so I am going to get my own domain and put a pic site up. Stay tuned as I will let you know when it gets finished. I have to do it when I have access grrr.

I fixed the roof on the house as well. I told Rem that the Insurance allowed $125 for emergency repair on his shop ( which I did ) and they allowed $175 to fix the house. I told him I work for Insurance checks and he owed me $300 :lol: So I got a great new camera which I love!!!

It has turned a lot cooler here. This week is beautiful with highs in the 70s and lows in the 40s. I did noticed ya'll were socked in with cold and snow!! YUCK! My pond temps are running around 58 in the day. The fish come out every other day and I give them a little broccoli and kale.

I haven't abandoned ya'll completely. I am tired I know that!! I am ready for a rest. I don't know how I have kept going this long. Oh and I STILL can't talk!!! It makes what 3 monts or so. Ever since the Wed before Rita hit. I have an appt in Houston Dec 12.

[Busy B]

That was beautiful Rem :wink:

You summed it up quite nicely...when I found out I was to be a before my time Grandmother, I spent many a hour by the pond staring at the water and the fish. It does take you to another time, place and ease the mind.

Sorry you have sooo much to do too Cin..a large workload I'm sure! Hope your connection is resolved soon and your life is back to somewhat of the same pace you had before.

[Jackie Ramo]

Keep us posted on what the doc says. That's long time to be coughing and not talking. I'm sure Rem has some comments about that though :frisbee:

Mind it could be that you don't give yourself the rest you need to heal the body...

Look forward to seeing the pics. Lots of work done and more to do. Still the fish are happy.

A rest beside the pond has saved a lot of bickering around this house. Puts things in persepctive and eases the aches of the soul.

[Rembrandt]

Jeesh,
Finishing up another late night at the office but they will soon be returning back to normal as we have finally gotten control over all the claims from hurricane Ike. Popped in and found my old post and re-read it....
It is a time warp only three years later and nearly to the DATE!

As before, we just went through another incredible hurricane. I walked out to the bridge last night only to hear silence. The soothing sounds of the twin waterfalls were no more. The beutiful banana trees with the fruit blooms are now twisted foliage and broken stalks. Pam said she saw another one of the smaller trees trying to throw a bloom stalk out. Heck, it is too close to winter for them to even think of doing that. Oh well, Mother nature will do 'what' she will and 'when' she will. As for the waterfalls, they have been dormant since we shut the pond down earlier this fall due to an elusive water leak. The remnants of the lights were pulled out and boxed. The hurricane had shut us down as far as pond repairs go and winter will soon be here shutting us down even more. I miss my pond. Cinn and I are thankful the fish are still in the pool and are doing fine although it feels weird walking out to the pool to see the fish instead of visiting the pond.
One day we will have it back. It was just too nice to just let it go unrepaired.
I miss my therapy! :crybaby:

Later people,
Remmy

[flywheel]

I know exactly what you mean about the pond being therapy. :yup:

I did a double take on the dates reading this, felt like "The Twilight Zone" until I read your last post. Good luck getting everything back the way you want.

[Jackie Ramo]

I feel for you REM I miss mine as well. Glad you are getting back to normal down there and the rebuild is underway.

[Rembrandt]

Is it worth it? ....is it WORTH it??
Well...... we sure as heck hope so.
After a very lengthy time lapse, I have made the decision to continue forward with our backyard oasis (aka-money pit) and once and for all, fix it.......

We have hired a crew to come in and repair our pond with a spray-on liner as our EPDM liner has rotted and deteriorated to the point where it is beyond hope. Ah the lessons we learn. What I have spent in the form of waterbills just to keep the level of water survivable for the fish could have paid for a large portion of this project. :mad:

Yet, never fear, I am bound and determined to breath life back into our backyard hideaway that we may once again be able to go back there and smile with pride and relax at the sounds of the twin waterfalls. I miss those evenings.....

Is it worth it? I think so.

Stubborn and Obstinate in SE TX,
Remmy

[philly]

Remmy, it looks like you're on your way there's no turning back now once done you will have the time to enjoy the pond again. :grin:

[Jackie Ramo]

is that a new deck etc Remmy? Looks very nice, perfect for enjoying the new pond.

[Rembrandt]

Jackie,
That is the next stage of the deck project. Took some old columns from my old office that were being replaced and altered them for this project. Reinforced the area under the deck for support and then started on that beam. Looked so simple on paper. Yeah RIGHT. It got big real quick. Will cover it with green metal and Pam will paint the columns and trim white. Been slow going with the heat wave but it is coming along. Eventually I will have the power finished out there and will have a couple of ceiling fans out there. Yep, high-tech rednecks! :lol:
I think it will really look neat when/if I ever get finished.
Starting to get excited about the new pond now.
Remmy

[Jackie Ramo]

Sounds wonderful Rem. I can see you there with a mint julip at sundown enjoying the fish.