Picture of the day - June 24, 2004

Water Lily Blossoms On Mom's Pond

There are few sights in nature that are more beautiful or relaxing than a country pond covered with water lilies in bloom. Today's picture features a few of the water lily blossoms that cover my mom's pond. Mom sort of inherited the pond from dad when he passed away. She never really had time to enjoy such things when her kids were growing up - her days were consumed by work, both on a public job and at home. She would work five or six long, hot days a week in a sewing factory, then come home and cook supper, clean the house, do the laundry, work in the garden or the tobacco patch...whatever needed to be done. And she did all of this while loving and caring for her eight children and several grandchildren - and still finding time for church. What little free time she did manage to find in the summertime was spent tending her flower garden. Dad was actually the water lover in the family. Fishing was his hobby, and he did a lot of it. Any time he had a few spare minutes, he would manage to find a fishing hole. A pond, a river - any relaxing spot would do as long as the fish were biting! For most of his life, dad had always wanted a pond of his own. He had owned farms and small plots of land over the years, but he had never had a pond that was worthy of being called a fishing hole. Finally, in the latter years of his life, he managed to get one dug out just across the creek from the house. It wasn't very big - pretty small actually as farm ponds go. But he sure did love it! He spent countless hours on riverbanks and at other local ponds catching fish to stock it with. Dad wanted a few water lilies planted in the pond, so my brother went and bought a couple of plants and placed them in the water, pots and all. Within a couple of years those two water lily plants had spread and covered the entire pond! After all those years dad finally had a pond of his own, and it sure was a nice one! It had shade trees growing around it and water lilies in bloom during the summertime... and fish that would literally jump out of the water when you threw them a few scraps of bread. For the last few years that dad was with us, he would walk over to his pond almost every day and feed the fish. That was one of his primary sources of enjoyment as his health continued to fade on virtually a daily basis. Oh, how he loved that pond! He would have taken it with him to heaven if he could have, but of course heaven doesn't need anything from here...so mom inherited the pond when dad passed away in July, 2000. Now, mom loves her pond as much as dad had loved it before her. She enjoys feeding the fish and looking at those beautiful water lilies as they come to life and blossom each summer. She knows she'll be with dad again some day, but for now she can visit that beautiful pond and think of him, looking forward to the day when she and dad can sit beside a beautiful pond in heaven, talk with Jesus, and toss in a few crumbs of bread...   Picture Of The Day Homepage | Submit a photo Interesting Articles