Our garden pond did us well that first year. We solved any potential mosquito breeding problems by dropping a bio-safe larvae killing 'donut' into the water every month. They are three bucks or so for a pack of six at your local hardware/garden store. The season rolled by. The pond attracted a lot of wildlife. Squirrels, raccoons, the occasional deer, and a hawk would belly up to take a drink. It was a pleasure watching them from our patio.

One night I camped in the yard with the kids and we were woken in the wee hours by the "trrrrrrrr, trrrrrrr" sound that raccoons make. We peeked out of the tent flaps and there, not ten feet away, was a mother raccoon with a baby (are they called cubs?). Stopping by our pond for a sip. Quite enchanting.

Fall arrived. Being lazy as well as a cheapskate I didn't think to cover our pond once the leaves began to drop. Soon, the water was choked with dead leaves. Oh well, too late to worry about that now. Fall turned to winter and some time in January the pond froze solid. The kids tested this by jumping up and down on the ice (yes, I tried it myself).

Spring at last. When the weather got warmer and the ice was all gone I decided it was time to clean out the pond. Hey, where did all the water go? When the ice first melted the water level seemed fine. Now it was down at least six inches. What was left was yucky. Choked with rotting leaves - and it smelled! I decided on an early Miller Time.

Next day the water level was down again. Looks like we had sprung a leak somehow. I started to scoop out the muck with a plastic rake and a bucket. What a rotten mess. Earthworms had fallen into the water and drowned adding to the disgusting stench. I pulled bucket after bucket of slimy mess out of the bottom of the pond until it was almost drained. The pond liner was caked with stinky mud and ooze. I thought about hosing it and draining it a few times until it was clean again but I remembered that the water was leaking out somehow. I decided on a fresh start. Off to Lowes for a new roll of black plastic.

I moved all the edging stones and bricks back from the edge of the pond to fully expose the liner then I hauled it out of the pond hole liberally coating myself with filthy slime in the process. I was already dirty so I thought, what the hell, and started examining the old plastic sheet foot by foot. Eureka! Roughly where the deepest part of the pond had been there was a jagged hole about a half inch in size. The kind of hole you'd get by poking it with a sharp stick. Grilling the kids got no results. They refused to crack under my steely interrogation. Oh well, I was going to replace the plastic anyway. It could have been worse. The custom made pond liners at the store would have punctured just as easily at three times the cost.

So, in with the new liner, hold down with bricks, fill with water, replace edging stones. Pond good as new.

This fall, I'll make sure I cover our pond with a tarp to keep the leaves out and I'm determined to make the liner last more than one season. What's that? Yes, it is definitely Miller Time. Cheers.