Responding to popular demand (one comment — that’s what passes for popular in this here blog), I went out this evening and took some pictures of the “duck pond” in my neighbor’s yard, and now I’ll post them here so that you too can enjoy it.

Let’s start wide and then push in, shall we? First, here’s the view from my back yard across the street. Isn’t it great how the awning and frame over the pond complement the architectural lines of the house?

Dollying in, you can begin to make out some details through the fence. You can see the nylon ropes bracing the awning’s frame and, well okay, I admit I exaggerated about the malibu lights being only 18″ apart. It’s more like 24″. But look how almost straight they are, and how they’re all set to almost the same depth!

Up close now so you can appreciate the fine craftsmanship of the ungrouted and broken slate lining the pond, the leaning malibu lights, the ropes holding the awning up, and the roll-up bamboo blind that lends the whole structure a touch of class. A lot of… well, something … went into this project.

And how can you not appreciate the magical touches? The tasteful frog-in-overalls statue admiring the koi, the nymph wearing a cockleshell hat and dipping a planter into the water, the pastoral calm of the twin plaster deer perched atop the extension cord? Magic, yes, but my heart also sings at the black plastic tarp peeking out between the rocks framing the waterfall, not to mention the delicacy of the awning leg hesitantly poised on the slate at poolside. One good gust of wind and that awning will end up in the water … or maybe not! It’s genius.

And then, finally, let’s have a look at the “waterfall” area. The broken cinderblocks are artfully concealed under the “pretty” rocks, but you can still see a few corners peeking through if you look carefully. And of course you have to admire the nylon rope anchoring the awning, and especially the tent stake it’s tied off to. You don’t get that kind of craftsmanship from your average front yard duck pond builder guy!

So there you have it, this is the pond that is giving the neighbors — indeed, the whole neighborhood — so much pleasure. It really is a thing of beauty, isn’t it? I can’t say just how impressed with it I am. Really, I can’t. You really have to wonder why that darned duck won’t stay in it…

…or where it was when I took these pictures.