The Pond Monster

Okay, OUR pond monster wasn’t quite this glorious or famous…but what an adventure!

We begin the tale on an average evening in April here in the Pennsylvania mountains, where an…ah…older couple have just finished their dinner and are doing the dishes, looking out at their quaint little pond.

Suddenly my husband notices a “black spot” on the pond and points…”What’s that, do you think?” I respond that i haven’t a clue. Since it was getting darker and there are no lights out near the pond and, of course, we wanna veg for the evening, we agree it’s nothing. Watching Third Rock from the Sun on dvd, laughing about aliens from another planet, makes us forget all about whatever is IN the pond.

In the morning, we continue our daily lives as though nothing happened the night before-no mysterious sighting in the pond. I do laundry, have coffee, peruse my favorite websites. Hubby gets his coffee and heads to his home office to begin his day.

I start to do the breakfast dishes and notice it’s raining…and my gaze wanders to the pond…the THING is still there…IN THE SAME SPOT. In our little pond, we have 2 outfall pipes to keep the water level as consistent as possible (droughts notwithstanding). Water enters the pond from the left (from my vantage point) via a waterfall and the outfall pipes are directly across the pond to the right. The THING in the pond is in the direct path of the incoming water but is NOT being drawn to the outfall pipes!

All at once, the rain becomes heavier…and as i watch, the THING in the pond moves! Not toward the pipes, but towards me! Well okay, it’s still in the water but it’s moving towards the pond’s edge. I call out to hubby that I’m going to investigate!! He laughs–imagine–he laughs! “It’s probably dirt or leaves or something.” I grab the binoculars and I see 2 white spots on the black THING–I yell–“IT’S GOT EYES!!!!!”

I yank on my rain slicker, grab the rolling pin (the handiest weapon I have in the kitchen) and storm out!

I hear hubby laughing behind me as I charge the pond, determined to see what has invaded us! As we near the water’s edge, I can see it has moved even closer and I raise my rolling pin, almost clubbing hubby who now is as intrigued as I about IT. It’s turning in the water…this is just not dirt! Although there appeared to be twigs and leaves entwined together…there is something steering the small dark mass…it turns…and turns… and then we get a look at the driver…

A frog…the biggest darn frog I’ve seen to date around here…but just a frog.

Well, that’s what counts as an adventure around these parts.