Paved Paradise
June 24, 2018
Maybe it’s not as bad as a parking lot, but I don’t like what the Metropark people did to “my” Back Pond at Schoepfle Garden. For many years I have taken photographs of this small pond (see here, and keep scrolling), relishing the natural ripples on its surface that the wind makes as well as stiller moments. But recently the managers decided the pond needed aeration. (Why?) So they installed an aerator. Now the pond has artificial ripples—always the same and all the time. To make matters worse, it also installed a four-foot-high cast-iron statue of an eagle.
As much as I dislike the aerator, I photographed the artificial ripples a few months ago, and have to admit that they have their own kind of beauty.
Romancing Reality 
Nice. For me, the ripples suggest Japanese ink paintings, with the negative space behind the lines providing a lot of support.
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June 24, 2018 at 10:14 AM
Oo, I like that, John. Thanks.
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June 27, 2018 at 5:39 PM
Is there a problem with too much organic material or too little oxygen in the pond? Then the aerator might make sense.
The eagle is an instance of kitsch. They better remove it.
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June 24, 2018 at 12:18 PM
I still haven’t asked the park people why they installed the aerator. Probably they would suggest too much organic material or too little oxygen, but the pond always cleared itself in the past. I’m glad you agree with me about the eagle, Nannus.
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June 27, 2018 at 7:17 PM
I wonder if the aerator is for keeping down mosquitoes? I could see that. But the eagle – I can’t think of a good reason for that excuse for a lump of metal…!
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June 24, 2018 at 4:51 PM
I found this about mosquitos and ponds: “The best habitat for mosquito larvae is actually shallow, stagnant water, which is not commonly found in backyard ponds. ” The full discussion is here: https://www.finegardening.com/article/qa-keeping-water-gardens-mosquito-free. So we can rule out that excuse. But what is their excuse for that eagle? I was thinking that maybe I misspoke when I said it was cast iron. It may be some kind of plastic, which is probably worse. Not surprised you don’t like it either, Patricia. That’s a nice Twitter page, BTW.
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June 27, 2018 at 7:32 PM
These are gorgeous pattern!
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June 24, 2018 at 7:41 PM
Thanks, Sue! I just wish they weren’t made by the stupid aerator.
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June 27, 2018 at 7:34 PM
I love those ripples – by a strange co-incidence I photographed some just two days ago. The Eagle – definitely gets the thumbs down from me!
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June 25, 2018 at 2:32 PM
Glad to know of your thumbs down on the eagles, Andy. I haven’t received a single comment in their favor. Glad you like the ripples, though. I’m looking forward to seeing your own ripples photograph(s).
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June 27, 2018 at 7:36 PM
To look at the old photos of the pond, with all their varied beauty, and then to see that…thing….is just so upsetting. And it’s very instructive, as in, people should learn to leave well enough alone! That eagle is unbelievable! I have to tell you a story. I once worked for two top NYC interior decorators, managing their country property upstate, mostly gardening. There was a lovely pond, simialr to Schoepfle’s back pond, but smaller. Surrounded by woods, shallow, magical, in a quiet corner of the property away from the main and guest houses. Once I saw a Great blue heron there, and there were turtles, a few wildflowers, etc. But “the boys” decided they had to have a fountain just like one they’d seen on another property – George Soros’s country place, which was in the neighborhood. It would be a simple fountain with no parts showing, just a very high, straight, elegant jet of water shooting up from the pond’s flat surface. Decoratively nice, but….anyway, I was tasked with an insane amount of organizing to manage the project, including locally illegal wetland excavation to get the pond deep enough for the engine. In the end the peace was gone and I don’t think they even looked at this folly very often. And it was out of place.
But I’m sure there is still beauty to be found, even there, as you know….the middle one is my favorite!
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June 26, 2018 at 12:44 PM
Yes, as far as I could tell, over a period of 20 years, the pond was doing fine on its own. Now and then it would grow some algae on the surface, but—as was true of the pond on our former property—it cleared by itself—or fish ate it, or it sunk to the bottom. I can only hope that your NYC interior decorators’ fountain motor broke. Also the one on Schoepfle Garden’s Back Pond. Thanks for looking at the old photos. And for sharing in my outrage.
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June 27, 2018 at 7:44 PM
Anytime!
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June 29, 2018 at 3:04 PM