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January 29, 1987 - An Oasis in the WoodsPage 8A/The Suffolk Times /January 29, 1987 By Paul Stoutenburgh WINTER'S WHITE - -Even a walk down the driveway after a winter snowfall can be a magical adventure. The commonplace becomes a fairyland. 4 Spring � is just around the corner ..,and so are we! Introducing Peconic Bay Nurseries. Opening April 4th with a full service garden center and nursery. Shrubs, flowers, fertilizer and more... everything you need for your garden and home landscaping projects. Look for our grand opening. PECONIC BAY NURSERIES, INC. Route 48, Peconic, New York An Oasis in the Woods By PAUL STOUTENBURGH I don't know how most folks get their mail today but ours is delivered to our mail box. Years ago when the population was much smaller, there was no delivery along our roads and we had to go to the post office. I remember the squeaky wood floors and rows of brass - colored mail boxes that greeted you as you went to "get the mail." Box 387 with a combination of MD got our mail, but in those days few ever bothered to lock the box and reset it. It was easier to just go in, open it, take out your one or two letters and be on your way. Quite a difference today with the amount of junk mail we get. Perhaps a seed catalog and, of course, the Sears wishing book was about the limit in those simple days. We now live 300 feet off the road so the walk down the drive to get the mail is always a pleasant change of pace. Halfway down the gravel drive that cuts through the woods, we have a little pond -- well, not exactly a pond. It is more like an oversized - bird bath my son and I made years ago to attract birds and animals. Perhaps it was the result of some leftover cement from building the house that I couldn't see getting hard and useless. At any rate we dug out a low spot right alongside the drive and with some old chicken wire and potato digger chains for reinforce- ment, we poured a free -form shallow pond about 12 feet long. At one end it dips to three feet so the goldfish I put in to keep, mosquitoes out have a place to hibernate during the winter freeze. A Pond Oasis What prompted me to write about this little wayside spot was some- thing that happened during the last snowfall. When I stopped beside the pond on my way down to get the mail I found myself pondering about its usefulness and the enjoyment it has brought all of us. Probably most people wouldn't bother putting in such an elaborate bird bath, particularly when it is so far from the house where no one can see it. But then, that's exactly why I placed it there. It's an oasis for birds and animals, a place they can come to bathe or be refreshed and it's a place that I too often stop and enjoy. There's hardly a time I go by I haven't seen something of interest, whether it's a catbird splashing in the shallow end or the dance of a water beetle across the surface. Each trip to the mail box features its own show. I know it's used all day in warm weather for the leaves around the shallow edge where the birds bathe are always wet from their splashing. I planted a few hemlocks which seem to do well under the canopy of oaks that surround the pond. They seem to fit in just right with the brown understory of leaves that ex- tend right on into the pond. I did plant some May apples, those wildflowers from upstate, at one end and each year they pop through the leaves as one of spring's earliest bloomers. When building I tried to keep a two -inch thick layer of cement as I worked around the various curves, but I'm sure there is a lot more and a lot less in many places. I don't drain Focus on Nature the pond during the winter and it seems to do very well. I used many old lengths of garden hose through the woods to fill it when dry weather comes in the summer. After one sea- son the old hose was completely co- vered with leaves and debris, which suited me just fine. I do rake out the fallen leaves in the spring but other than that I do little maintenance be- sides occasionally adding two or three 10 -cent goldfish to make sure the mosquitoes are kept down. A dogwood hangs over the pond giving it a special kind of cover, and a white oak right at its edge adds much to its character. I've tried a few evergreen trees but find they will not grow to any size under the canopy of oaks. Out in the sun evergreens do well, but don't expect any but the hemlock to do well without sun. A Changing Picture As I pass by, the water surface al- ways presents a different picture. In the evening the twilight shades blend in with the glassy surface. During a bright summer day, the re- flection of the whole woods can be seen shimmering on the surface. Now during the winter, when it starts to get cold, ice patterns creep across the surface only to melt when the temperature rises. Later, solid ice will take over with perhaps only a broken black limb protruding to show where the pond lies. Now with the snow, the character of the pond changes again. The trees, the ground and the ice of the pond are covered with fluffy snow. Only the bare out- line of the slightly raised edge tells me where my pond is. I see the tracks of a mouse half buried as it hops across the frozen surface. No water here to drink to- night. Then the tracks are lost in the woods. The smooth white snow covers everything with graceful curves as it falls. It's a time of peace and tranquility. Next spring the pond will once again become a mecca for birds and animals alike. I know the raccoon passes here and perhaps even plays with my ceramic frog that perches on an outcrop of rock. I often find it top- pled from its perch and telltale foot- prints nearby. Each time I pick it up from below and realign it for his next visit. The rufous -sided towhee will stay motionless at the bathing end of the pond hoping I'll not see it and it wont have to fly as I head for the mail. The natural world asks little from us. A place to drink and bathe and you've done more than enough. What more could you ask than to have the wonders of the outside world come al- most to your door so that you can enjoy their company? It's surprising what a little water in the right place will do. Even in the winter when snows fly, memories of warmer days to come return as I pass the pond on the way to the mail.