Pond Garden Reveries

By Diane Ahlgrim

Pond Garden Reveries takes ordinary events in the author's life and transforms them
into humorous "I'm glad that hasn't happened to me" recollections but yet are enjoyable
for the reader to digest. Like a river, life flows along. It has a beginning and an end, just
as a river does. Diane shares a little of"this and that" from her life's journey, events that
have helped define her being and hopes that she will entertain you, the reader.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Dec 6, 2011
• ISBN: 9781465397331

Diane Ahlgrim

A lover of nature, art, photography, and believer in the importance of laughter in everyone's lives, Diane tries to see the humor in life's experiences, even in those that are not inherently funny. Her mantra is "that laughter is good for the soul". A Chicago native, she now spends summers on the downeast coast ofMaine and winters in Florida. She has a son living in the Boston area and a daughter who resides in Carlsbad, California. I want this book to impart a "feel good" sensation to its readers.

Book preview

Copyright © 2011 by Diane Ahlgrim.

Library of Congress Control Number:       2011960637

ISBN:         Hardcover                               978-1-4653-9732-4

                   Softcover                                 978-1-4653-9731-7

                   Ebook                                      978-1-4653-9733-1

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

This book was printed in the United States of America.

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

Xlibris Corporation

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

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107758

Contents

Prologue

Pond Garden Reveries

Magician Lake

The Ice Skating Party

I Should Have Stayed Put!

The Three Musketeers

My Mate

The Dog Who Didn’t Know It— Three is a Crowd

Ah, A Relaxing Day at Home

The Golf Lesson

The Quiet Life

Salesmanship 101

Snowball

Jury Duty

Scuba Diving Class

A Moving Experience

A Holiday Comedy of Errors— Christmas Brunch

A Touch of Class—Gourmet Club

Smile, God Loves You

I Can Always Add An Egg

Taking the Cats to the Vet

Kissimmee, FL

Epilogue

Prologue

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Like a river, life flows along, sometimes slow and lazy, sometimes almost stopping due to hazards and dams that temporarily prevent it from continuing on its inevitable course, and at times flowing at break neck speed, much as the Christmas season seems to in our lives. The river has a beginning and an end as a life does, a birth and a death so to speak. It has beauty and solemnity, places that appear ordinary and unremarkable, places taken for granted, but it also has locations of dazzling beauty that emote joy, laughter, and happiness.

I would like to share a little of this and that from my life’s journey thus far, sporadic musings that have helped define my being.

Pond Garden Reveries

Today I stop my frantic pace and sit silently upon one of the rocks surrounding my pond garden’s edge. I concentrate on the water and what lies beneath, allowing my mind to cease all other mental exercises. I only move to occasionally throw a pebble or two into the transparent liquid, disrupting the water’s clarity. Fish, one be one, surface to check out what has caused the water’s displacement. A particularly handsome finned creature with graceful forked tail leads a queue of colorful koi and wriggly tadpoles. The variegated swimmers now retreat under lily pads, seeking protection from their egret and heron enemies flying by.

A lifeless moth floats on the water’s surface. The corpse appears so out of place in the tranquil setting. Several new lily buds barely peek out of the water, heralding new life. A giant day lily rears up its pinkish-red blossom four inches higher than the water’s level adding brilliant color to the muted blues, grays, and browns on the surface. Fully developed water lilies in hues of pink, yellow, and white also brighten the scene.

Turtles and bumpy-skinned frogs share rocks, sunning themselves. My feline companions chatter in frustrated excitement from the porch, wanting to join me as a blue heron alights upon a low hanging tree branch. As the sun shifts, it alters this pleasureable panorama. A light breeze stirs, sending leaves downward into the water. They mimic small boats on a miniature sea. Tigertail butterflies land on a blossom joining a bumblebee collecting nectar. The waterfall’s splashing and a cardinal’s chirping add to the overall charm.

I feel blessed to be a witness to this masterpiece of nature. We don’t need to travel far to find peace and contentment. It can happen in our own backyards

My reverie is broken. It is time for life’s journey to continue on.

Magician Lake

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Fondest recollections are not always of the momentous occasions in life, but can be of lesser moments and events that leave just as indelible marks upon our memories, just as fond and just as memorable.