Day 121: RIP the North Pond I loved

I went for a walk around North Pond yesterday. 

It was different than normal. More somber. 

The $7 million pond restoration project has started. It will help prevent future pond erosion and overtime will attract an even broader array of birds and animals.

I know it's good for the health of the ecosystem, but I can't help but feel a bit sad about it . . .

On my way to the pond I found a dead Mourning Dove laying on the sidewalk. For some reason it really startled me. I don't think that's quite the right word. But it hit harder than I would have expected. Probably because I used to feed them out my apartment window (that is, until the building told me to stop).

As soon as I saw the dove I got a weird, heavy feeling. Preparing for something worse, it seemed in a way.

Once I reached the pond I was met by another shock. A dead turtle float just under the water's surface.

My heart sank. 

Then I looked across the pond to the other side and was horrified by what I saw. By what these little omens may have been leading up to. 

I saw undeniable proof of the project starting. But nothing about it looked restorative.

In the limited section of work every tree along the shoreline, healthy or not, had been cut down. 

I didn't think my heart could sink any lower. Then something dawned on me. 

I knew I really liked the North Pond, but dare I say I LOVE North Pond?

It seemed a silly question to ask - of course I loved the pond! But to realize the depths of that love was enlightening.

I always knew I loved animals, but now I was VERY concerned. I just saw a dead turtle floating. 

What's going to happen to the rest of them? 

Where will they go? 

What's going to happen to the beaver (that I finally saw up close)???

I continued my way down the path, momentarily distracted from my concern by a squirrel hanging upside down by its feet in order to reach some seed pods in a tree.

This is why I love North Pond.

By the time I reached the other side of the pond my smile from the squirrel was long gone. 

I paused to look forlornly up the shoreline. Missing the leaning trees and majestic secrecy they created for all of the birds and animals that lived there.

This is what it used to look like in the clearing captured in the photo above:

But now all that's left is this:

I was touched by the fake flowers someone left - I can only imagine - as a memorial.