They gave me something I've wanted for a long time, one of those table
fountains made out of featherock. It's from China, of course. It consists of
three rocks, the largest one containing a waterfall, with a little pump hidden
in back. It comes with a coarse earthenware bowl which is a little too small. I
will have to see if I can find something a bit more suitable. I'm not sure how
deep the water has to be.
It came with the inevitable fisherman epoxied on one of the smaller rocks. I
gave him a fishing pole & a fish, & threw a sea turtle in the water. Good thing
I married an engineer. I was going to put sand on the bottom, until my husband
warned me it would clog the pump. So I used a layer of coarse aquarium gravel.
It also came with a broken crane. When I went back to the store, the lady was
out of cranes, so she gave me two guys playing chess. I took them home, but I
am doubtful if even in China you would find a couple of men playing chess out
on a hill next to a waterfall. Are they supposed to be fishing at the same
time? I happen to have two cranes, so I stuck them in place with some cut
paste.
The only thing missing is some vegetation. If I had a greenhouse or lived in
the tropics, I could put some plants on it permanently, although the rock might
get full of algae. There is no room for this thing under the fluorescent
lights. My idea is to cement three small plastic pots on the backs of the rocks
with aquarium cement. Then I can grow a few mames and mini accent plants in
identical small pots, and just slip their pots into the pots in back of the
rocks for display. Tropicals are probably easier. I have several minis going at
the moment, & I am trying to root a few cuttings. Hal Mahoney has a similar
technique for rock penjing. Does anyone have a suggestion for what plants would
be best? Are there any conifers that would work (given a rest period of
course)?
For a religious event, I would use the quotation which is on the monument in
front of the Southern Poverty Law Center, "Let justice roll down like water,
and righteousness as a mighty stream." I need to find the exact wording and the
source.
Iris,
Central NY, Zone 5a, Sunset Zone 40
"When you come to a fork in the road, take it." Yogi Berra