It's been two weeks and I'm sorry to have taken so long to get back to
all of you helpful folks. I've been besieged by health problems. There
was no hole in the bottom of the pond liner as we thought.

First, I want to thank Jennifer Tieche of "Serenity Ponds" here in
Central Ohio, for her immediate response to my plea for help. My pond
began to lose water at (what I felt was an astounding rate) two inches
per day. Her professional attention to detail, quickly found and took
care of, the source of the problem.The new veggie filter was leaking
water down into the (vegatation covered) soil on the rise where the pond
is built. I'll post some wise hints that she gave me, as she gave the
pond a Fall cleanup.

(((Note to Newbies: contrary to the good advice given us here--- in our
jump to conclusions about the cause of the leak: we never left the
waterfall turned off long enough (24 hrs.) to determine if the the leak
wasn't in the sides or bottom of the pond. Please don't make the same
mistake)))

I was very impressed by Jens caring demeanor and her willingness to go
the extra mile, to calm my stress and make things better for my "fish
friends" .

Bette in Gahanna, Ohio
*************************

An American Fable:
Once Upon A Time, in a Topsy Turvey World, where nothing was really as
it seemed, a Wolf was somehow granted permission to guard the Sheep !
Thrilled with such a prospect, he quickly donned a sheepskin and
pretended to be one of the flock.

The sheep, being of a trusting sort, never even noticed his long pointy
nose as it grew-- or saw his long shaggy tail full of thistles and
thorns.

Nor did they see the Second Wolf, as he crouched behind the rocks in the
large pasture and waited patiently for his own chance to destroy as many
of the sheep as possible.

It was no time at all, before both wolves declared War on one another.
The two wolves had voracious appetites and they each wanted for
themselves, what they perceived, the other had-- Not surprisingly, it
was the Sheep who suffered the most as their numbers began to diminish
and their family members were eaten.

Many of the sheep, now shorn of their coats and vulnerable, stood
shivering in horror and wondered at what had come to pass. Much too
late, they realized, that there were "Wolves" among their numbers.

Sadly, only one half of the huge flock was terrified enough to be
alarmed by these new circumstances. Even so, they acted quickly by
banding together and crying out for a new Shepherd to come and save them
from their doom. It was not to be enough--

The other half of the flock seemed strangely asleep -- hypnotized by
either fear or admiration of the "two wolve's cunning ways." As such--
and blinded by their own naivete', they became perfectly content to
just lie down in the pasture and quietly await their fate.

The rest of the flock looked on in wonder and disbelief. They all tried
very hard to reason with those poor sleep-walking sheep, for they
understood that as many sheep as possible, were needed to defeat this
uncommon enemy.

But alas, it came to pass, that no amount of reason or proof could
awaken the fighting spirit of those poor, mesmerized, Lost Sheep--

And so it was, in the once peaceful meadow, that two deceitful wolves
named "Divider" and "Terrorizer" in their quest to kill one another,
would win the day and
All Of The Sheep--- would quickly become the spoils of the Unjust War,
that raged between them..

VOTE LIKE YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT

Bette Ericson 9/5/2004

It's been two weeks and I'm sorry to have taken so long to get back to
all of you helpful folks. I've been besieged by health problems. There
was no hole in the bottom of the pond liner as we thought.

First, I want to thank Jennifer Tieche of "Serenity Ponds" here in
Central Ohio, for her immediate response to my plea for help. My pond
began to lose water at (what I felt was an astounding rate) two inches
per day. Her professional attention to detail, quickly found and took
care of, the source of the problem.The new veggie filter was leaking
water down into the (vegatation covered) soil on the rise where the pond
is built. I'll post some wise hints that she gave me, as she gave the
pond a Fall cleanup.

(((Note to Newbies: contrary to the good advice given us here--- in our
jump to conclusions about the cause of the leak: we never left the
waterfall turned off long enough (24 hrs.) to determine if the the leak
wasn't in the sides or bottom of the pond. Please don't make the same
mistake)))

I was very impressed by Jens caring demeanor and her willingness to go
the extra mile, to calm my stress and make things better for my "fish
friends" .

Bette in Gahanna, Ohio
*************************

An American Fable:
Once Upon A Time, in a Topsy Turvey World, where nothing was really as
it seemed, a Wolf was somehow granted permission to guard the Sheep !
Thrilled with such a prospect, he quickly donned a sheepskin and
pretended to be one of the flock.

The sheep, being of a trusting sort, never even noticed his long pointy
nose as it grew-- or saw his long shaggy tail full of thistles and
thorns.

Nor did they see the Second Wolf, as he crouched behind the rocks in the
large pasture and waited patiently for his own chance to destroy as many
of the sheep as possible.

It was no time at all, before both wolves declared War on one another.
The two wolves had voracious appetites and they each wanted for
themselves, what they perceived, the other had-- Not surprisingly, it
was the Sheep who suffered the most as their numbers began to diminish
and their family members were eaten.

Many of the sheep, now shorn of their coats and vulnerable, stood
shivering in horror and wondered at what had come to pass. Much too
late, they realized, that there were "Wolves" among their numbers.

Sadly, only one half of the huge flock was terrified enough to be
alarmed by these new circumstances. Even so, they acted quickly by
banding together and crying out for a new Shepherd to come and save them
from their doom. It was not to be enough--

The other half of the flock seemed strangely asleep -- hypnotized by
either fear or admiration of the "two wolve's cunning ways." As such--
and blinded by their own naivete', they became perfectly content to
just lie down in the pasture and quietly await their fate.

The rest of the flock looked on in wonder and disbelief. They all tried
very hard to reason with those poor sleep-walking sheep, for they
understood that as many sheep as possible, were needed to defeat this
uncommon enemy.

But alas, it came to pass, that no amount of reason or proof could
awaken the fighting spirit of those poor, mesmerized, Lost Sheep--

And so it was, in the once peaceful meadow, that two deceitful wolves
named "Divider" and "Terrorizer" in their quest to kill one another,
would win the day and
All Of The Sheep--- would quickly become the spoils of the Unjust War,
that raged between them..

VOTE LIKE YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT

Bette Ericson 9/5/2004

On Tue, 7 Sep 2004 12:02:25 -0400, (Bette E)
wrote:
An American Fable:
Once Upon A Time, in a Topsy Turvey World, where nothing was really as
it seemed, a Wolf was somehow granted permission to guard the Sheep !
VOTE LIKE YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT
extensive trimming

I will, but I really do not get the point of your story? Who's the
first wolf, who's the second, wolf, and what makes you think we are
sheep?
--
Crashj

The wolf Fable is in my Sig-- I apologize to all here, for not removing
it before posting here.
As for my point-- I think the Fable speaks for itself.. take it any way
you deem best, but for Heavens sake, Vote in November.