Life is Good, Busy, but Good

At 43 years old, I thought that my life would be less hectic and much more leisurely. After all, I have two daughters, 21 and 15, who are wonderful. They both are active in church and neither have been in any serious trouble. My wife and I have a great relationship and really enjoy being with each other.

Enter three foster daughters, 5, 3 and 1 and suddenly we are thrust back into dance recitals, T-ball, bedtime stories and all the other neat stuff we did with our girls. Don't get me wrong, we absolutely love it. The comedy that three young rug rats can produce would put Robin Williams to shame. When is the last time you've seen someone eat a half a tub of butter sitting in a towel drawer or seen someone pour a box of corn starch on their head. But I also understand why grandparents ideally shouldn't be asked to raise their grand kids. It takes energy, lots and lots of energy!!!!

Still, when things get stressful, I simply step outside and spend time around my pond. Thankfully, I did install a great system that requires very little maintenance. Heaven knows I have much time to do major upkeep. I just feed the fish and watch the water cascade down the waterfall. Life slows down and my thoughts return to what is truly important in life.

So the next time you feel overwhelmed by life's challenges, go spend some time alone around your pond. Relax and realize how good your life is. I know that my life couldn't be better.

Happy Earth Day!

While I’m not an environmentalist, I do believe that we should be good stewards to what God has given us. With energy prices still fairly high and the economy still very shaky in many areas of the country, it just makes good economic sense not to waste money.

The next time you replace that cheap waterfall pump, check the energy consumption of the replacement pump.  Many direct drive pumps show a range in the power consumption numbers. Direct-drive pumps use less energy as head pressure increases. As most water garden applications use under 5’ of head pressure, use the largest number when deciding on a pump. Pondliner.com has a handy energy cost calculator so that you can see just how much money that particular pump costs to operate.

New pump technologies can give you a longer pump life at a lower operating cost. For the last two years, we have been switching our customers from the Cal Pump PW Waterfall Pumps into their PWM Waterfall Pumps. The Cal Pump PWM Waterfall Pumps less about 30-40% less energy and warranty returns have dropped by 800%.

If you are looking at replacing your filtration system or just building a pond, I highly recommend the OASE products. Although the initial price is higher, the savings in energy alone will pay for the cost difference in less than 18 months. The OASE systems also include a Clear Water Guarantee that is good for the life of the pond.