On September 18, 2003, Hurricane Isabel hit Virginia. The entire night Isabel raged outside the window, I heard the wind howl, and our large trees groaned in our backyard under the weight of the huge monstrosity of the wind and heavy rain. I was petrified. I could not sleep, so I just stared at the ceiling and wondered if we would survive. With the first morning light, I looked out of the window from our second-floor bedroom and saw a huge old tree with roots up in our back yard. We were lucky—the tree fell on the fence opposite the house. We had to pay $4,000 to remove the fallen tree from the yard, but later our home insurance returned this money to us. A large hole was left in the middle of our back yard; we were not sure what to do about it.
One day we went to see the “Home and Garden” show, and there I got an idea about building a pond with a waterfall, koi fish, and a flower bed around it. Sparky did not want it at first, but he finally succumbed to the idea. We hired people to do the work. They started in the morning when we went to work. When we came back from work, there was a pond with a waterfall instead of a big hole. The sound of running water was incredibly soothing. I planted flowers around the area, and we bought koi fish. Soon our pond became a central attraction of our back yard, and it was beautiful. Everyone admired it! So many gatherings and celebrations with family and friends took place in our back yard. I hope my grandchildren will always remember our back yard in Virginia—they spent so many happy times there.
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