Summer's Soothing Gift:
Farm Ponds
WRITER/PHOTOGRAPHER J. Dwaine Phifer
The long summer days of July and August 2022 are upon us. Temperatures soar. Humidity rises. Cicadas, high in shaded trees, chatter with a shrill, vibrating racket. The highpitched, raspy noise somehow just draws more attention to the daytime heat and our discomfort. Seemingly, the hotter the temperature and the higher the humidity, the louder and more intense the insects' racket. Folks all across the Yadkin Valley grumble and grouse. Distant nighttime clouds often flash with what some call "heat lightning”, but no cooling storm arrives. All the while, nighttime insects ramp up their grating babel, incessant buzzing and itchy biting. Thoughts of frosty iced tea pitchers, cold lemonade, or just 82
/ yadki nval l e ymagaz ine.com
a tall glass of refreshing cool water are our constant summer companions. Keep in mind, we grumbling, grousing curmudgeons are probably the same gang of folks who always have more than a word or two about overloads of spring pollen, raking tons of fall leaves, and nearly freezing to death in winter. Mark Twain wisely noted, "Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it." Well, maybe...... However.... Because the Yadkin Valley has such an important history of farm life and farming, many old farm ponds remain as rural fixtures and reasons for celebration. Some of these ponds have become the centerpieces of new golf courses or public parks.
