Post 3

Today, I went walking, again.  I went to the pond that’s located behind the large mall.  I remember coming here when I was younger.  Playing in the water, feeding the ducks, trying to catch the fish with my bare hands; I remember my father tied an old rope onto a branch extending over the pond so I could swing and jump into the pond.   I had a birthday party here once; I believe it was my 10th.  Some of my classmates came and we ate cake and swam.  It’s one of the happiest memories I have.   It’s so different now.  There’s no ducks happily swimming, only assorted garbage bobbing up and down in the murky water that’s full of pollution from the mall.  The rope doesn’t stand out like it used to when everything around it was young and alive.  Now there are all kinds of objects hanging from the tree: streamers from numerous parties, and toilet paper from old jokes.  There’s litter on the ground, old plates, napkins, and plastic utensils from parties, scraps of paper everywhere, and the occasional tire or other car parts scattered around.  There’s actually so much litter that you can’t even see the all the dirt and patches of brown grass, which hasn’t been cut for many years. 

A picture of the shore of the pond.

I suppose I should say my reason for going there.  I’ve heard that the area is going to be used for an extension of the mall.  I wanted to visit once more before it’s gone.  Now, I wish I’d never gone.  I don’t want the image of what it looks like now to be my last memory of one of places I loved.