Creature Comforts (Human Creatures)

The pond was built over 20 years ago and has been used primarily for recreational fishing by family, neighbors, and friends and as a place to go just to enjoy nature and a bit of relaxation. For years there was little in the way of creature comforts such as seating arrangements, etc. for the human visitors. Over the past few years we have added a few benches and swings around the pond making it a bit more user friendly. Most of the benches (and one of the swings) are portable so they can be easily moved to accommodate visitors depending on the sun/shade factor or the number of visitors.

One of the favorites of most everyone is the hammock chair swing. This rope swing is so comfortable that if you get situated just right you can take a quick nap. Kids love it, too. It is hung from a large pine tree that has spreading limbs. (This is a bit unusual here in this part of the country where most of the pines are tall growing pines with few limbs suitable for swings and such.) We usually keep it hung fairly low and close to the ground to accommodate the younger visitors and help protect them from mishaps.

Recently we began adding some more permanent seating arrangements at certain points around the pond. These are nothing elaborate. In fact we elected to go with something simple and functional. It seemed more in line with the small, friendly nature of the pond. As a bonus they are really inexpensive. As a matter of fact we just used materials we had on hand. We still have a few more to build and install, but this will give you an idea of what we are doing.