A New Waterfall reminds us of the joy of neighborhood

After retiring a few years ago, and taking a year off for overseas travel, Estelle and I settled in back home to discover our new life in our old home of 38 years. Covid hit and pretty much guaranteed we’d be right here until a vaccine came along.

What we weren’t prepared for was discovering the joy of our neighborhood.

One would think, after living here all this time, we would know our neighbors well. In reality, my working life as an entrepreneur and Estelle’s drama studio, were pretty much all consuming—leaving home before dark, returning after dark, and working many weekends. So, other than our next door neighbors, we really didn’t get to know many others at all. Then, over the years, there was quite a bit of turnover on the block so we just never connected, particularly with the new families with young children.

Our neighborhood around New Natchez Trace, between Golf Club and Woodlawn, is a great walking area—interconnected, quiet, shaded streets among a wide variety of homes and yards. So we get lots of walkers past our house, friendly folks, often unacquainted, who smile and wave at each other in passing. The nature of Covid, with more people staying home, and eager for outdoor activities, caused a significant increase in the walking traffic.

Most people who want water features in their yard tend to think of backyard locations where they can see and hear it from their house or back patio. However, since our lot drops steeply from the street to our home, I always thought that slope would be a perfect place for a little waterfall. Finally, retired during Covid, provided the perfect opportunity to build it.

The upper bed at street level had a curved rock wall separating it from the street and an ugly water meter box which dominated the bed. So, after lots of design time, I decided to pile rocks around the water meter box and create a little stream that wound along the wall and around the pile of rocks creating a small waterfall before heading toward the house and dropping off the hillside. Google and Youtube provided the how-to and over a period of a couple of months, I gradually moved the three tons of stones to make it all happen, including a buried tank and recirculating pump at the end. I turned it on a few weeks before Christmas.

Then the magic started. Because the stream meandered across rocks right by the street, people walking by, particularly with kids and dogs, were attracted to the sound and moving water. Since it was Christmas, we added a few decorations in the water, a few play fish, a fly fishing Santa, and a little Christmas tree with some lights. 

The next thing we know, there are new decorations showing up. Neighbors have added their own little houses on the rocks, candy canes in the tree, more toy figures, and animals in the stream. It became the talk of the neighborhood as people stopped by with kids and dogs playing in the stream and looking for new things as they appeared between visits. Then, as they lingered there, other neighbors would stop, get acquainted, and visit as their kids and dogs enjoyed the stream, almost like a little park.

With all the craziness of 2020, we found great joy in the smiles of our neighbors taking a break just to play and visit at the new waterfall on New Natchez Trace.