Deep Pond is much quieter in wintertime, but fascinating sights and sounds are everywhere. Icy plunges are a perfect way to capture the season’s serenity and calm and observe nature (after studying how to plunge safely). When the earth is this still and quiet, magic happens: frozen drops of water hang like lights from trees; a duck nearby ripples the water; clouds look like big balls of wool. A wind kicks up and creates mesmerizing shadows of rippling water on the trees. Before we know it, winter will bow out and spring will come, bringing us a very different kind of Cape Cod beauty.

Mary Grauerholz is president of the Deep Pond Preservation Project in East Falmouth. She is also a member of the Old Ladies Against Underwater Garbage (OLAUG). Throughout the month of February 2023 at the Falmouth Art Center, 137 Gifford Street, Falmouth, there will be an art show titled Old Ladies Against Underwater Garbage. Photographs of pond litter taken above and below the surface will be on display as well as “Found Art.”  And yes, that is ice that Mary is swimming through!
Photo credit: Richard Zuck

For more ideas about how to save your pond, go to State of the Waters Action Plan.

And remember, always check with your local conservation office before undertaking any projects around a pond so that you don’t run afoul of local and state wetlands protection regulations.

Pond Stories are a collection of writings and other media from Cape Codders and visitors who love the almost 1,000 local ponds that dot the Cape. We hope this collection of stories awakens your inner environmentalist to think deeper about our human impacts to these unique bodies of water.

Send us your favorite pond photo, story, poem, video, artwork–we want to share with everyone why the Cape’s ponds and lakes are so special! Email your pond connection to [email protected]