Legacy Park in Mountain Home, Idaho was my second home until the age of eleven before my family moved to Texas. Our house was a couple blocks away from the park and I would either walk or my family would drive there very often. There were open fields where my family would go sledding down the hills in the winter, shoot homemade rockets into the air, play on the playgrounds, I would see other families host and attend parties under the covered picnic area, and most importantly, there was a pond.

This pond had a fountain in the middle and there were always ducks and fish. I would go sit on the benches, watch the ducks swim by, and hear them quacking. I fished in the pond and vividly remember catching my first fish there, and I remember walking and running around trying not to fall in when I wasn't being careful enough. Ever since, I have been searching for that piece of my childhood, to find a pond that looks and reminds me of my childhood.

Me, 2009

 

When I was 11 years old, my dad retired from the Air Force, and we moved over 1,000 miles to Midland, Texas. Since then, I have been around water in many different ways, by going on vacation to rivers and beaches. I would always play in the water whenever I could, and if there were ducks, I always want to feed them.

In November 2021, I went back to Idaho to visit my brother and sister-in-law for Thanksgiving, and it was my first time going back since 2012. My family and I ended up going back to Mountain Home and got to go back to Legacy. I got hit with a bunch of memories and nostalgia and it was such an amazing experience. I remembered playing on the playground with my friends, playing on the basketball court, climbing trees, jumping over the streams running through and so much more. But the main thing I remembered, was sitting near the pond, feeding the quacking ducks, and taking in the environment around me, and remembering the feelings I had towards this pond.

When I discovered Kyle Park, I was shocked at the resemblance, with the open fields to play frisbee, to launch homemade rockets, a pond to fish at and feed the ducks at, a playground for kids to spend their day on, a covered picnic area to have parties. I was happy that I found a park that was so similar to Legacy, and to relive my memories, even if the only difference is there aren't nearly as many trees. But the pond is my favorite part, there is a dock where people can fish, and there's a bunch of ducks that we can feed. Whenever I go to the park, the first area I go to is the pond to sit by it for a while read my book, and to appreciate the nature around me.

During one of my usual trips to Kyle Park in April 2022, I was shocked to find that the pond was so low. I was able to walk on the dry clay where the pond used to be. There was a bunch of dead fish and clams and practically no ducks. I was disappointed when I couldn't watch the ducks and hear them quack like I could at Legacy Park. At that moment, I was disappointed that the heart of the park wasn't there, Kyle Park felt empty and lifeless without the pond. In some ways, my memories are fading from Legacy Park just like the water in Kyle Park.