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I have found a place to get away from all the turmoil that goes on within the city. When I need peace from all the stress of work and pressure from raising a family, I escape to the place I love. It is a place where I can talk to myself and not wonder if someone thinks I am crazy. It is also a perfect place to talk with God. The Shield Pond, my getaway, is my stress-free environment.

While I am sitting down at the place I love, I cannot help but notice the trees are looking so pretty and green. They remind me of an evergreen forest. I can smell the winter green scent from the trees, which seem to line up like soldiers. The trees are so tight together that someone cannot see me when they pass by. It is as if the only thing out here is an army of trees. As I lean back in my chair, I can see the sun shinning bright. It feels like it is about 90 degrees. Sweat is dripping from my face, and my clothes are getting wet from perspiration. I need a cap to protect my eyes from the beaming sun. It would be nice to feel a breeze, but instead it feels like I am in an oven and am almost cooked.

The ground feels like a soggy sponge, because the water in the middle of the trees is making the ground soft. The ground is lighter by the bank and darker by the water. A chocolate color comes to mind when I look at the ground next to the water, while a caramel color sticks to my mind when I look at the ground next to the bank. As I take a glance down the side of bank, I can see a few dead fish. Their skeletons are visible, and the skin is hanging off. It looks as if some animal had a meal. I wonder if they are small mouth bass, silver bass, or carp? The smell from the fish is bringing out the flies and the bugs. The foul odor seems to linger, and there is no way of escaping because the smell is there everywhere I turn. I want to remove the disgusting fish, but instead I take some dirt and cover them up.

The bugs and flies are starting to annoy me. The bugs sound like bees that are on the attack, with yellow stripes and black heads. As I look at the water, it looks so fresh that I want to take a sip. However, it isn't clean. There are also some brown cattails growing out of water with a sort of white cotton substance in inside. When the cattail opens up, I can see the white cotton material fly all over the place. While I am looking at the cat tails, I notice a fish leaping up in the water. It looks like a smallmouth bass, a money green color with yellow stripes on the sides. It startled me when I saw this, because I was not expecting it. My fishing pole was still lying next to me, and I was saying to myself, "That's enough daydreaming--it's time to fish.”

The fish were leaping one at time, chasing insects. I was missing all the excitement because I did not have my pole ready. The more they splashed water, the more frustrated I became. The fish looked like they were as long as my arm. I had to calm down, because when I get too overwhelmed I will not catch a fish. I took my time finding my hook and sinkers, and I had to untangle my line. When I finally got my pole together, the fish stopped leaping.

I had a night crawler on my hook, because that is what bass like to eat. I cast my line out about twelve feet, because that is where the fish were. It took about thirty minutes before I got my first bite. When the fish bit, I hooked it hard and I started reeling the fish in. It was not easy. The fish was pulling hard, as though we were playing tug-a-war. I did not want to pull too hard, because it could get away. When I took my time, the fish came to me nice and easy. I pulled it out the water and it was a smallmouth bass. It measured 16 inches.

The place I love might not be the typical place for someone else. Nevertheless, it is my way of dealing with problems, and it is a way of relaxing after a long day on the job. When I leave the Shield Pond, I feel more at ease and my family can tolerate me.