Like the fragrance of lilacs, there is one sure sign that summer has come to Maine. That’s when the miniature bungalow-style house is placed in the pond at Deering Oaks Park to welcome all the fowl who inhabit the city during the summer months.
In fact, my Houston-reared friend Kristen accurately points out that it’s the removal of the house each October that lets you know “you’re fucked.”
But this year, both the weather and the absence of the house might have led me and others to believe that summer is not here — like the Farmer’s Almanac, no house is a harbinger that something must be amiss this year.
Come to find out, it’s not impending bad weather or a ban on birds that is holding things up but rather a broken fountain.
That’s right — you haven’t noticed that illuminated splendor of cascading water, either.
According to Portland Parks Division manager Phil Labbe, replacing the house each year requires draining the pond, and with the 50-year-old fountain out of commission, the big drain has been postponed.
“The problem is that we weren’t able to find the necessary replacement parts for the existing fountain, so we’ve put the project out to bid,” says Labbe, adding that the budget for the project is in the $120,000 range. Labbe, who returned from vacation this week, was unable to comment on the bidding process except to say that estimates for the repair have been coming in over budget.
He did say that to repair the fountain will likely take up to three weeks when a contractor is found to do the work and, until then, the house, now being held at an undisclosed location, will stay put. One reason is that the fountain actually provides a certain amount of water circulation, which assists in keeping the fowl’s foul from fouling up the entire park. That and to drain the pond twice would just be silly.
At this point, it’s uncertain, says Labbe, whether the house or the fountain will be operating this summer. And, thus, for some, 2006 will be the summer that never was.
