When you have a running waterfall, you don’t have to worry about mosquitoes. That’s because the mosquito larvae, in order to “hatch,” need a stagnant source of water — the water cannot be running.

I love watching my backyard waterfall. The submerged pump, through its connected filter, sends the water from the pond below through ½-inch tubing, into a plastic shoebox atop the waterfall. Once the shoebox fills with water, it is then “dispersed” among the plastic plants that sit atop the box. The “dispersed” water trickles in several directions down the five or six flat rocks to the pond below. The entire waterfall rests on a black plastic sheet (pond liner), which is there to prevent the water, flowing down from the waterfall, from penetrating the ground, and thus being absorbed. The rubber sheet works fine. But some water is still lost as it hits rocks on its way down, and is sprinkled onto the ground adjacent to the waterfall.

Are you still with me? Every few days, I need to add water to the pond so the submerged pump is not exposed to the air. Sometimes, instead of adding water, I turn off the power to the pump. The problem with that is, the pond water becomes stagnant — and a home to baby mosquitoes.

Occasionally in the last few months, in order to avoid this hassle, I have drained the pond and pulled out the pond-liner. The pond dries up, and no more baby mosquitoes. The corollary is that at times in the last few months I have filled the pond and started the waterfall.

To fill – To drain, To fill – To drain. What is one to do? I thought of having a stream of water, on a timer, sent to the pond every few hours to keep it filled. I thought of looking for mosquito-eating fish to put in the pond. I thought of filling the pond with rocks, just pretending that water is flowing down the waterfall. I thought of adjusting the flow of water to a trickle so that less water is sprayed on the ground.

Sometimes in life, we go back and forth between what we like to do (and is not so good for us), and what is good for us. Perhaps the “going back and forth” is okay, as long as we do not spend too much time on what is not good for us. It sure would help, wouldn’t it, if a little mosquito bit us from time to time to remind us to switch gears and go back to the healthy life.

Mr. Ebsen may be contacted at Robertebsen@hotmail.com