Last week’s January thaw has melted the snow where the sun reaches, but the current cold snap has strengthened and increased the ice on field ponds. The word “pond” is a variant of the archaic word for a confining enclosure: “pound.”
Some states differentiate ponds from lakes by specified size limitations. Not Maine; we have “ponds” that are bigger than some “lakes” in other states. However, one unofficial definition of a field pond here is a body of water in which sunlight can penetrate to the bottom throughout. Many ponds here – including the one shown above – are man-made, mostly to enclose fish and attract other wildlife. Some ponds are simply the result of water runoff that creates a marsh, such as this one:
Ponds also may be used to water livestock and as secondary sources for fire equipment, there usually being no fire hydrant handy. (Brooklin, Maine)