The first and most important task in any arduous building project is to provide for the rest and aesthetic needs of its work force. Naturally, a hammock was the first project completed. What better place from which to plan a pond.

In 1984, during an off-road adventure into the Bradshaw Mountains, I discovered the remains of an old miner's cabin on an intermittent stream. The builder, and the cabin were long since gone, but the pool that he had cut out of the native bedrock with a hand drill and dynamite still waited, full to the brim. It was an unparalleled inspiration.

Tucked into a natural granite basin that collects rainwater from a three acre hillside, my first stone project was to build a dam to retain a pond. Using a 2000-year-old Roman stone building technique, the dam is 25 feet long and 6 feet high. It is literally cut into the granite bedrock. While it was meant to serve primarily as a reservoir for fire suppression and a magnet for wildlife, we had no clue that the precious nature of water in a dry environment would grace us with such breathtaking interactions with nature. If you can sit still for 30 minutes, most wildlife will assume that you are not a threat or that you don't exist. It retains 6000 gallons and provides a water lily shaded home for koi and a sacred refuge for us.