A Note on the Dragon

Back in April 2023, some wayward teens in typical wayward teen fashion managed to knock the Dragon of Ell Pond over. There was some structural damage, but nothing I couldn’t fix. He got some new wing pincers as a result so not a total loss. Then in August 2024 I was told his head had gone wobbly. “Stupid teenagers!” I thought as I went over to check things out. Turns out it was ants. A lot of them. Like a lot of a lot. So I sprayed it down and repaired the chewed up bits. Then this past spring, I was informed the head had fallen off. This time it was rot exacerbated by the damage done by the ants (who, to be fair, may or may not have been teenagers). Possibly also a tree branch, as there were a handful on the ground nearby and the weather at that time of year was best described as “windy as hell.” I was knee deep in the Creature Quest project so there was not a lot I could do except take the head and neck home so nobody would abscond with them and think about what could be done.

The answer? Not a lot, at least not right now. The front needs to be rebuilt and that’s going to be like pulling the errant thread on an old sweater. I know myself well enough that I won’t leave well enough alone and it will be another version of Cindi the Ogre. I love the dragon, but what I was capable of then isn’t on the same page (or chapter) of what I’m capable of doing now. And to be honest, my hometown deserves the best. So with personal time and money being in short supply, I submitted an application for a grant to build a bigger, better version of the Dragon of Ell Pond. Not sure if it will be approved, but in case you were wondering why there’s a headless dragon behind the dog park by Ell Pond, now you know.

“Oh bother”