This Scotch Pine--referred to as a character pine by Grounds Manager Dennis Greive--has a unique shape that adds distinction to the Conservatory's reflecting pool. PHOTOGRAPHS BY SUE KROPP
			Summer in Oberlin: The Conservatory's Reflecting Pool By Betty Gabrielli
			JULY 21, 2000--After recent tweaking of the circulation system for the Conservatory's reflecting pool and Japanese garden, Grounds Manager Dennis Greive pointed out that a project like this is really never complete. "We're always learning more about the pool and how it acts." Designed by Minoru Yamasaki in 1964, the pool was empty from 1986 until last year, when Greive and his staff realized their intention "to recapture the understated serenity of the original design and create a living painting." To see how they succeeded--and to experience an "Oberlin moment"--the pool and ornamental garden in their summer glory are well worth a visit. Dragonflies can be observed wafting by on brown gauze wings from a bench on the west side--the ideal point from which to view the entire scene. From there, the watery expanse actually appears to be a lake a quarter of a mile long. Locusts, tall pines and spreading junipers line a stepping-stone path and provide subtle variations in texture and green. The garden also includes a botanical treasure, a Japanese red pine at the pool's east end; plus yews, new recumbent boulders, gnarled, weathered cypress evergreens, and a wide variety of other plants. In the pool, myriad goldfish and bullfrog tadpoles throng the water lilies and other aquatic plants and hundreds of tropical snails scurry along the bottom efficiently removing organic matter. Thanks to such biodiversity, the pool recently was pronounced "quite healthy" by a visiting aquatic specialist, relates Greive. An unmistakable sign, he said, are the dragonflies.
			Goldfish glide through the pool during a lazy summer afternoon.
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