Hermits and ponds

Hermits are of two types, like ponds.
One type of pond is fed from below, from deep sources of living water constantly refreshing the whole from within. This pond is stable, not changeable. It exists in harmony with its environment, welcomes visitors and vistas of all sorts, alone and in silence at the end of the day.
The second type of pond is fed almost imperceptibly by an upland stream and by rain gentle or strong. The stream and rain mingle with receptive waters that invigorate and bring life and strength. Also almost imperceptibly, a stream trickles away from the pond, downstream, beyond the vision of any pond visitor, which nourishes new ponds and rivulets and streams unseen from the forest clearing, and yet the pond is not diminished thereby. The downstream rivulet joins a brook and then a river, and the river goes on to the sea.