The Plan

Journal for Christa—

Sometimes I wonder what fish think—if fish think at all. Fish are fairly low maintenance pets. We enjoy them all summer. They sort of go to sleep in October, and all through most of the school year we don’t even feed them. Then, long about April when winter begins to remove her frosty hands, they stir.

Though their cognitive level is fairly low, they do sense when something is awry. They seem to know if a blue heron is perched on a neighboring roof. And today, as well, they seem to know that catastrophe awaits, and they are distressed. It’s hard to explain, but we can tell by how they swim if they’re happy or not.

Today, they are distressed. Furthermore, what I’m sure they don’t at all realize is that there is a leak in their pond (not the fishless triangle pond or the smaller upper pond, where the fish are swimming peacefully under and among the lily pads, but the large, deep middle pond that houses the koi.)

So, the water level continues to drop and Jay’s placement of a seining net (which they avoid at all cost) have them moving about the deeper level distressfully. Poor fish.

What there is no way to communicate to them is—“the plan.” “The plan” is (once the water level gets low enough) Jay will catch them (oh, they hate that) and move the koi and some of the gold fish to the upper pond and some to the triangle pond. He’ll then, hopefully, locate the hole, repair it and return most of them to a safe pond. (A few will find new homes from Craig’s List.) But, they do not know and cannot know; therefore, they are distressed.

It’s a good reminder to me—that when I’m distressed, there is a plan…and, not one with quotation marks around it.