They pulled the netting with
all the dead leaves off the
pond after five months away,
unplugged the bubbler, plug-
ged in the pump and watched
the water cascade down in a
little waterfall from the
upper pond to the lower pond.
The goldfish, all of whom
survived their tenth winter,
seemed, in his mind’s eye,
to look up and smile. That
may be wishful thinking but
the fish are alive, he smiles
at them and salutes their
perseverance after a long
winter — a greater per-
severance than he endured
in the Valley of the Sun.