After moving back to suburbia from the city, I was reluctant to photograph strip malls, dilapidated barns, and liquor stores as I had decades ago when I first picked up the camera. I decided instead to search the forest for a new perspective on suburban life.
I happened upon my town’s resevoir where I discovered a single golden koi fish swimming about. It swam to meet me at the shoreline, where I marveled at it floating there, glistening in the noon sunlight.
Daily I returned to the reservoir, communing with the koi fish and noting with my camera minute changes in the landscape: a spider’s web recently spun; a freshly fallen tree; new wind patterns that dance on the water’s surface, the rising or falling water level.
As fall approached, I learned that the koi had died. I rushed to the reservoir to determine if that rumor was true, but could not find evidence either way. Months have passed, and I still visit the reservoir daily, though I have not seen the koi fish again.