May 26, 2010. Western Head, N.S. The Fish Pond.

Immediately when I opened the bag two fish swam around the pool chasing each other while the four other fish hid in the foliage at the end. We watched, sitting by the side sipping a glass of wine. Soon one white fish appeared to join in the race, then another. Soon five fish were swimming around the pool and seemed quite happy. The fountain was on and they seemed to enjoy it, but of course we have no clue. We do know that one last fish remains in the foliage at the end of the pond.

The pond man is so interesting to me because he looks like a dolt, until he opens his mouth and you can see the shine from his eyes. He knows everything about gold fish and many other fish and is happy to answer questions. Today we had a conversation about how you solve problems and he told me that the only way to figure something out is the bring a few people together from different fields of expertise and try to challenge each other. He said that he never solves any problems when talking to fish pond people because he already knows what they know. The interesting part for me was that I had just read an article in The Wilson Quarterly that said exactly the same thing. It said that research advances when inter-disciplinary researchers collaborate and work together. This man running a small pond shop figured it out himself.

He told me the fish would make us happy so I will believe him. At the least, I enjoy sipping wine and watching the fish race around our pond.