The days are getting cooler. The sneakers are on which means finding a clean pair of socks each day. A child is working with me cleaning out the leaves and the algae. I lower the red rake to the floor of the pond and rake out the bamboo leaves that litter the surface of the water. Each time I pull out the rake I check that I haven't caught some poor fish among all the debris.

"How do you know you aren't throwing out a fish?" She asks me.

"I almost did once." I answer. "So now I check."

Nothing leaps up from the leaves. I reach for a leaf next to the Indian Cana plant. The rake gets caught between the leaves of the Cana and knocks it over. I gently try to maneuver it as I pull the rake back. The plant tips this way and that and within seconds lies on its side at the bottom of the pond.

In a different season I would have stepped into the water with my Teva sandals. But now my sneakers and socks were on, not to mention my ankle brace that was protecting a slight sprain. I looked away guiltily and went back into my art room.

The weekend passed and the plant unfortunately still hadn't risen miraculously to the surface. I grabbed the rake and the net and began a dance of up and down with the plant, hoping to get it to stay upright without harming any fish in the process. It did stay up eventually yet I knew it wasn't very sturdy and that soon enough I would be taking off my socks and sneakers and wading into that pond.

This story made me think. How often do we find some wild and wacky way to deal with an issue just so we won't have to be bothered taking off our shoes and wading into that murky pond to put things straight. We use all sorts of excuses not to get our hands dirty or our feet wet. It's too cold, it will take too long. I can manage like this. And then one day, we've had enough we rip off our shoes and socks and take the plunge. By the time we're finished we are left wondering what took us so long.

So when will I step into the pond? Honestly, it really is too cold. I think I'll wait til spring.