Yesterday

PHOTOGRAPHER'S JOURNAL: She told us the barns and the farm have been there since the 18th century. How many generations of barn swallows is that, and were these swallows the descendants of the original settlers? The barns were coming down, they were beyond repair. I asked if we could come back another time and photograph down by the swamp, and I could feel her mind catch at the word, "swamp." When she returned to the farm after a long time abroad, she wondered what was gleaming in the afternoon sun in the field where she used to ride horseback. She had to walk to the edge to realize the beavers had reclaimed it. "Sure," she said, "you can photograph there."