Things never go as planned.
I did take a lovely, short, trip to the pet store with both young nieces in tow (ages 3 and 1, to give you perspective). The dead fish on the bottom of every tank notwithstanding, we did pick two fish and bring them home. It was simple, it was done. Two little goldfish to brighten our lives.
Here are Willie and Gooey (haha, I didn't name them) acclimating to their new environment...you can't really see them, to be honest. That fleck of orange is Gooey.
Unfortunately, Willie and Gooey only lived in our tank for a matter of hours. They were soon as dead as those other unfortunate fish at the pet store. Actually, the deceased on the bottom of those tanks really should have been a red flag. Oh well.
My eldest niece did rather enjoy flushing the dead fish away.
The next day, I decided we would try again. Of course, it happened to be raining that day, but that did not deter us. We set forth through the downpour on a quest to find a fish that would not die. And in that spirit, we went to the other pet store in town. There were no ranks of corpses floating in these tanks. And we got a fish!
This is Ocean (again, I don't name the fish). I have not yet been able to capture just how gorgeous her blue fins are, but this will give you some idea...
Ocean is very much alive, thankfully. We hope she stays that way.
So that is the tale of how I found a fish for my nieces. I'm obsessed with this fish, by the way. She's gorgeous! My niece chose well...the second time (Although, I'm going to say the first time wasn't her fault. They were just a bad batch of fish).
Do you have any pets? Have you ever had any mishaps when obtaining pets? I would love to hear about your adventures!
Growing up in a petless family, my brother and I longed for one. We pleaded for a dog, even a cat but were told "No", in no uncertain terms. Turns out my dad was/is very allergic to dog and cat dander. My parents did get us an aquarium, or had one given to them for our viewing pleasure (maybe other parents' relief in having their kids pass through that stage and were glad to rid themselves of the tank - I consider that now as a seasoned parent eliminating and passing on items my son has outgrown!) And so I has a 4 or 5 year olds memories of the garden hose filling the aquarium (likely 12" wide, 20" long and 16-18" deep). We brought home a bag of guppies. Probably 6-8 small goldy/silvery fish with flecks of orange and black on their sides and in their tail and fins. Frankly, I think now as I look back on it, they were probably the cheapest fish in the store that were likely feeder fish for the bigger, more expensive, showy aquarium denizens. Anyway, we were enthralled. And had a series of them. I don't recall naming any of them, though I am sure we did. Or maybe we learned, too quickly, not to get attached. The biggest memory I has with the guppies, apart from the garden hose through the bedroom window to fill the aquarium, and learning that neat name "a-quar-i-um", was the series of fish funerals we had. My brother (2 years younger than myself) and I became quite adept at using the small net. We would travel down the hall in a solemn procession, me, or my brother with the net containing a small inert form in hand, and the other following, with a parent to bring up the rear. A careful deploying of the net, a last plunge into water, a final salute and the inevitable "flush". I think we eventually lost interest preferring, instead, to go to my parents' friends house with their beautiful, large salt water tank and showy fish that amazed us even more when she'd switch on the black lights (this was the 70's). Ah, memories of child hood. And then there were the "Sea Monkeys"... but that is another story!
ReplyDeleteThat is quite the story :D Thanks for sharing!
DeleteNuts. I wrote you a nice little fish tale and it all disappeared. And writing (typing) is such a labor for me. I tried, MG. No time to rewrite - maybe it'll magically reappear on your end (said there was an error when trying to contact the server.) :(
ReplyDeleteAssuming the the above fish tale of guppies and funeral processions is your missing fish tale, I do have it on my end. :)
DeleteWell, they did show up. Don't know to attach my name but it is your Diamond Creek friend, Rachael, or Sam's mom, or Mom's (yours) friend. Your friend, too. :)
ReplyDeleteAlso, on reading it, I find it strange I have "has" twice where I should have "have". Sigh. Typing...
ReplyDeleteIt happens to the best of us...you have no idea how many mistakes I find in my writing all the time. And it's always the simplest things, too.
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