February 22, 2009

Goldfish...


"A B, C D goldfish?"

"M N O goldfish!"

"O S M R!"

"M R?"

"L, S!"

"O."

Can you tell I'm getting a bit anxious for spring? Teased with warm, humid portions of days, followed by ice on the little 'pond' I watch from my kitchen window.

The pond seems to support only one goldfish at a time... the current occupant is on it's third winter, currently in hibernation. It's a natural environment, no feeding required so he doesn't show his face when beckoned, you have to sneak up on him in warm weather to be sure he's still actively devouring mosquito larvae. His longevity is due to the fact that he has no name... bad luck to name fish, doncha know. This pic was taken a couple of years ago... but now the plastic pot is beginning to lean and I'd like something that will hold more than one fish... I feel bad for his loneliness.
My uncle guarding three of my g-kids from getting too close...

In New Orleans, we had a magnificent fish pond. When we first moved in (we'd just left our lake house in Alabama) I needed water in my back yard, so I dug (with all the usual back ailments resulting) a good size hole, lined it with vinyl and made my own little lake... it's all sand down there, not a big deal. But soon the master swimmer in the family needed a lap pool so I made sure the design included a proper fishpond... one we enjoyed for a dozen years before moving on.

Being around water is necessary to my well being... soothes the savage beast within... makes all right with the world again. That's why returning to the old lake house has been such a rejuvenating experience... watching the sunrise break through the trees and bounce it's watery reflection into my morning is worth all the sore muscles that follow.

But back to the goldfish at the main residence... that plastic pot needs to be replaced. I need warm weather for the creative construction of a larger replacement... not much larger, certainly not as grand as the NOLA pond... but at least something that will support more than one little goldfish. I'm thinking on it...

4 comments:

magsramsay said...

I like your theories on goldfish longevity. My brothers goldfish 'Mr Boat' survived for over 20 years, long after we had left home and lost interest in it -perhaps that was the secret!

Karen Jacobs said...

Twenty years! Impressive. I know they will only grow as big as the container allows... had big ones at the big pond in NOLA but the pot keeps this little guy about the same size as when introduced. A NOLA problem was the occasional flood which would disperse them into shallow pools of water where they would be picked off by egrets. Then we would have to start all over again. I like natural ponds where they find their own food and reproduce...

Karen Jacobs said...

Oh... almost forgot... after one flood, there was so much to do with repairs and clean up, we let the pond go without restocking. A few weeks later, little goldfish had hatched, having nested in the plantlife. Also minnows were somehow introduced, never figured that one out.

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