George likes living at the landfill (02/05/07)

George Beta Fish wanted to take a ride on the trash truck so he sulked in his castle until we let him. He even turned on his side so he wouldn't have to look at us. He had originally retreated to his castle because our furnace went out. Nevermind that he had his own source of warmth.

He didn't emerge after the broken part was replaced and heat returned to the house. The next morning there was a pronounced chill in the air. The repairman came out and replaced the very same part he had installed the day before. Maybe this piece will last a little longer.

George stayed in his castle. I was convinced that he was hibernating. Then he told me that he wanted to ride on the trash truck. I thought it would bring him out of hibernation and cheer him up so I let him. George found many new friends at the local landfill. I got a postcard from him today and he said he is never coming back.

So now we have no fish.

Before you ask, I don't like to bury fish "at sea" on the off chance they aren't really dead and will swim back and bite me at an inopportune time. In reality, George had stayed with us a long while for a beta and it was probably time for him to move on.

Gracie, the calico cat, couldn't care less. She never paid any attention to George no matter where we put him. She apparently doesn't like sushi and prefers her fish cooked or out of a can. Most of the time she would rather eat fruit than fish. I don't think she realizes she is a carnivore.

For his part, George never paid attention to Gracie either. He did flare his gills at me on occasion and sometimes tried to nip my fingers when I fed him. He didn't believe in proverbs admonishing him not to bite the hand that feeds him. He did believe in the postal service and enjoyed their pick-up service to mail his postcard as he was too short to reach a mailbox.

Neither Gracie, the calico cat, nor my husband believes that George, the red beta, could talk or mail postcards. I think the two of them are secretly plotting to send me to the funny farm for a nice long rest. As long as they don't put me on the trash truck things will be fine.

The problems with the heat don't seem to have been severe enough to hurt the indoor plants. I have two orchids in flower. This is a first. They usually die after a few months. The secret is to buy them at a big box store. If they can survive that then they can survive my house. My bird of paradise is also starting to open. Maybe someday it will have more than one blossom per year. The hyacinth I forced into bloom is arching over towards the candy dish. I didn't know that hyacinths liked chocolate.

It is so dark and dreary this time of year that I have to have something in the house to keep my spirits up and, for me, plants fill the bill. The hyacinth gives off the smell of spring and the others prove that I am my mother's daughter. I like to say that my mom could make a dead stick bloom. It isn't entirely true but sometimes it seemed that way. I'm grateful that she passed on the green thumb genes to me.

She never kept fish so perhaps George was doomed from the start. We had various birds and farm animals through the years but never fish. The only fish we had were the ones my brother, Michael, caught in the creek and dumped in Mom's big galvanized washtub. They swam around happily enough until it came time to do laundry and Mom made Michael take the fish back to the creek. Then she made him scrub out the washtub.

I hope George likes his new home. I know he enjoyed his ride on the trash truck. He said it was the biggest adventure he had ever had even if it was a little chilly. He also said he misses his castle but not enough to return home. So if your fish seems to be hibernating you might want allow it to ride on the trash truck so it can go visit George.[[In-content Ad]]