Poor Lonely Li'l Fishy

You probably can't see the tiny molly in the nursery. He's in there for a reason. The four terrible tetras want to eat him up.

The tetras were the first to move into the new, spacious aquarium. They loved looking at their reflections in the glass walls and hanging out in the weeds and near the bubbling pump. It soon seemed like the aquarium could accommodate a few more fish, so my husband bought two mollies. 

When one of them became pregnant, we realized we had one of each. As soon as the babies were born, the tetras gobbled up all of them, except for one. The Founding Father Fish soon died of a broken heart, but not before impregnating the female once again.  This time, Phil was ready.  As soon as the second batch of babies was born, he sequestered them and their larger sibling in a plastic Dream Whip container, which he anchored precariously to the top of the aquarium. This was a temporary arrangement at best, as the container was always threatening to tip over. 

Then our older daughter saw an ad for a nifty baby-fish nursery--made of course, in China. Phil ordered it, assembled it, and anchored it securely (he thought) to the side of the aquarium, near the top.  Alas, he woke one morning to find the nursery at the bottom of the aquarium and the baby fish at large. What remained of the second batch, that is. About six of the twelve were left, plus Big Brother. 

He corrected his anchoring mistake and this time the nursery stayed put.  However, the near-death experience must have traumatized the babies, which began dying one by one.  The mother fish died too.  "I, alone of my kind, am here to tell the tale," says the survivor from the first batch, swimming about in his netted enclosure. 

St. John's Wort

Our weedy Saint John's Wort blossomed nicely this year, just in time for Saint John's Day, June 24th. From the Wallander crime series on TV, I learned that Saint John's Day is close to the Summer Solstice.  Northern Europeans, such as Swedes,  celebrate the longest day of the year by staying up all night and having picnics, parties, and bonfires.  And, in order to keep Detective Kurt Wallander from beginning his summer vacation, a celebration can get a little out of hand and end up with a murder.  Why bonfires?  Pagans believe that the boundary between the spirit world and our everyday world becomes permeable during the solstice. The bonfires are meant to ward off evil spirits. 

"Healthline," an internet information site, notes that Saint John's Wort has been used for centuries to treat depression. It also notes that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration classifies Saint John's Wort as a nutritional supplement and does not recognize it as a treatment for depression. For those inclined to self-medicate, the writer warns of some unpleasant side effects:  vomiting, dizziness, anxiety, panic attacks, aggression and amnesia.  Whoa! 

Drunk White Kid Falls Asleep in His Car

My 81-year-old husband shares a "white privilege" memory. This happened in Cleveland, OH in the late fifties. 

Rayshard Brooks drank too much and fell asleep in his car. We know what happened to him. As a young man, I also drank too much and fell asleep in my car. But today, here I am, able to write about it. Unlike Rayshard, I am white, blond and blue-eyed.

Here’s what happened. During the summer between high school and college, my friends and I decided we’d go bar hopping. I had a car, so I was the driver. We did what we planned, and it was time to go home. I drove my friends home, one by one.

Next thing I knew, someone was rapping on my drivers-side window. It was a policeman waking me up at a traffic light. He said I needed to go to the station.

“OK, Officer, I’ll follow you.”

“You aren’t driving anywhere. I’ll get someone to drive your car in.”

At the station an officer said to blow into some kind of a tube. He then appeared to read a number off a machine, and said, “You’re not drunk”. Of course I was. “Here are your keys. Your car is in the front lot. Go to your car and take a nap. Then drive home very carefully.”

I didn’t wait as long as I should have before driving home. It was around two AM. I remember biting my lip to stay awake the whole way. I made it home, but I didn’t make it to my bed. I was on the sofa mid-morning, with my mother looking down at me, silent but worried.

So, I got a bit of a different outcome, didn’t I?

81st Birthday

On Saturday, we had a porch celebration for Phil's 81st birthday.  Our younger daughter and family, including their beagle, Roscoe, came up from Burke, VA. Our older daughter came over from North Laurel. (Her husband and son were picking up the camper for next weekend's camping trip.) We sang happy birthday, he opened his presents, and we had cake. 

Dilly Dog and Roscoe were happy to see each other. It's a love match. Both refused to wear masks. 

The Dog Ate It

We worked for two or three weeks to finish this challenging 1000-piece puzzle. It's a Paris street scene. As usual, once I'd put together the border and laid out all the pieces, I was sure that there weren't nearly enough pieces. Halfway to completion, I knew there were most certainly enough. In the end, however, three pieces did turn out to be missing. 

Dilly-Dog was the suspected culprit. Since we couldn't pass this puzzle on to someone else, Phil put a piece on the floor and waited to see what would happen. Sure enough, our "starving" roly-poly dog scarfed it up. Phil had to pry it out of her mouth. From now on, no unchaperoned pieces! All unattached pieces must be sequestered in designated waiting areas (tray, box lid, plastic compartment) so that none wander afar and fall off the edge of their world.