Fish

Fish are strange creatures. Larger fish eat smaller fish. People eat fish. Sometimes fish take a bite out of people But humans, in general, are intriqued with the underwater beasts.

Some adventurous folk get very up close and personal with fish. They slap on a mask and and breathing tube and funny looking webbed shoes and snorkel about observing them in their own habitat. For the type A personalities, they are much braver and get special certifications to wear very odd looking skins and tanks and tubes and dive to great depths to get a closer encounter with coral, sharks and other sea animals.

Then there are the people in my immediate family. They rather enjoy purchasing a small tank, filling it with bright pink gravel, artificial plants, a rubber duckie and just a few tiny fish. It is absolutely a "girly" fish tank. The pink gravel makes quite a statement!

The entire purpose of this fish tank was for Adina's 12th birthday. I never wanted fish. It is just another "thing" that needs maintenance however, I agreed that if Adina was 100 percent responsible, she could have it. In addition, we didn't buy the fish. We insisted that Adina use her money to buy the fish so that she understands that there is value and responsibility attached to the care of her new pets.

Once the tank was set up (and you would have thought it was a national holiday the way we made such a fuss over the preparation which, of course, I recorded with my camera!) and placed into Adina's newly cleaned room (a full-day job that Joel and Adina attacked this past Sunday), I had to admit, it was pretty. Not only was it pleasing to look at, but it has a calming effect.

However, Grace (our cat), is not so calm. She sits on Adina's desk and stares intensly at the tank. I wonder how she will do when we are all out of the house during work hours? Oh well. Only time will tell. Joel thinks that Grace thinks it is the TV. But then again, that is another story!

Of course Adina made us name the fish! So we have Optimus Prime (one of the transformers' names from the movie), Bruce the shark (from Finding Nemo), Prince (the Kissing Gourami), Mac and Cheese, and Hoover the sucker fish!! We had fun with the naming game!

So here is to a new era in the Leshinsky household! Fish . . . up close and personal!