Even without photographic proof, it was nice to have company.
Since there aren't any new photos to post on the blog, this seems like an opportune time to bust out a story I keep forgetting to share. To do so properly, I must first introduce you to three members of our family that most of you probably aren't familiar with:
That is (from left) Seat Belt, Bugs and Tips.Zoe named Seat Belt... the motivation being we asked her to name a fish while she was strapped in her booster seat.
Sonja named Bugs... it fits his bulbous eyes.
I named Tips... who, believe it or not, was white with black tips on his (her?) fins at the time. He (she?) has obviously changed significantly. Why the pronoun uncertainty? Well, Aunt Shane insists Tips is pregnant. I guess we'll find out soon. (Anybody know the gestation period of a goldfish?)
OK. Now that you know the characters, on with our story...
I was at work and Sonja had just put Zoe to sleep. She walked back into the living room, glanced at the fish tank and her attention was drawn to the strange way Tips was swimming. He (we'll stick with male pronouns until we get indisputable evidence to the contrary) was upright -- tail at 12 and head at 6 -- and sort of bobbing up and down.
Upon closer inspection, Sonja noticed Tips had a big (relatively speaking) red stone from the bottom of the tank in his mouth. The longer she watched, the more obvious it became that the stone was stuck. (Figures that it happens to "my" stupid fish.)
My quick-thinking, heroic wife did what any animal-lover would do... ran to the kitchen to grab a soup ladle, then to the bathroom in search of a pair of tweezers. She scooped Tips out of the tank with the ladle and removed the stone from his mouth with the tweezers. Maybe not the tools I would have chosen, but still... pretty impressive, eh?
Tips' lips are still a little stretched out (seriously... it's rather amusing), but he seems to be eating and otherwise getting along just fine.
My wife. Zoe's mother. Our hero.
Epilogue: Sonja was telling Shane this story Friday night while they were enjoying a bowl of Sonja's famous homemade minestrone soup. After an awkward silence, Sonja says: "Yes, the same ladle that I served the soup with."
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6 comments:
Congratulations Sonja on your heroic actions. Did you kiss Tips before returning him to the water?
To Rich: what "tools" would you have used in this emergency?
Crooked Lk Ln
Aunt Tephs must be jealous. All those years and tuition, when all you need is tweezers and a ladle.
Me, I would have been digging change out of the sofa cusions to run up to PetSmart for a new "Tips."
I kid the doctor, because I love!
Cobbler Ct.
Truth be told, I felt I owed it to the goldfish population. When I was about three years old I accidentally killed our neighbors goldfish by hugging it to death. Yes...I hugged a goldfish. I couldn't figure out why it was floating when I put it back in the bowl. I only had it out of the water for a second! There was also an incident with a hamster...but I won't go into that here! Let's just say I hope my daughter doesn't share my poor lack of judgment regarding which creatures can survive and over exuberant hug from a child.
Oh! Boohoohoo. Sob, sob, sob. I really didn't mean to do it.
Hey! How did my childhood neighbor find this blog?
I am not sure what I would have done being in the presented. All I had to wonder out loud upon hearing the story was that if you just took it out of the water wouldn't the flopping create the goldfish heimlich maneuver on it's own?
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