A tale of two fish.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...

This week, we said goodbye to Lauren's goldfish, Julie. Lauren has had Julie since we moved her into her "big girl" room, so it's been about three years. I thought she was just the prettiest fish. I would often go into Lauren's room just to watch her swim in her bowl. She actually had gotten some fungus earlier this year but Mark, the fish expert that he is, gave her some medicine that made her good as new. However it wasn't meant to last because she suddenly fell ill again this week, but only this time, it was like she had a stroke or an aneurysm (if that's even possible). She was just floating suspended in the middle of bowl, staring wide eyed into space and wouldn't respond to any stimulus. She was gone the next day.



Here's the memorial that Lauren made for Julie.

At the same, another fish was in the need of help. Our pond has been completely ravaged this winter. Last weekend, Mark tried to break up some of the ice and add water to the pond in hopes that there would be some sign of life. Shortly after, he found our biggest fish, Mommy Fish (Lauren thinks she's the one who has all the babies.) floating on her side. I thought she was already dead, but Mark saw that her gills were still moving. So he put her into a bucket and brought her into the house. Then he began the process of nursing her back to health by setting up a small air pump and coaxing her to eat peas (Apparently this is a well known fish treatment).

At first, her condition didn't seem to improve, but by mid-week she wasn't lying on her side anymore and started swimming more and more. She's now residing inside a large plastic storage container in our dining room until the pond thaws once and for all.



Of course, the dogs can't help themselves and insist on visiting the patient.



Why so grumpy? You are one lucky fish!