We got our first pet today. Ali and I have never gotten a dog of our own because of the responsibility. I mean, who wants to saddle themselves with something that could possibly be dependent on you for like eighteen years? Not us. But then today Ali and the kids went off to the Saturday market and came home with…
…a Betta. Yep. We’re looking at up to four weeks of daily feeding and attention. As if we didn’t have enough on our plates—now a fish too. I know, right?
We all sat at the kitchen table and dumped it out of the bag into its bowl where it swam—on edge—darting this way and that to avoid the tiny fingers that kept dipping in the bowl. Lowe would drive his hand in then pull it out and stick his fingers in his mouth to drink the water. He thought this was absolutely hilarious. As did I.
Eventually we agreed on the name Mango, gave it a bite to eat, and then went about our business. Later on in the afternoon on our way back to the boat I said to Ouest, “We have to get home and play with Mango.”
“No, not Mango, Banana Ice Cream Goldfish.” She, being a three-year-old, thought Banana Ice Cream Goldfish was a much more suitable name than Mango. Who are we to argue? If she is still calling “her” that tomorrow then we’ll roll with it. I have a feeling by morning it could be Grape Yogurt Raisins Goldfish, or Apple Kiwi Crackers Goldfish. We’ll see.
Lowe turned twenty months today and Ouest hit the big four-oh. It’s crazy to think that the day that Ouest turned twenty months was the day Lowe was born. Can’t even imagine having a number three arrive today. Happy Birthday you two.
On the boat front, I got the other front mount installed today. And after staring at the rear mounts for half an hour I’m leaning heavily towards not touching them, other than to align the prop shaft. If it ain’t broke, why fix it? Or to put it another way, that looks like a lot of work, I’ll skip it.
19 Comments on “A New Pet”
Brace yourself, guys. In college I had a goldfish that lived for 4 years. Just sayin.
it may be debatable if a fish can live long with little hands roaming around in it’s habitat
now that is a happy goldfish. Those boys of ours you met in Jobos PR are now 22 and 16. John will graduate from UNCW in Environmental Science on May 4 and Clayton is 16 and a Communist and a really good golfer. Love Vick and Paul
FYI, Cadence’s beta “Boo” is a year and a half now and still going strong. We couldn’t negotiate tank tipping so he as well as the dog are going to live with grandparents when we move to the boat. He is my favorite fish I’ve ever owned. Tough little dude.
A year and a half! Don’t tell me that.
I’ve had several betas live at least two years. One, ‘Bruiser’ was his name, ended up on the floor (at about 1 year) when the dog knocked his bowl over… he just kept swimmin’ for another 18 months.
Cutest. Kids. Ever. Good luck to the fishy 🙂
Thanks. She’s going to need it.
Rhett Betta lived for over 4 years at our house. The trick was to keep the bowl clean and change the water every week. And then if Whatchamacallit passes; you have to find another Betta who looks like the first one!
You should get another one and breed them and you will have snacks forever. Oh wait, your not vegan are you? My Bad 🙂
I have been following you guys for years, love your writing.
Do your front pilothouse ports open? On Landfall, we layed a 4×6′ about 12′ long, from the port side front port diagonally to the companionway. This left the middle of it directly over the center of the engine and we were able to lift it straight up with a come-a-long chained to the engine lifting points. We got the dead engine out of the boat in about 4 hours that way. We have pics of the new engine going in that way, I can email you one if it helps.
It was easy that way.
Hey Steve, Thanks for the tip. That hadn’t occurred to me, but yes, it would work perfectly.Fortunately in the end I was able to do the job with just a car jack.
i just looooove that picture of them laughing over the bowl. and on the next couple of pictures, they look lik a happy and proud couple that just came home with their newborn baby! lovely!
Hey Pat,
Hypothetical question for you. If you didn’t have that sailboat as your trump card, how long would it take before you crumbled under the repeated baby blue eyed requests for a puppy? Tell the truth Pat. Tel the truth….
TREE
NOT gonna happen. 🙂 I’m strong. Stay strong. Stay strong.
holy cuteness. Great photos!
Thank you.
Why not get a puppy? It would be sorta like another kid around the boat! 🙂
Yeah, cuz I’m sort of getting tired of these other two.