Swimming with the fishes and other happenings

We went to the park last week. The People's Park, in fact. It's really nice this time of year and we figured that Friday would be better than the busy weekend. We figured correctly.

The boys went on some rides, the train, and played in the playground. They even got some ice cream!

Miles Waiting patiently.

Miles reaping the rewards of patience.

They also tried to catch some more fish friends for our pet fish Flowerduna, whom Miles caught and won as a prize on our last visit to the park. Well, this time it didn't work out so well but we ended up buying 2 more fish anyways.

Miles with Flowerduna, April 2011

Fast forward 24 hours...

A sad day in the Gitzel apartment this week. Our first pet, Flowerduna the fish, passed away. She was far too young. Oh the places she could have gone to.

The cause of death seems to be the arrival of 2 new fish, Fireduna and Sunny. We think that the new fish were not eating the food, thus Flowerduna gorged herself on too many little pellets of food. Or... it just might have been murder. Fish on fish murder. We don't know these new guys that well at all. In fact, Fireduna and Sunny might not even be their real names!

The new guys getting used to the spacious territory

Jonas didn't really notice too much of what happened. Miles on the other hand learned something new. When we told him that she was dead he laughed, not really understanding the situation. Then we said that we had to flush her and that she could never come back. He thought that that was strange, but was more curious than broken up about it.

Do I hate the new fish for killing Flowerduna? Do I hold them responsible for Flowerduna's death? Do I think that they might be racist fish with an agenda? I do and I don't.

We gathered around the toilet and flushed her down. That was it. The other two fish continue to survive and I think that they are eating alright. I still step lightly around their bowl, not wanting upset or aggravate them. I mean, they've already committed one murder this week.

But poor Flowerduna couldn't cope with new environment.

"So long, golden little fish. You will always be our first pet. You did a good job, kid. Swim on into that vast ocean of eternal sewage."

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I ordered a hat online and had a friend bring it out. My regular hat is faded pretty bad from the hot sun up here and I've always wanted a San Fransisco Giants hat. I ordered an XL. Well, as the story usually goes, it does not fit. It sits hanging from my lamp, as a reminder that I am not a normally sized headed person and I never will be.

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Two more things.

I ate the first fruits from my pea plants. Crunching into those bad boys took me back to the days when we would pick peas in our back yard. Or in particular, I remember picking peas in Uncle Randy and Auntie Janice's backyard before they built their garage.

The sweet basil is also growing nicely. I put it on pizzas and in spaghetti sauce. Very nice touch. I love Basil. Heck, maybe we should name our next fish Basil. Basilduna...

basil on the left, cilantro in the back, and mint in the foreground.
That's how they roll.

The mint is also growing well. What do I do with mint? Manufacture chewing gum? Mojitos?

The cilantro is soaring to new heights. I am trying to figure out how to use the stuff since Barbara doesn't like it at all and I only like a bit of it with Mexican food. Why did I plant it in the first place?

My worm bin has been around for over a month now and thee little guys are still chewing away. It's working pretty well. Worms and fish are about the only pets I am interested in having in this apartment.

What an emotional week.