Time on Your Hands?

In our wet past, we were all too busy drinking like fishes to be able to give any thought or study to our finny prototypes. If this were true in your case, we strongly suggest that you rectify the oversight and get yourself a book on tropical fish; any book will do. This suggestion is prompted by a recent personal experience. A small seven-year-old friend of ours had a birthday and we dropped into the nearest pet shop to see what we could see. It being a foul, rainy day, we lingered long and came away with bowl, sand, water plants, net, book, a few large and ugly snails, a pair of lowly Guppys and a firm determination to deliver the birthday gift the following day. We had been impressed by the decorative quality of the various minute tropicals, so, with the rain beating on the window panes and the hurricane howling, we spent a cosy evening studying the fascinating habits of our little friends and lo!--an ichthyologist was born. Next morning, the storm and breakfast over, found us back at the shop gazing thoughtfully at the more glamorous varieties, and we arrived home with two Danios (tiger fish). These lively little silver-and-black fellows added life to the bowl as their stripes flashed while they darted hither and yon. Fine--now we would deliver the gift. Yes--but--a brace of scallarae (angel fish) would certainly lend grace and dignity to the collection. Back at the shop, while two scallarae were being netted, our attention was caught by the beauty of some dark red Plattes and a pair of those were added to our purchase for a much needed spot of color. This was all a week ago, and our piscatorial pals are still undelivered. We plan to return to the shop today to purchase another bowl and a pair of Guppys for the belated birthday gift and--well--we have our eye on two velvety black Molynesias and maybe the Betas (Siamese fighters), which we ordered, have arrived. Their gorgeous colors and fascinating breeding habits made them a temptation not to be resisted. Do you see how it goes? Eating peanuts is mild in comparison.