Tippy the Fish
2:51 PM, Tuesday afternoon. I really enjoyed my fish, Tippy — though I didn’t name him. He was a six or seven inch Koi with a body the color of orange sherbet and a head the color of ice. He lived in our water garden and I could actually feed him by hand. He died several years ago when the water garden suffered an unexplained “Koi die-off”. Hmm, I was just thinking about him and his fishy compadres today for some reason. Other than that: I have nothing to say.
Water gardening is a rewarding experience. Primarily, all you do is dig a hole, line it with something water-proof, fill with water, and then stock it with various interesting plants and animals. A fountain or waterfall is also a soothing touch. Most of the labor comes at the beginning of the project — after that it is all just upkeep, which isn’t so bad. (Unless your dog happens to fall into the pond and tear the liner — then it’s “emergency fish and plant rescue” time.)
Last Summer, my brother and I had a “Tikki” party outside by the pond. We lit some tikki torches (of course) the small lanterns spaced around the pond, and floated a few candles on the water itself. It looked very “Maxfield Parrish”: glowing candle-light, shimmering water, deep green lily pads. Everyone sat around, drank a few Mojitos, and enjoyed the evening.
Too bad Tippy couldn’t have been there. Now we just have goldfish…but they are neat too.
— JWR, 1997
EDITOR’S NOTE: The date on this entry (and on all of the “I Have Nothing To Say” entries) has been arbitrarily assigned to preserve the sequence that they were originally posted in. All were written in 1997 but, at that point, I was only identifying my journal’s entries by the time at which they were written.