One Fish, Two Fish, Blue Fish, Dead Fish

The Casey family has a long history of looking after God's other creatures. Presently, we have three Cocker Spaniels in our house. We have a feral cat living under our deck, two bird feeders that I keep filled, and as of Saturday afternoon, several sea creatures in a Salt Water tank.

The Salt Water family came about because someone who was moving needed to give their fish a new home, and Mrs C convinced me we should take them in.
I moved them, and their 26 gallon tank, on Saturday Afternoon, and set it up in our TV room. I honestly didn't think anybody had lived through the move. I only saw one of the fish swimming around afterwards, the water was very murky from being shaken up during the car ride. (Note: A Glass tank with 26 gallons of water is VERY HEAVY.) It was also very cold Saturday, and I wondered if the brief exposure to the cold might have been too much of a shock for them.

I was relieved Sunday afternoon to see them swimming around. I fed them, and all seemed well. Mrs C returned from Cape May Point Sunday Evening, and gave them all Casey family names. The two Clown fish she named Nemo and Paint, the bright blue Fish, Dory, and the fat Brown fish she named Bug. There's also a starfish, who, I think in a premonition of what was to come, buried himself in the sand.
Tuesday, Bug was down in the corner, floating sideways. That's not good. But when I went to remove him, he sprung to life and swam away, prompting Mrs C to rename him Lazarus.
Wednesday, I came home from work, and old Lazarus got a new name: "Floater."

Yep, he was dead. So I gave him burial with full honors in the Porcelain Sea.

By the way, we got some crabs as part of the package deal. I know how that sounds, but they do scurry around pretty cool between the rocks.
I'm worried though, because Nemo is acting like Bug/Lazarus/Floater did before he died, and all the fish are hanging near the bottom of the tank, only swimming up to eat. Only Dory is acting like all is cool, swimming all over the place.

We are visiting some Fish Professionals on Saturday to get some advice, but I'm worried that it may be too late for the rest of the gang by then.
So when it comes to caring for God's other creatures, we Casey's are good at dogs, cats, and birds, but fish?
We're going to have to work on that.

Friday Morning Sorrow

My Morning went to hell at 5:20 AM. I was on 309 heading south just north of Quakertown, and the new WaWa, when it happened. I saw a dog, a golden retriever trot out into the road in front of me. I hit the brake and slowed. The truck in the left lane beside me did not. He hit the dog full speed and never stopped. The dog landed on the side of the road in a manner that I knew indicated instantaneous death. I pulled over and went to it. It had no collar, no tags, no anything. Just a big, lovable(?) Golden retriever, dead on the side of the road, her eyes (It was a female) open in blank emptiness. Did she realize what happened to her? Did she feel pain? Is there some family somewhere who wonders where their friend and companion went, and is worried about her? I grabbed her limp rear legs, and dragged her completely off the road, and up into the grass. She's still visible to passersby, so maybe someone will see her and recognize her, but her body won't suffer the indignity of further injury from strikes by more vehicles.

The possible circumstances are numerous, but I let the tears flow as I got back in the car and continued on to work. I know how I would feel if that happened to one of my dogs. Sure it could have been a stray, but you don't see many Golden's running wild. It's been bugging me all morning, so I sat down at my break and wrote about it. If I hadn't seen it, and that big wagging tail seconds before the life was ended, I probably would have thought nothing of another animal dead on the road. But I did see it, and it was so senseless, so heartless. The Trucker didn't even slow down. Maybe he didn't even notice at all that he hit her.

Maybe that's the analogy I'm trying to find, that we are running things over in our lives, and don't realize the consequences of what we don't see, and what we have lost. What a crappy way to end what had been a pretty productive week.

10 PM update: When I drove home from work in the PM, the body was gone. I hope that it was retrieved by her family, but I don't know.