Remembering Koi

Memory is something special. Could you imagine life without memory?

That occured to me tonight as I was talking to my wife on the way home from Starbucks. Our 2nd and 3rd "dates" (I use quotation marks because she doesn't think they were dates, just friends hanging out) were at the same Starbucks we went to tonight. As usual, she remembered exactly what I had to drink even though it's been over 2 years! I remembered being there and some of the conversation. However, generally speaking, I don't remember much. My wife can verify that. (By the way, Carlye, if you read this, please forgive me if I remembered incorrectly that they were the 2nd and 3rd dates.)

It's a strange thing. There is so much I don't remember. Sometimes I am amazed by the things I don't remember. I would go into detail, but I don't remember what I didn't remember. I just know it is frequent. My point is that when I do remember things I feel a sense of accomplishment. Then, once I do remember what I was trying to remember, I am filled with all the interconnected memories my mind has linked to that one memory. It's an explosion of thought in my mind. The emotions, the smells, the sounds, everything floods back. I'm not sure what my point was in writing this other than to point out how interractive and sensual memory is and to remember to treasure it.

Now let me talk about koi. The fish. I'm assuming you were thinking koi meant something other than a type of fish. I don't know what that something would have been, but I want to be certain we have an understanding of what I'm about to discuss.

My wife and I have koi. I think there may be 5 or 6 of them. I feed them every other day. I add more water to their pond every other day. I clean the pond filter every other day. I clean the dead plants from the pond once a week. I do so much for these koi. It seems like a lot considering I don't know how many there are. They hide in the cattails and stay deep in the water when I'm around. Why do I do this? Because they were there when we bought the house. Also, my wife likes them. But, why do we like them that much? I'm still working on this one. Please feel free to add any comments on this topic to add to our continual dialogue "to sell the koi or not to sell the koi." Or, if you like, please feel free to make an offer to buy one of the koi. Just kidding, I'm not authorized to request offers let alone accept them. And besides, the big orange one (or maybe he's yellow...I can't remember) is getting more comfortable with me. In fact, today when I leaned over to change the filter he just stayed near the surface and stared at me. What do you suppose that meant? He had a slight edginess about him, like one of his koi friends dared him to do it. Either way (not that I gave you 2 ways), I think we're making some headway. Someday maybe I'll have him jumping through tiny hula-hoops on fire while spraying water from his mouth and winking his left eye. Wouldn't that be something? Still would it be worth all the hassle? A trick like that could get old fast.

Exercise report: I ran 4 on Friday.