port side

Karen at Timber-lee was gracious enough to give me a little help with the identification of some of the photos I took up there. It turns out that the golden retriever puppy named fluffy was not a golden retriever puppy at all! It happens to be a twelve year-old plated lizard, who's name is Plato.

.

She also identified this fish picture for me. It is called a sand sifting goby or a sleeper goby. It swims along, scooping up sand or gravel in its mouth, and shoots it out from somewhere near the gills.

.

As I got ready to put this photo up, I had a foggy flashback to something about the protocol for fish photos. After a quick search, I found this from a web article written by the Aquatic & Terrestrial Research Team members Adam Blundell and Shane Silcox:

A second guideline for taking aquarium pictures deals specifically with taking pictures of fishes. When displaying a picture of a fish it is proper to take a picture of the left side of the fish. In other words, the fish is facing left. This isn’t always possible, and in general a picture of a fish facing right can be flipped and mirror image is used. There are of course exceptions to this rule including: never flip a picture that has a human in the photo, never flip a picture of a non-bilaterally symmetric fish (i.e. flounders), and internal dissection pictures are taken on the right sides of the fishes.

.

Did you know about that? Therefore, on account of this port side protocol, I flipped the original photograph.

dried fish

I'd like to post something, but my most recent photos haven't turned out so good and the creative juices ain't flowing. Like a fish out of water, I feel all dried up. Plus, a lot of my attention lately has gone to preparations for coaching this fall's soccer season. Our first practice is tonight!

.

Can I tell you what I'd really like to do right now? I wish I could just walk away from all of the busy-ness for a while, maybe walk to a nearby park and just sit. Maybe skim through the Psalms until I find something... just something.

.

For now, let me leave you with this little story I heard from Arcamax.

.

A man is walking down the street one day when he notices a very small boy trying to press a doorbell on a house across the street. However, the boy is very small and the doorbell is too high for him to reach. After watching the boy's efforts for some time, the man moves closer to the boy's position.

.

He steps smartly across the street, walks up behind the little fellow and, placing his hand kindly on the child's shoulder, leans over and gives the doorbell a solid ring.

.

Crouching down to the child's level, the man smiles benevolently and asks, "And now what, my little man?"

.

The boy replies, "Now we run!"

tanks a lot

Thanks for the kind sentiments. I feel much better today.

.

Great news! S2 got baptized Sunday!! Plus, I was the one to dunk him! I was filled with all kinds of good-feeling mushy stuff inside. Since I couldn't take a picture AND do the dunking, I grabbed a shot from the inside of the booth, before going into the big tank. It was tempting to say Delmar's line from O Brother, Where Art Thou? "C'mon in boys, the water is fine."

.

While we're on the subject of tanks, I tried to capture a decent shot of illuminated fish tanks at the pet store, but that was tougher than you might think. The room was not bright directly overhead, but there were plenty of distant lights that reflected off the glass. Plus some tanks were smudgy.

fishbites

Look carefully. What do you see here? I see an aggressive little fishie attacking an unarmed man. Please, people! Be careful around ponds. Wear thick leather or rubber gloves and safety goggles. Now, as firearms tend to be frowned upon by law enforcement, you should probably carry a harpoon strapped around your shoulders. Who knows, but it may be you next. Thankfully, this man survived!

.

Enjoy the outdoors this spring, but stay alert for tiny, but zealous fish that lunge out at unsuspecting people on the beaches.

.

More helpful advice: (This was sent to me by email.) - Basic Flying Rules: "Try to stay in the middle of the air. Do not go near the edges of it. The edges of the air can be recognized by the appearance of ground, buildings, sea, trees and interstellar space. It is much more difficult to fly there."

.

Leftovers tomorrow.