an animal I can handle

Anyone who knows me knows that I like animals…from a distance. I pretty much grew up without pets, and I’d like to keep it that way. Animals belong in the wild, and I want to keep the wild out of my home. The smells, the hair, the going to the bathroom without diapers or toilets- it’s just not for me. But, last night Brad decided I needed something to take care of, so we went to PetSmart to get a pet.
We walked by the snakes and birds, it only took one loaded glance at Brad for him to realize that was out of the question. Next we looked at fish, a good choice since I don’t like animals to touch me. I felt bad for the guy helping us because he was taking so much time to explain things and I knew we wouldn’t really buy anything. The Betta fish all looked mangy and depressed. The tropical fish required lights and filters and were getting too pricey and complex for a sporadic one night joke. Brad was ready to buy all the fancy stuff, but I wanted to keep it simple. So we looked at the betas again. I found a blue one and a red one that looked cool next to each other, but obviously that wouldn’t work. Then at the back of the shelf I saw the prettiest little fish with a perfect fin, bright blue and bright red. He was the one, the new addition to our family. I picked out some rocks that matched him and we took him home at once.
The idea of a fish began to grow on me, it was like doing service getting him out of that tiny, dirt cup into a relatively big, beautiful new home. I hope he’s happy here and lives a long life (in fish terms) because I really like the little guy. Welcome home Solo! (I like the old Star Wars, but this isn’t after Han Solo. It’s short for Señor Macho Solo, an episode from our favorite 30 rock and he has to be alone in his tank. So fitting.)
Like any proud parent, I immediately began taking pictures.