The menagerie

Chez moi, we have pets. Lots of pets. Three dogs, one cat, one parrot, one gerible, three Bettas in separate aquariums, and two big aquariums of fish. The Shih'tzu is mine, so is one of the Betas, Bob Mojo, to be exact. He sits on my bookshelf by my desk and keeps me company. His predecessor's name was Fred the Fish... Yes, I am very creative. He started off as Bob the  Beta. But knock on wood, he doesn't seem prone to the same fin trouble Fred experienced and may remain with me longer. He is just full of good writing ju ju!  I also feed him a couple of times a day. He was a big boy to start with. Well, now he's hefty. Hence, Bob Mojo the Hefty Betta, giver of good writing ju ju. 

Our cat is elderly. My husband belongs to him. How do I know this? They look alike. Both have long, dense bones and sinewy muscle. Both look taller or longer respectively than they really are because of their excellent bone structure. When one gains weight, the other gains, as well. They are inexplicably linked. The cat comes to me when he needs things, but otherwise, he doesn't have much use for me. 

Then, there's the parrot. He lives in a cage in front of my dining room window. Thanks to him, I have no need for any sort of alarm system. He is  much more reliable. From where he sits, he can see into the kitchen, outside, and in all of my front room. He tells on people and animals when they are doing something he knows they shouldn't, warns me about squirrels and cats in the backyard, or even my own dogs when they go outside.  He believes the refrigerator is a magic portal of some kind. No one can open it without him going off. And he loves the sound of water running. 

When i was younger, I brought home strays. Men, women, animals--stray anything, they came home with me. I think I needed them to feel loved. Then I had kids, and didn't have quite the same need, so slowly the number of strays dwindled. Now that all my children are mostly grown but still living here, our number of pets is really, really large. Frankly, now I can see that need for what it was in the past and wait for the day some of these wonderful creatures go when their owners do! I'll be left with a Shih'Tzu, a cat, one big aquarium, and one small one containing Bob. I might have to get an alarm system, you know?