Fishy Stuff

On Sunday we had a lazy day - lazier than usual, in other words. One thing we did do, however, was go with our rellies to East Harling (I think it was East) where there's a shop that sells tropical fish, gold fish and all sorts of other fish, along with assorted snakes, crocodiles and tortoises. If ever you want to check out God's imagination, go to a tropical fish shop. It isn't just that the colours are extraordinary, from the dullest to the most startling, but the shapes and sizes and variety of extras show a mind at work that has no problem coming up with something new - or something odd.
There were tanks with dozens of identical fish in them, and the slightest movement would send them off in a group to the other end. There were tanks with large koi (or carp) in them where the fish were keen to make friends, and were coming to the surface opening their mouths wide and happy to let you touch them. There were strange wormlike creatures that were some form of anemone. Ten or more of them would be entangled with each other in a thick bunch, so entangled that when one of the staff needed to get one out for a customer, he had to literally pull them apart. And then the worm would open up its end and produce a great flowery display. There were other black creatures, whether fish or plant, I don’t know, (though they seemed to be able to climb), and they consisted of a little ball with a bunch of the thinnest spikes all over it, especially on the ‘top’. These spikes waved round continually, checking out the environment, and making sure something didn’t happen to step on them or swim past.
Walking around at a great pace were tiny prawn-like creatures, their legs going nineteen to the dozen. And in other tanks – more the size you might see in a house – there were so many tiny fish that the tank was ablaze with the particular colour they were made of.
The crocodiles were only about two feet long at the outside, with very flat, square tops to the heads. They were in the same tank as dozens of turtles, and the latter were happily using the crocs as stepping stones up onto the stones at the side of the tank. One large tortoise was outside in his own little enclosure, eating grass, and inspecting the world with wise old eyes.
And in a very large glass tank, a huge fish rolled back and forward, and certainly seemed to be well aware of the world outside the glass, as he reacted to people passing by not by flitting away, but by coming up and inspecting them.
Ain’t creation incredible? (I was watching a David Attenborough doco last night on bugs and things. Some of what they get up to is absolutely mindboggling.)