driving around tonight i was reminded of a story from when i was young. a couple of friends and i went camping, and we came upon a shallow creek. obviously there had recently been people fishing there, there were some discarded hooks and fishing line left lying around. there was also a little sunfish that had been left on the bank next to the water. i wandered up to it, and found that its gills were still weakly moving. it was still alive! i picked it up and put it in the water, and it floated slowly to the surface, belly up. so i thought to myself, okay, this fish need water to go through its gills, but it doesn’t have the energy to do it itself anymore. i thought of sharks, and how they can’t pump the water they need through their gills themselves, so they need the forward momentum of their swimming to keep themselves breathing. i took hold of the little fish, and ran it back and forth through the water, like a kid playing with a toy car. i stood doing this for a minute or so, and then i loosened my fingers. the fish took off, swimming slowly but steadily away.<\/p>\n
alshley plascott, thank you for giving me so many wonderful memories from that trip. saving that tiny sunfish is just one of the amazing things i get to remember on nights when i can’t sleep, and go driving around the city.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
driving around tonight i was reminded of a story from when i was young. a couple of friends and i went camping, and we came upon a shallow creek. obviously there had recently been people fishing there, there were some … Continue reading