el verano y el pez

no homework. sleeping in til 10:30. late nights with friends. beach day trips. swimming pools and laying out. family picnics. backyard bbq's. laughter. sun. play. productivity.

this is summer.

so...i have a summer story.
i shall entitle it: The Fish

It was an overcast tuesday morning off the coast of Point Mugu. my fearless aunt had taken 8 children camping for the week and who knew what adventure lay ahead that day. I arrived only for the day, as camping is not directly my cup of tea. I do enjoy it at times, but day trips suit me just fine =) after lunch we trekked to the bridge under which we could cross PCH at low tide. (For at high tide, the bridge has water underneath it, making crossing nearly impossible.) And on the sandy shores, in front of lifeguard station 7, we set up camp. The waves were average, the water biting cold. being the nice big cousin that I am, I ran into the frigid ocean only to instantly be numbed by the water. At that point staying in was fine, as I could feel nothing. The day passed...we had a marvelous sand-creation contest in which i promised the children prizes. (at that point i had no idea what the prizes would be...and to be quite honest, I still don't know! But a target run this afternoon should clear that up!)

It was coming upon two in the afternoon...the sun was finally peeking its balmy head out from behind the dissipating clouds. The oldest cousin, Justin decided to set up his pole for surf-fishing in hopes of catching a fish to fry for some dinner delight. within minutes he hooked a winner.
This fish was beautiful. and looked a very good size for a surf-perch. she was properly stored in a bucket of sea water and the children gathered around to have a look. I was sitting comfortably in my chair, watching the delighted children watch the poor fish as she swam around the bucket. then came the shout.

"SUZY! come quick! something's not right!"

Since situations that aren't right draw me like a magnet, I ran to the bucket and saw the fish laying on her side in the bucket. My cousin then proceeded to show me a red protrusion from her abdomen that was not on any fish we had seen before. we poked it, prodded it and questioned what it could be. then it dawned upon us.

Justin says, "I think she's pregnant." I ponder that all the while wondering how my 15 year old cousin knows what a pregnant fish looks like. but she did have a full looking belly and the protrusion was looking like a fin when in the water. But don't fish lay eggs? we were baffled. So we called our mothers to come look. and we all ooh'd and ahh'd this poor fish and her plight.

When we put her in the bucket, she lay on her side on the bottom. and we all concluded she was in labor. and that is when all of the little cousins took their positions as the delivery-room peanut gallery.

"I bet if we go put another pole in we'll catch her husband, he's probably waiting out there and i bet he would want to be with her!"

"PUSH fishy...PUSH!!!"

"Someone needs to hold her fin, she's probably scared having her babies in a bucket!"

"PULL out the fish Justin! help her out!"

"EWWW she's having BABIES!"

It was all of their first time seeing live birth. Justin was nervous, but at everyone's insistance, he pulled the fin poking out of the mother's belly. *plop* there was a baby fish...two inches long! she was beautiful. we all cheered and clapped as the poor mama fish swam in circles on the bottom of the bucket.
We had two boys running back and forth bringing fresh ocean water to the bucket to keep her oxygenated. We really were quite helpful.

Justin beamed with pride and declared, "That was amazing...i think i could totally be a doctor now!"

We saw another fin poking out and urged Justin to continue with the labor and delivery. He *ahem* gently squeezed her belly, massaging her until *plop-plop-plop* three more came out. she seemed to be done.

After much deliberation, with Justin wanting to keep and eat the mama fish, and my mom advocating infant-fishy survival, we decided to throw the babies in the ocean to live a long and prosperous fish life and to keep the original fish for dinner. (i hesitate calling her mama fish, because then eating her would seem morally wrong.)

not five minutes after we wished the babies well and released them into the wild, we hear a yell. "SUZY! there's FOUR MORE!!!"

of course. what fish only has four babies.

With the help of justin squeezing her belly and forcing them out, the mama fish had 13 more fish. Where did they all come from? how did they all fit? we will never know. But there was so much yelling and excitement! We ran to nearby beach-loungers who were totally unaware of the delivery of new life that had just taken place mere yards away from them. we invited them to see this miracle of new life. they stared in awe.
"Wow...they're so beautiful! she did so good! congratulations you guys!"

the moms were calling their husbands and anyone else they could think of! We were recieving congratulations from all directions..

I felt as if i was a proud grandma, beaming at my lil fishy who had done so much work. she was exhausted. We were ecstatic, and the lil baby fishes were swimming with glee around their nursery bucket.

But this is not the end of the story. we took the delivered fish back to the camp. Justin proceeded to begin fileting her. we all stood over the chopping block and gasped audibly to find that she still had THREE more babies in her! we quickly released them and put them in the bucket to live. The fate of their carrier was much more detrimental. we shall not go into the details as I am sure you have bonded with her over the course of this narrative.

In any case...it was live biology on the beach that day...and a day we shall not be forgetting soon!