(1) Transparent fish
A blacktop path goes through the forest and then ends at a parking lot. Beyond that, an extra stretch of concrete runs in a half loop near a very small pond. I like to wander from this loop and walk on the sand of the shoreline. It’s like a miniature beach there.
While looking into the pond, I noticed a small school of transparent fish in the water before me. They were standing stock still — it’s as if they were hoping I’d feed them.
But if they really were transparent, one might ask, how was I able to see these fish? Well, first I discerned many sets of tiny black dots, which turned out to be their eyes; and then I noticed that each pair of eyes was surrounded by the faint outline of an aquatic body with fins, like Wonder Woman’s Jetplane.
(2) Crab apples
The scene that I just mentioned exists a few blocks away from my apartment; so, after visiting it, I returned home via the local sidewalk, which runs alongside the development of units where I live. Here is one interesting fact about my homeward trek:
When I was about three duplexes away from the grounds of our complex, I noticed an obstruction in the path — two children, about preschool age, were picking the sickly green apples off of a tree whose branches were hanging low over the sidewalk. And these kids were placing the fruit in a dusty old bucket.
I tried to avoid conversing with the children as I passed; but, before I could get a single step beyond them, the shorter of the two addressed me in a shrill, earnest voice, and said: "We’re picking crab apples!"
This startled me, so I answered with the first words that came to mind — I said: "Oh, that's nice."
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| Portrait of Marquise de Pompadour (1756) by François Boucher |