Monday, August 16, 2010

Catch and release

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A month ago, Cady Gray brought home a minnow from her summer camp.  Minnie the minnow survived and thrived in her soda-bottle ecosystem.  But Cady Gray agreed that we had to take her to a stream and let her go before the school year started.

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Today was the day -- the first somewhat bearable summer day, perfect for a walk over to the nature reserve. Cady Gray talked Minnie through the whole trip.

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I had scouted out the perfect spot, where the creek passed under a footbridge. The water flows fast through a narrow channel, then spreads out in a shallow, still wide area where other minnows darted.

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Cady Gray emptied her jar into the water, and we watched Minnie join her cousins.

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We lingered in that idyllic spot, watching the silvery fish move to and fro in the water, feeling the breeze, listening to the birds.

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As we walked back, Cady Gray found a feather. She put it in her jar as a sign, she said, that Minnie is where she belongs.

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I suggested that Cady Gray write about Minnie. Here's what she just gave me:
Minny is a Pet that I loved and cared for. She swam, I watched. She swam, I fed. Today, I let her go. When I had my first pet, I didn,t want to let him go, but I had to. Now he,s a butterfly! So, I ♥ Minny!

2 comments:

Chris said...

I don't pretend to know any of you (although I do enjoy your writing, Donna), but this is just so sweet and melancholy. In the best way possible. A small moment that alludes something altogether larger—something that seems to comprise so much of "adult" life. A nice way to end my day. Thanks.

Ali said...

Just lovely. I wonder if it will be as idyllic when Jude has to set the worms imprisoned in his worm farm free someday...