I feel sad for the pet fish at the grocery store.

 I went to Meijer yesterday. Wednesday is Gym and Groceries day. I did not go to the gym because I woke up with a migraine expanding across the right side of my head (I had a detached sense of fascination that I could actually feel it expanding and hear miniscule noises as the pressure built) and while the Excedrin took care of most of it, I didn't want to push it. 

Photo of bitsy koi from the Meijer website. 
I don't think it's a legit brocaded carp, but it's pretty.

I was stressed as I entered Meijer: because I had a migraine, because I had to skip the gym and throw off my fragile healthy habit weekly routine, and just because I had to enter Meijer. I had my meal plans for the week and my list done the night before (Tuesday is meal planning and grocery list day and I did it even though I really was tired and finishing a task made me feel better). I remembered to bring my coupons and I knew my budget so all the preparation was done and still...anxiety. 

Legit koi in beautiful, peaceful, restful, brain-calming koi pond.
See, koi get big. So big. Lots of big.
Photo nicked from the Nualagi Ponds website.

Grocery stores are chaotic places, so many things, so many choices, so many temptations, so many people. But I need to be able to choose my groceries myself. I don't want other people doing it.

I write long sentences. I do try and break them up, but then I just go ahead and write more long sentences. Which I then have to take the time to break up. And then where has my point gone? It got lost in the long sentences. So here's another pretty fish to reward you.

Photo of Glo Tetra from the Meijer website.

I've been experimenting with entering the store at the other end, the drug store end. The theory is that the frozen and chilled food and produce will be collected at the end of the trip and less subject to thawing, warming, wilting, and crushing. (Use ALL the verbs!)

I had to buy cat litter and I passed by the fish tanks. I was immediately swept over by a desire to watch the fish and bring them home and have a tank for them and take care of them and watch them anytime I wanted.

But I'm a rational person -- sensible, logical, reasonable, pragmatic, whimsical, anxious...wait, what? I really want a fish tank and fishes to watch. I felt sad for them, because their holding tanks are boring: no pebbles, no plants, no place to hide and chill. I want the fishes to have a sort of proper home. How long will they live without a proper home? Poor fishes. They were still peaceful to watch as they floated in their burbling water.

Photo of shobunkin from the Meijer website.
This actually looks more koi-like

I have no place to put a proper aquarium and no money to buy a proper aquarium and no real concept of how to care for an aquarium and the fishes in it. I promised myself that every Gym and Grocery Wednesday I should stop by the fish tanks and entertain some peace before braving the chaos.

But I did find this aquarium video on YouTube and it will have to do. Maybe...maybe...I can buy a book about caring for fishes in home aquariums and learn what type of fishes live peaceably with each other and one day have a small aquarium with two or three fish.