Phoebe and Her Unicorn by Dana Simpson for August 30, 2024

Weird. Suddenly, I’m no longer experiencing those pop ups I complained about yesterday.

Forget-unicorn-not.

No one or no thing could forget Marigold.

All I have to do is raise the lid on my aquarium hood and all the fish swim to the surface expecting food.

You’re unforgettable, Marigold!

There is a big aquarium in the foyer of the assisted living place where my mom lives. For the last few years, every Sunday when I visit her, I stop and say hello to the fish—I put my face close to the glass, tap gently with my fingernails, and say “Fishie, fishie” and other endearments in a high-pitched voice so they can hear me in the water. They always come and cluster around me, although I’ve never fed them or done anything other than that. Sometimes they dart away and hide as I approach, as if someone else has harassed them earlier, but after a few moments of “Fishie, fishie”, they seem to remember that I’m a friend, or at least someone interesting who relieves their boredom for a few minutes.

Better to just forget about it!

I know it’s another comic, but I always wondered if Wilbur’s fish remembered him…or cared to…

Fish don’t spend time fuming about that argument they had last week and how they just now came up with the perfect comeback.

Fish indeed have memory!

The shark in the first “Jaws” sequel remembered to get its revenge…..

On the plus side, anyone who forgets you can behold your beauty as if for the first time.

“They say,” “scientists say,” “experts say,” I’ve often wondered which to believe and have come to the conclusion that it’s just the writers trying to make their opinions seem important and supported by others. These days, “scientists say” is no more an indication of truth than “they say”.

Why I gave up fishing.

In Virginia, the state stocks trout, seasonally, in many streams. Most places have limits of how many fish you can take for food. In other streams you must release your catch. Trout survive year round in the deep rivers and many of the mountain streams, but the water in shallow valley creeks gets too warm to sustain trout over the summer. Because of that, some catch-and-release streams become open to harvesting on June 1st each year.

Some years ago, on a bright day in early June, I decided to fish in one of those recently-open-to-harvest valley streams. Intending to catch something for supper, I threaded a grasshopper on a plain hook. I cast it out and it was immediately taken. A nice-sized trout splashed and played with me awhile.

Then, as I reeled in the fish, at about 8 feet away from me it stopped fighting, swam toward me, made a half-circle turn in the water and stopped directly beside my boot. Pick me up, it seemed to say, you had your fun, now let me go. Alas, I couldn’t. My hook was barbed; the fish had swallowed it.

Do fish remember? I think they do.

Actually, Marigold, um, it’s not so much that they don’t REMEMBER as that they don’t CARE. Sorry!

I’ve heard that goldfish have a short attention span, but that’s different from long-term memory.