Another Funeral Postponed

A few nights ago I was sitting on my bed, studying for the MCAT, when I hear Ashton yell, "Oh no, it went down the drain!" Then she started yelling my name in a very panicky voice, bordering on hysteria. Oh crap, I thought. She dropped her ring down the kitchen sink. I came out into the living room and she explained, "I accidentally dumped Asher down the drain!" I'll admit I was relieved it wasn't her wedding ring. The death of a 15 cent fish just doesn't make me as squeamish as the thought of losing a diamond (albeit a small one). I could see that Ashton was really distressed, however, and I confess that there was a whole lot of sentimental value that went down the drain with Asher.

We've had Asher since November 5, 2007. He's survived 14 siblings. He officially received the title "Love Fish" when we were dating. I remember a particularly frustrating moment in our relationship, before we got engaged, when I declared that if Asher died, then I was done trying. God blessed that fish to live, and it seemed like he was going to live indefinitely, until a careless mishap sent him to "swim with the fishes."

"Oh wait! I can see him!"

Peering through the hole of the black filter in the sink, we could see light reflecting off Asher's scales.

"He's flopping around!"

He'd now been holding his breath for a good 60 seconds. I pulled the filter out, stuck my hand down the drain, and as carefully as possible picked Asher up. I brought him up and dropped him in a vase of water, and he began swimming around again. He's a tenacious little bugger. We still don't know if he sustained any permanent damage, but he seems to be doing fine so far.



This morning we went back to claim Red Slab. We found out the actual route we were climbing is called the "Mantle Route," and we decided in the interest of safety and time to just top rope it today. I got a couple really good climbs in though, and I came off the mountain a lot more energized than last time. And look how small Greg is in this picture.