10:14:36 PM

The Online Magazine FOR and ABOUT Southside Virginia

3/27/2023

South Winds

(Random thoughts)

Big Pleco

   In my living room, I have a rather large aquarium furnished with rocks, plants and driftwood. In that aquarium there lives a rather large Plecostomus; one of those ugly prehistoric-looking, sucker-fish you always see stuck to the glass on the side of the tank. Some people call these fish an algae eater, while most aquarium hobbyists simply call them a Pleco.

   This Pleco is big. My best research tells me in captivity this species rarely gets larger than 11 or 12 inches in length. This one is between 14 to 16 inches long. Long enough to hang from the top of the tank and have its tail touch the bottom. My Pleco is my oldest and most prized fish.

   He, she, or it, is also very slow moving unless startled, and prefers to spend the bulk of its time attached to one of the bigger rocks or pieces of driftwood. Being dark in color, it blends in rather well, and being so large and dormant most of the time, it can often be mistaken for a piece of tank furniture. Often I will look in the tank and completely miss the Pleco. I actually have to LOOK for it. A number of people have looked at that tank for a long time, seeing all the small fish zipping around, demanding and getting, all the attention. Then suddenly they will exclaim, "HOLY {expletive}, I didn't see that fish. Would you look at the SIZE of him."

    And that is the point of this random thought -

    Life can be like that. Sometimes the big important things in life are often dormant a good part of the time. They blend in, with the scenery of our everyday lives, and we take them for granted. Just part of the furniture in our lives. While we spend much of our time and energy paying attention to the little things. The things which zip around in front of us demanding and getting most of our attention.

    Today, I resolve to give more of my time, energy, and attention to the big things, the important things in my life. I don't mean to ignore the little things. Life is made up of many smaller details, and some of them are important, or at least deserve my attention. But for today, I will try not to get so absorbed with trivial things, and give the big things the portion they deserve.

-= FCOIT =-   

If you have questions or comments about the Southwinds page
E-mail:  fcoit@discoversouthside.com