In memory of Jumping Jack

Jumping Jack went to fish heaven or whatever they have in the afterlife, and I still can’t understand why such a weird creature ended up in my pond. Yes, I have a pond. Somehow, when we bought the house, I had a temporary bout of insanity and asked Mark to dig a massive hole in the ground and fill it with water.

We planted a willow, filled the pond with plants and finally, we placed a few koi and outdoor goldfish there. It functioned well. Our aquatic life was happy, but every now and again, especially in the heat of the summer, I refiled the pond flooding the garden when I forgot to turn off the water. All was good except this one, crazy fish.

We called him Jumping Jack because for no apparent reason; he loved to jump out of the pond. Just because. Each time I heard the sound of flapping on the lawn, I knew Jack had decided speeding up evolution was his responsibility and was attempting to walk on land. Last time, it cost him half of the rear fin when he kept thrashing on the rocks.

I don’t know what caused it, the water quality is good, there is plenty of space and plants in the pond, and the other fish are as happy as Larry and growing fat and healthy, but not Jack. This bugger was clearly suicidal. So many times, I found him barely breathing, covered in dirt and grass, but I put him back in the pond and he recovered and maybe for a month or two, he didn’t try to jump.

Well, yesterday it was his last attempt. He jumped out overnight, and in the morning when I found him, he was truly dead.

So farewell, my crazy fish. Hopefully, in your next life, you will have the lungs and legs you so desperately craved.