We went back to the store and bought a 6″er. You could almost hear little fishie voices exclaiming “Nee-san!” in great relief. Now we have five little noses lined up under the pump shelter. But big brother comes out to eat, and the little ones are coming out too. We have a lot of traffic just outside the back yard, and it has to be strange to these fish. They’re getting bolder. Maddy made it clear to the bridge, a whole 5 feet away from the hidey-hole.

We also completed the netting—we had half of it up, on the more vulnerable side. So now the fishes are protected. The pond looks as if it’s the den of Shelob, in certain sun angles, but Mr. Raccoon does not get sushi.

The new guy’s named—we absolutely couldn’t think of an appropriate name for him—Goku. The always-starving monkey-boy whose name means something like Bottomless Pit—who grows up into the Seiten Taisei, the Great Sage Equal of Heaven….This from one of our favorite animes/mangas, Saiyuki. Our Goku is the most unusual color I’ve ever seen in a koi, the color of a new-minted penny. With a bandit mask of black dots. There’s no knowing how he’ll grow up or out, but right now he’s just unusual. A doitsu type, with big heavy scales on either side of the spine. Getting a picture isn’t easy: the water he came in was absolutely clouded with pollen. (It’s that season up here.) But we’ll get a good one sooner or later. Meet Goku.