" ... I cannot tell you how thankful I am for our little infinity."
-- John Green, The Fault in Our Stars
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| Seahorse pair, Greater Cleveland Aquarium, 2-10-14 |
"How joyful to be together, alone
as when we first were joined
in our little house by the river
long ago ..."
-- Wendell Berry, Entries
With Valentine's Day just up the road, things are getting a li'l bit romancy here at One Good Thing.
So this is your reminder to get/do something nice for your wife, husband, boyfriend, girlfriend, partner, crush, obsession, lover, dominatrix, dog, cat, fish ... whoever rings your bell.
We braved the snowy roads and drove to the Greater Cleveland Aquarium yesterday. It took us an extra 45 minutes to get there because of the crummy weather. We got stuck in a traffic jam because of an accident. The Cleveland roads were shitty as usual, riddled with giant potholes that wreaked havoc on our suspension, and spines. But it was totally worth the trip.
Leo wanted to see the sharks.
I wanted to see the seahorses.
Of all the underwater life, seahorses captivate me most. And romance was definitely in the air (or in the water of the seahorse tank anyway), because they were wrapped up in couples like teenagers at a high school dance.
Everyone knows that male seahorses birth the babies.
But did you know that seahorses mate in monogamous pairs, for life?
And did you know that once they meet that special someone, they wrap their tails around each other so that the tide doesn't pull them apart? It's the seahorse equivalent of trading wedding rings. And once they're all wrapped up in each other -- literally -- they venture from their meeting spot to float across the ocean bottom with their tails entwined.
Mostly it's romantic and lovely. But it's also a little bit comical. Because linked seahorses don't always travel in beautiful unison, gliding like synchronized ice dancers. Often, the dance is super awkward and clunky.
As I watched this pair, every once in a while the bigger one (I don't know if it was the boy or the girl) decided to move to another piece of sea grass. And when it moved, it sort of dragged the little one behind like a tin can tied to the back bumper of a wedding limo. The little one got flipped around and turned upside down as the big one yanked it wherever it went. There's probably a ball-and-chain joke to be made here, I know.
Anyway, it kind of took the mystique out of things, which, in a way, felt realer.
Lifelong togetherness isn't all romance. It's a tug and a pull. Like a 3-legged race. Sometimes you're in sync, and sometimes you just aren't, and things can get awkward and weird and, yes, ridiculous.
That doesn't mean you shouldn't still get/do something nice for each other on Valentine's Day. It doesn't have to be expensive or extravagant. Just make it one good thing that lets him/her know you remembered, and that you do remember, even if it's been a while since things felt mystical or romantic.
Just don't fucking forget.
This guy fucking forgot.
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| Not seahorses, Greater Cleveland Aquarium 2-10-14 |
