I long for the countryside. That’s where I get my calm and tranquility- from being able to come and find a spot of green. Emilia Clarke- British Actress-Game of Thrones

Truthfully, the kittens are actually cats as they are looking forward to their sixth birthday. But to me when they curl up in my lap, look lovingly into my eyes, and suck on my hand like it’s a bottle, I find them totally calming. A couple of articles state cats have been known to reduce their owners’ blood pressure thus producing some manner of calm.

Helen, the Peking duck, glides back and forth across the lake and around the platform float where she spends the night with her sister Hilda. I posted a short video of Helen as she looked so effortless and knowing full well, she was paddling those webbed feet as fast as she could beneath the surface. Sometimes calm is just barely above the surface.

The bunny rabbits are quiet and calm as well. Every now and then I hear them kicking their feet around making a bit of a noise. The noise is usually a sign they want food, water, or attention. Otherwise, they calmly receive their rations of clover, dandelion flowers, and dandelion stems. The bunnies suck in the stems like a long slurpy spaghetti noodle. I pet them and comb their hair. Then we’re all calm.

The last of my critter calm would be the goldfish. Often in the morning or maybe the late afternoon I go out to the garden while the sun is mild, the foliage is thick, and the flowers are blooming or just about to bloom. While I sit there planning the garden arrangement, or meditating, or just staring I enjoy watching the goldfish with barely any movement cruise the pond. The goldfish have been in the pond for about maybe eight years, maybe more. The biggest is a bright gold, about the size of my hand, and has the most beautiful angel like tail that slowly swishes back and forth. The three others are quite similar except for Goldie who is more of a pale gold but no less beautiful.

And then last week something went terribly wrong. I went to the garden to enjoy the calm only to find all four goldfish floating atop the water. I sobbed like a four-year-old. They were perfectly beautiful but lifeless. Pulling myself together I netted them then buried them in the flowerbed. It seemed appropriate. Later I told Sam and we ran through possibilities that could cause healthy fish to die-not one but all.

A few days later at the bottom of the pond were several large spiders. A quick Google search revealed “Arachnids used powerful poisons to kill fish that were much bigger than them,” also “Fish eating spiders have been reported on all continents with the exception of Antarctica.” There were photographs of golden fish paralyzed by aquatic spiders.        

Shannon Rule Bardwell is a writer, who lives in the Prairie. Her e-mail is [email protected].