Predator & Prey

It was a warm and sunny Sunday afternoon.  We decided to head out on the buses and see what trouble we could stir up.  Daddy had the idea that we take some dice along with us (perfect for the Lord's Day ;) and roll them once we got on the bus...then get off at the stop whose number corresponded with our roll of the die.  Then get onto the first bus that came to the stop, roll and repeat.

What a creative guy!

We didn't get to bring this to fruition fully yet...but next time, we'll be more serious about the fun of it...we HAD to find a pet store to get some fish food...that sort of dictated the direction we had to end up in, at least.

It was a great day to be pressed on the bus with 500 others.  The sweat started to bead on our brows...promising that the furnace will soon be turned on here in our fair city...and we'll walk around constantly sweating for months on end.

Once we reached the fish food store...we decided to prowl the city streets and look in the shops. ) Everything Here is clustered by the products they sell.  If you want a toilet, you go to "toilet street" where you will find 20 shops that sell toilets.  If you need kitchen appliances, you go to "kitchen appliance street" and decide from which of the nearly identical row of shops you want to buy your products.  It seems that, to my western-free-enterprise-style thinking that this is not the best business model...but hey...it works and it is VERY convenient for the consumer.)

Near the fish food shops were many flower shops and live fish shops...and then we came upon one shop selling lovebirds.  The kids were smitten and we gave into an impulse purchase ($20 for birds, cage, food, and two stones apparently important for their beaks.) Below, our new tenants...the girls named them "Paris" and "Helen" as we this week were just studying Greek history and the story from Greek Mythology about the "cause" of the Battle of Troy.  (The History class I teach has now produced names for the cats "Tigris" and "Euphrates" and now "Paris" and "Helen.")

 So I've already mentioned in the paragraph above our two cats, Tigris and Euphrates, who were keenly interested in Paris and Helen.  We thought we'd put the birds up high, on top of the kong tiao (standing air conditioner)...but within about 5 minutes of cheery lovebird song...Tigris had scaled the curtains and had pounced on the cage...very nearly making Paris and Helen another tragic love story.

So, in our desperation, we moved Paris and Helen outside, literally hanging them on our clothesline.  

Below:  Tigris and Euphrates are spellbound by the laundry.

Tomorrow is Monday and we must decide how to bring these four into some sort of peaceful cohabitation.  For tonight, Paris and Helen are locked in the bathroom.  Tigris and Euphrates are resting, delirious from their blood lust. 

Here's to my hope that the children won't have a life science lesson to add to the History lesson.