Of fishes and angels

I put a Christmas ornament on my door last week.  It’s in the shape of a fish.

I got it into my head that a fish on the door either warded off bad luck, or meant I was Jewish.  I’m all for warding off bad luck. I’m not Jewish, though.  I put the ornament there mainly due to the fact that I like the little red fish and wanted to liven up the view when I come home, tired and stressed, from yet another long day of holding in my worries.

My son asked me why there was a fish on the door. He cast a puzzled look in my direction after hearing my feeble explanation.  Okay, “jewish”, Mom, really?” the look seemed to say. My son prefers not to mention “race”, religion, or culture. He thinks the mere mention of these things is itself “racist” or biased.  I tend to agree, but my explanation was not meant to be disparaging of Jewish people.

I went in search of  something to back up my thought about the meaning of my fish.  I’m not sure why.   But I found nothing. My closest hit on the old google-tron consisted of list after list of Feng Shui sites. Apparently, a tank of fish by the front door brings wealth or something.  I found some references to carp being a sign of something-or-other for traditional Jews, but the reference did not support my original belief.

So, I abandoned my ostensible reason for displaying the fish and went back to just enjoying it.  Then, sitting on my Health Rider yesterday, I realized that I have a perfectly lovely tin angel ornament which I could hang on the door instead of the fish.  I thought about that as I completed the 50 reps to get me back on track, after two weeks of being sick and not exercising.  Fish or angel? Fish or angel?  Fish…or…angel?

The fish hangs still; quirky, fun, flirty.  Happy-go-lucky.  Red, with purple coloring.  How many people see life from behind a burgundy front door with a red-and-purple smiling fish hanging on it?  Not too dang many, I’ll warrant.  It’s a unique perspective.  You might say…optimistic.  If I can come home every day to this cheery little guy, maybe life isn’t quite as bad as I might otherwise think it is.

And, if it turns out that life is that bad, I’ve still got the angel for fallback.

2 thoughts on “Of fishes and angels

  1. Linda Overton

    I say leave the fish also. I have a friend who loves fish and has collected so many that her husband told her if one more fish came in the house she would have to get rid of some. She decided to quit collecting them for a while so I got one of her stuffed fish. If it had a hanger on it I would hang it on my door in honor of your fish.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *