My Weekly Blog?

Ugh, yes. Once again, things are just slightly above controlled chaos around here, so I haven't been able to do much on this blog. But tonight, I had the idea to try to photograph a couple of things, so here goes...

Many, many years ago, these little glass Ecospheres were popular. The Nature Company sold them, as did some other high-end specialty catalogs like Wireless. (Is Wireless even around anymore?)

Anyway, eighteen years ago, the first Christmas that Tom and I were dating, t his Ecosphere was a Christmas present to Tom from his parents. Inside was a whole little community of snails and shrimp. The idea was that when you put the sealed glass sphere in indirect sunlight, it would grow algae and thus be a self-containing ecosystem that would support these little life forms indefinitely.

Well, about three weeks in, all of the snails died, and all of the shrimp followed - except for one, tiny, bright red shrimp. Believe it or not, that last little shrimp is still alive.

After eighteen years.

It lives by itself (we can't tell if it's a he or a she), presumably living off the algae that grows on the sides of the glass sphere. Every once in a while, we give the ball a gentle turn to see if the shrimp is moving, and if it's still alive.

That little shrimp has moved with us up from New Jersey to Cadyville; from Cadyville to Lake Placid; from Lake Placid to our first house in Jay; and then, finally, to our current house in Jay, where it's been living either on top of the refrigerator or on one of the shelves near the big kitchen window.

Every once in a while, Tom looks it, gives it a gentle turn, sees the shrimp swimming around, and shakes his head. "What a lonely existence," he says.

It's true. That little shrimp has been by itself for almost two decades. Does it miss the other shrimp? Does it pine for some companionship?

On the surface, it seems like a perfectly happy little shrimp, subsisting on the algae that grows on the glass walls of the Ecosphere...