Gone Fishing
You may remember that we built a goldfish pond/water garden 3 years ago in our back garden area with gifts from Sr. Maria Teresa's Solemn Profession.
The handful of goldfish have turned into dozens and it was time to reduce the fish load a little bit. It is harder than you'd think to catch fish (minus fishing pole!) and sisters would take a turn with the net whenever they were out there.
We had an aspirant recently who was adept at the skill of fish catching and caught one on her first try! This lucky fish went home with her as a gift for one of her siblings. But while the fish temporarily resided in the novitiate, the novices got attached to the little fellow and were sad to see him go. Luckily for them they have an understanding novice mistress who said they could keep another one as a novitiate pet if they could catch it.
Try as they might no fish ended up in that net! The fish were getting smart and staying towards the bottom. Even the professed were taking a turn and trying to catch them a fish. Finally Sr. Mary Magdalene succeeded! They've named their new friend Carmel since it was the feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel (or would have been if it wasn't a Sunday). Absent a proper fish tank, the sisters found the largest clear flower vase...which makes a decent fish bowl! (The fish is about 2.5 to 3 inches long, to give you an idea of how big this vase is.)
Carmel's new home is just a little bit smaller than her old home but she has a new lease on life since her fate, if the novitiate hadn't taken her in, would have been to return to the potency of matter.
