What next?

photo006.jpg, originally uploaded by kaiwa_4.

Why not? We dress ourselves. Some of us dress our dogs and cats. If we could, we'd probably dress our fish.

In that spirit, a store in New Mexico offered this: Tree crabs with shells that come in funky colors and designs. Crawling along the mesh cages were crabs with Batman-logo shells, crabs with a peace sign emblazoned on their backs, crabs in pink, purple, blue and yellow. Your crab, after all, needn't wear the same shell twice. You can design your own shell if you like.

Chris and I stood mesmerized at the cage. I thought we were both aghast at the sheer gaudiness. Then Chris said he wouldn't mind buying one of the crabs as a low-maintenance pet. (In his defense, I think he meant sans-flourescent shell).

That's around when the middle-aged mother approached us with this warning, "God those things never die."

She'd bought one a couple years ago for her daughter and it's STILL there. One evening, she heard its claws clacking down the hallway only to discover it'd climbed out of its cage to eat the dog's food.