Mr. and Mrs. Perry’s 40 Swimmers Reside In Garden Pool and ‘Tub’
A group of forty-odd goldfish on Walpole Street have the honor of spending their winters in a porcelain bathtub once owned by Mrs. Charles Sumner Bird.
The red white and snorkled fish are the property of Mr. and Mrs. Marlon Perry and the secondhand bathtub converted to a goldfish bowl is mounted in the Perry’s cellar where it remains unoccupied until fall When the cold weather leaches Norwood the Perrys take out their nets and transplant the tish from their garden pool to the cellar “They enjoy living in the bathtub very much.” says Mr. Perry, whose Walpole street garden is one of the showplaces of Norwood. The outdoor fishpond was built almost twenty years ago and if goldfish longevity allows the fish swimming among the tropical water, they may be some of the original inhabitants.
Mr. and Mrs. Perry are well known residents of Norwood where both were born and have always made their home, except for five years when Mr. Perry worked with the Anaconda Copper mine in Montana. For twenty years he was credit manager at the Holliston Mills and retired seven years ago. Mrs. Perry is the former Eunice Grant and her mother was a Winslow one of the oldest and most promient families in Norwood. The couple have almost reached the golden wedding mark, for they have been married for 48 years.
The Perry garden contains a vegetable bed fruit trees, phlox, and wide variety of other colorful flowers. Mr. Perry’s chief pride, however, is in his gladioli, of which he has 250 varieties. Some of the cut bouquets are kept in a small room in his cellar, half of which is underground, where double stone walls ensure refrigeration. In addition to his flowers, Mr. Perry has a small workshop and devotes some time to woodworking.
“It’s too bad.’ said Mr. Perry, “that pictures can’t catch the odor of flowers as they can the color” If the Messenger picture could catch the colors of the Perry garden, the predominating hue would be the deep, periwinkle blue ot_ the tropical water lilies that grow out of the fish pond Unlike most lilies, which rest on the water these stand more than a foot above the water level and have a heavy, exotic fragrance. The first of these star lilies was purchased in California, and every year the supply in the Perry pool multiplies itself.
Despite the fact that the fish live in a bathtub tho-e is nothing extraordinary about them save perhaps their age They are “garden variety’ goldish. Even their diet is commonplace They eat good old-fashioned rolled oats.
(All articles originally appeared in the Norwood Messenger unless otherwise noted)