My betta fish is happy. It’s a warm day, so he’s jumping and darting about his tank. Full of energy; full of joy; swimming and being a fish.
This is what pets are for — to be small and cared for, concerned with controllable, fixable things — like whether the house is warm today.
It gives me someone in my life whose world I can make perfect and joyous, just by doing something simple like turning up the heat.