Additions to Our Family

For those of you excited by the title of this post thinking that we're going to have an addition within the next nine months, I'm sorry to report no such tidings. I do however, want to introduce you to the new members of our little household. There are six of them. They've been with us for several months, and I thought it only fitting that we introduce them to our friends and family, even though only through cyber space.

For starters, this is home to five of them:

I acquired this tank while in high school, and it has faithfully housed many fish (and even a frog at one point!). It sits atop a table in our kitchen and many a night I frustrate Kevin as I am unable to pay attention to what he's saying because of the motion of the fish swimming. Shortly after getting them, Kevin remarked, "I can see why you like fish." What can I say? I'm easily amused!


Now, let's meet the fish themselves...

This is Abraham the Albino Catfish.

Abraham feeds off of the bottom, and spends most of his time scouring the rocks for left-overs. While most of the time he's sitting quite contentedly in one spot for extended amounts of time, he's not slow. He zips around the tank at lightning speed the instant he spots a net coming to scoop him up. Abraham vacations inside the colorful "coral" castle you see behind him. It's a great place to get out of the glare of the overhead light and just relax. Though I love all our fish dearly, Abraham is my secret favorite.

Now, let's meet the others...

This is Gabriel the Guppy. "Where?" you may be saying and understandibly so. He's the shy one of the bunch. Gabriel first came to us with two other guppies; however, all was not well in Tankland amongst the guppies. In the end, one died and the other went back to the pet store, whilst only Gabriel remained. It took much patience and cajoling to get Gabriel to pose even this much. He's much more photogenic when he's with his friends. He is, however, going through a slight identity crisis--he thinks he's a blue neon.

Which brings us to the most recently acquired members of the group.

These are our four blue neons, who sadly exist nameless. We've considered such variations as John, Paul, George, and Ringo; or Larry, Curly, Mo, and Shemp; or we considered keeping it in the family and going with Ashlynne, Rachel, Lauren, and Kate. We have, however, come up with nothing that seems to quite fit. Still pondering on that one....

I can see why Gabriel wants to be one: they're bright, they're colorful, they're never alone, and, well, they know how to pose for the camera. We're just hoping one day, Gabriel learns he has something to offer the Tank too.

Last, but not least (only separate) is Barnabas our Betta.


Barnabas lives in the fishbowl on the pantry shelf (it's a shelf that holds our items normally stored in the pantry--don't worry, he's not living in a closet). As Bettas cannot live in peace with others, he's forced to live a life of solitary confinement. He has magnificent hues in his coloring, some of which are visible in the picture. He keeps busy by lazily drifting among the one piece of glass within his bowl. His is truly a life lived within a fishbowl.

And there you are: Abraham, Gabriel, Fish, Fish, Fish, Fish, and Barnabas. They're a joy to have in our family, and they sure keep us (well, me) entertained. Here's to many more hours of watching the fish swim by.