Thanksgiving Around the Corner

As I think about Thanksgiving in two weeks, I wanted to take the time to stop and remind myself of all the reasons I have to be thankful.  Reason number 1.

This year brought me a new job.  I love my new school.  Having to be responsible for fish instead of test scores is so much less stressful.  I love taking care of the fish.  Who knew I would like being around fish?  I never considered myself a fish person, but I enjoy walking into my classroom everyday and hearing the sound of the water as it circulates through the tanks.  The bluegill bream have gotten quite used to me.  When I walk up to their tank, they come to the top.  I know they're looking for food, but I like to think that they're there to see me.  The catfish are not quite there but at least they're healthy now.  A few weeks ago I was concerned that I would lose them all.  There's a lot of satisfaction in knowing that the odds were against them surviving for a number of reasons.  First of all, they came from a pond.  Catfish don't respond well coming from a pond and going into a tank.  Secondly, they traveled a long way to get here.  The guy who donated them was from drove over 6 hours to deliver them.  I'm sure that was stressful for them.  And finally, they developed a Columnaris bacterial infection.  I lost quite a few and had to treat the tanks with potassium permanganate twice but the 20 or 30 fish that are left seem very healthy.  Hopefully this week, we'll count them and weigh them.