SPRING BREAK March 17-25: Avada's Interlude

Because our assignment was to find something natural on campus to write about twice a week, I decided that for Spring Break I would write about my betta fish, Avada.

Before Spring Break, I was afraid for a while that I was going to lose him. Avada was acting very depressed. For a few days he wouldn't even eat! From my research on Betta fish, I have learned that they eat like pigs! In the wild, they could go days without food, so when they do have food in front of them they eat all that they can. This makes the feeding instructions on my Betta fish food bad advice- it says "feed once or twice daily as much as your fish can consume within several minutes." If I followed these rules, I could easily overfeed Avada and he could die.

Anyway, in order to transport Avada from BSC to Huntsville, I put him in his lovely IKEA Tupperware.

Generally, when I put him in this container he is less active but, strangely, he became more active as the week went on. At one point, I took him to my brother's apartment on (what was SUPPOSED to be except my car decided to be dumb) my way back to Birmingham. My brother also has a Betta fish. When I put Avada's container next to Phillip's fish's bowl, Phillip's fish instantly began to puff out his gills and try to fight Avada. Betta fish are Japanese FIGHTING fish, after all. Avada did seem interested in Phillip's fish, but he never puffed up his gills (which he has often done to me if I got too close to his bowl) and actually began to back away after a while. I thought this was strange, especially considering that Phillip's fish was a little bit smaller than Avada. However, Phillip's fish was a different species of Betta, so that may have something to do with it?

My curiosity about Avada's reaction to Phillip's fish led me to put a mirror next to Avada's container that night. He instantly began to puff his gills and want to fight with himself, even when I used the size of the mirror that magnified!

 Avada continued to be very active the next day, even when I put him back into his bowl that evening. He has been perky and playful since then, even on his return to school this afternoon!

When he was acting so strange last week, I did some research. According to many sites, fish can get depressed. I was skeptical when I read this, but after he had a change of view for a few days, he seems much happier. Maybe he was depressed?

Saturday, March 17

St. Patty's day had some beautiful weather, but unfortunately it began VERY warmly. How convenient was it that the day everyone (including myself) has to move out of the dorm was also so warm--warm enough to make me start sweating on the short walk between Maggie and where my car was parked right by the curb?
But, I digress, the weather this evening was PERFECT! This was very convenient (seriously this time, not sarcastic like before) because my friend Anna and I spent quite a lot of time standing outside downtown in line to get into the Avett Brothers concert.

 I didn't have a chance to check the radar and weather app until after the concert tonight, but if it was still 70 outside at 11:30, you can imagine how it felt that evening when it just started getting dark. The only problem was just a few drops of rain that fell.

Thursday, March 15

I cannot believe that the weather has gone up to the high seventies this week! I just hope this change doesn't bring any tornadoes our way!

Friday, March 9

 I did collect the data to look at the temperature change after rain, but I forgot to post it the next day! However, I still found it important to share this information, so here it is:

It changed from 70s and comfortable outside to 57 (felt colder) all in one night!

The radar doesn't tell us much about the temperature change, but for the sake of continuity (and to double check the temperature) I included it.

Thursday, March 8

One thing that fascinates me about weather is how fast it can change. This morning and afternoon the weather was beautiful! With the exception of a few clouds, you wouldn't think there could be any bad weather coming.

The weather was so nice today that I had a lovely picnic by the lake with a friend during lunch time!

The radar doesn't seem to say much different, though this app only shows a 30 minute period.

However, you look at the weather forecast and it tells a different story.

Thunderstorms predicted? It was warm today, 70 and comfortable outside, I want to trace the change in the weather tomorrow, particularly temperature, and see how the rain affects it.

Friday, March 2

One thing that I don't like about Alabama is our crazy weather. One day it's hot, the next freezing. One day is sunny, the next raining. And all of these crazy temperature changes bring one of my least favorite things, tornadoes.

Thursday, people had posted on Facebook about the bad weather that was expected for today. After what happened in April of last year, I decided I would pay attention to the warnings this time. Pretty soon after I woke up, I heard that a tornado was heading straight for my hometown and my high school in particular (someone there apparently wasn't watching the weather, the students and teachers were all in the school!). To read more about the storms in Huntsville and read more about the damage to my high school, click here.

I spent most of my time Friday stressing about the weather and reading updates from home, but around 9:00 in the evening, I realized that I should write about it for this journal. Here is the radar and weather update from that time.

It's bizarre for it to be raining so hard and still feel hot outside. That's how it felt all day Friday: hot, humid, and sticky. I hated it. Thankfully, no major storms hit in this area. So, around midnight, some friends and I decided it would be a fun idea to go play in the rain.

UPDATE SATURDAY: Now, it's cold outside! It's so strange that yesterday I was wearing shorts outside and playing in the rain in the dark and today I can't go outside without a sweatshirt. I suppose this is a result of the rain? Or was the cause of the storm a cold front coming here? I really need to research how cold/warm fronts work.