Creating the tropics inside to give the finger to the outside

It's March in Vermont, which automatically means it's a combination of muddy, snowy, rainy, icy and a few other dwarves. Doesn't that sound delicious? For those of us that were raised in Massachusetts, we expect the crocus and daffodils to be emerging right now. But in Vermont, we have mud season. And what a mud season we are having! I wear galoshes to work every day and slip on the ice on the way to and from. But inside my apartment, I'm doing my damnedest to counteract the crappy, crappy weather. I give you... THE VIVARIUM:

I have a 40 gallon tank I bought in my junior year of college (ahem, we won't mention what year that was...) that I tried to sell three times on craigslist. All 10 buyers fell through, which made me think that somehow I was made to keep this tank. In an act of self-fulfilling prophecy, I turned it into a vivarium.



My first official act as creator was to add plant friendly gravel and a big ol' log that had been living in my turtle tank:



It looked a bit dull, so I decided it needed a few artificial rock formations. At midnight on a Friday, with a can of "Great Stuff" expanding foam and a few transparent plant holders, I had the beginnings of rocky crags:



At 6am after they'd cured overnight, I painted them grey:



At 10am, I realized everything else in the tank was brown and repainted:




Then I added water, a spike leafed Ivy, a pitcher plant, two African violets, a few pothos cuttings, and a peacock fern, and we had a vivarium!



Not pictured are Fred and Ginger, my two fancy guppies. Originally I had three neons as well, but they succumbed to the cold. Let us remember and mourn their little fishy souls.

For those of you who are desperate for tropical plants, I highly recommend sticking a whole bunch of plants in a big tank with a bit of water. Nothing makes you feel more tropical than a vivarium, unless you're willing to fork over the dough for a tropical vacation. Which I'm not. Unless you'd like to contribute to the l.e.h.a.l.e. commemorative vacation fund. In which case feel free to make all checks out to "cash".