Frogs, Toads, and Pool Covers

I like frogs and toads. I like the sounds they make. I like the way they look when they "talk". I like to find toads in my garden. They are fun surprises  to suddenly spy when they hop out from under a bushy flower clump or when they think they are hiding away well enough out of sight by a damp shady corner of the foundation after the rain. 

Yes, I have even been known to talk to toads who decide to join me and keep me company for a few minutes in my weed pulling tasks, before they grow quite bored of my philosophical conversation topic and hop away. I haven't seen near as many frogs in the neighborhood as there once were, at least since the creek in the woods was diverted to storm water drainage culverts (I like nature and natural, and drainage tiles installed by humans is not the same as a fun creek winding through the shade of the tree canopies and mossy paths of the shadowy woods!)

I admit I like the way frogs and toads feel when I pick them up and gently hold them for a bit and look at them as they look back at me. I guess I never grew up in a lot of aspects when it comes to nature and its creatures since I still get a little giddy and giggly when I touch and hold some of nature's population. It is a sensory thing to interact with fuzzy brown and black caterpillars, ladybugs, earthworms, fireflies, even daddy long leg spiders. Yep, even those. I was a big hit being with my 6 nephews as an aunt and a mom to 3 since I wasn't/am not squeamish!!

Once, a long time ago, there was a huge bullfrog from the woods creek who stopped by after a thunderstorm for a visit, appearing in the driveway, he just wanted to say "Hello!". He let me pick him up and and then I set him back down to leap away, off to adventures and new places to explore, better places than the driveway. He was so big he looked like a misplaced toy sitting in the driveway.

The frogs still make their harmonious songs at night in the pool covers of the neighborhood in the late springtime each year as they tend to their pool cover nursery of tadpoles. I love that sound! Tadpoles are like magic to watch the way they transform so quickly from wiggly little specks... to swift swimming morphing beings of both tails and legs... to land and water dwellers with little strong arms and legs, in short order nearly in the blink of an eye. Thus a new season's batch of nature friends leaves the pool covers before they are drained of the murky water and leaves and removed for the human swimming season to commence.

Then we hope the toads and frogs don't jump in the pools only to find they cant get back out.

I remember specific little things certain teachers in elementary school taught me that are still retained inside my memory. Things like the difference between desert and dessert. "Dessert has more of the letter 's' than desert because everyone wants more sweet treats than hot sand!" ...and "All toads are frogs but not all frogs are toads." 

I liked learning that and let it absorb into my brain for a few minutes when she said it the day we had the overhead projector shining the images of amphibians against the wall of the darkened classroom. (It was so cool to be chosen by the teacher to be the one to pull the cord to either make the long span of heavy window drapes close or open to darken and brighten the classroom. Simple pleasures! Even more of an honor than to be chosen to flip off or flip back on the ceiling lights with all the light switches located between the wall mounted pencil sharpener and the classroom doorway.) No computers in those days. We had the very high tech forerunner of an educational website --the overhead projector, the one that probably blinds you like looking at an eclipsed sun if you look into the light bulb compartment and burns your hand as fast as Grandma's hot clothes iron if you get too close!

I have been having fun listing interesting things I am decluttering to offer to other owners through the Etsy shop. I sometimes will key in a word to the search box in my shop and see what comes up as a theme since not all items of one theme are always found inside of one specific shop section category shown as a table of contents for my shop. This time, tonight, I typed in "frog" and was amazed I had this much variety in the frog theme spanning different categories. I was spurred on to recall memories and to reminisce. Frogs and toads and pool covers (and school rooms, too!)

Etsy link is in the right margin of my blog page.

(Shown: rubber stamps, quilt pattern/instructions, 3-D stickers, cellphone case/tiny wristlet purse sewing pattern, cut/sew/stuff cloth frog toy)