Serene
Even in early fall, it's fun to walk along the edges of ponds and listen to the plop, plop, plop of frogs diving off the banks to the deep below. As I remember, Leo was always the big frog catcher. He wasn't afraid of getting warts from handling them. Ha! He had a couple already, anyway. He claimed he had the knack, a slow, quiet approach to the water's edge and fast hands. Sometimes, he'd wade in after them in bare feet. When he was on the 'hunt' for a large bull, he could stay knee deep for five, ten minutes at a time without moving it seemed. And every so often, he's purse his lips with his index finger to clue us shore dwellers to be ever so silent for he was very close to a 'catch'. On our many trips to the five ponds at Evergreen, he seldom came away empty-handed.
I was not a big frog guy. The downside was the aroma of swamp water on hands and feet that would accompany you throughout your day. Mom always knew if I had been wading in my sneakers and sent me straight to the bathtub before bed.
No ugly warts for this kid.
I was a true believer.
I never worried about warts; just wanted to catch one to kiss one.
ReplyDeleteI never did much handling either, and kissing one was not even a part of my vocabulary.
ReplyDeleteLovely story, I never met many frogs around our ponds...
ReplyDeleteOccasionally I would catch frogs as a kid, but it was mostly because the frogs were slow. Didn't do it often as I had no reason to catch them except curiosity. Most of our ponds and streams were clear. Fine photo today.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful shot of the pond. Made me think of the one in my childhood - we hunted for crawfish :) Loved the story of this fellow Leo too!
ReplyDeleteWe used to have a place in the country that my parents called "the camp" and it was a pretty rustic like a camp. The property had a small pond on it and at night we could hear the bull frogs echoing over the hillside. Boy were they loud!
ReplyDeletetoo cute. my dogs bring the swamp inside to me quite often, here.
ReplyDeleteMy only question is WHY? was it just the challenge?
ReplyDeleteThe comment you left on my blog made me think if I ever remember seeing frogs at the C&O Canal. Maybe I have and just don't recall, but, in any case, I think they're more scarce than you would think.
ReplyDeleteHaven't thought about getting down and dirty in a long, long time. I used to try some of the things my brother did without thinking, but I often was a scaredy cat.
ReplyDeleteYep, those Ducks are something else to lots of folks up here, as long as they're not already Beavers.
My dogs will bring me a frog from time to time. Hadn't really thought about kissing one until I read Kate's comment....
ReplyDelete"I was not a big frog guy." Great! That could be the opening line for a story or memoir.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful spot and reflection.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't a frog catching kid, either. In fact, the appeal escaped me.
ReplyDelete