Friday, October 17, 2008

Sleepy Dancing Frog And How I Pray

Last night I went to turn out the light on the porch before I went to bed and there, on my lovely Rooster lamp, was a small green frog. He was blinky and sleepy-looking, his little red eyes slitted shut. I think he was perched up there to grab bugs attracted to the light but it seemed to me that he'd fallen asleep before the main course was served. Or perhaps he'd already eaten and had fallen asleep at the table, the way a child or a drunk might do.

Either way, I had to grab the camera and take his picture. The fact that Hula Girl was right there playing the ukulele was an added bonus.

I feel a great affection for the small creatures I share my home with, the frogs and the lizards. I don't especially want to touch a frog or lizard but I like to watch them. I have become aware of the fact that these animals are extremely territorial. This guy lives on the back porch near where I sit and of course I've mentioned the green lizard who lives on my screen door in the kitchen.

The other night I got home from play practice and Mr. Moon held the door open for me when I got in and let it slam behind me. I saw Mr. Lizard go flying through the air and I moaned, "Oh God. We've killed him."

I didn't see him for a day or two and in fact, another small lizard had taken his place but then yesterday, I saw him there again and I can't tell you how vast my relief was.

Strange.

Such a small world I inhabit and yet, for now anyway, it suits me perfectly and makes me happy.

I just got back from my walk and I was actually gone for more like an hour and a half than for the hour and fifteen minutes the therapist prescribed but I must admit I cheated. I stopped to pee by a little pond in the woods and I also stopped to pick flowers and ferns and wild elephant ear and once to look at the creek. Because of the increase in the time of my walk, I chose to take a road down into the woods where I usually don't go. It dead ends at the banks of Lloyd Creek or at least an arm of it and today it was just a clear, tannin-stained trickle of water, flowing over white sand, the banks rising above it, ghostly and set with the old trunks of dead trees. All around me though, was the evidence of the recent flood we had. Bushes and trees twenty feet or more from the banks were brown, four feet off the ground and how I wish I had made the trek to see it, when it was swollen from the rain and had burst forth from its banks. But you know, I never did and it's not such a huge regret.

Yesterday, walking the extra miles, I felt a bit resentful, as if this therapist was forcing me to take something I love, my walk, and turn it into a chore, something I dread.

But today I felt better about it, more grateful for the push I needed to make me walk that path through the woods to see the creek. How can that be a bad thing, to go further, to go far enough to see the creek? To stand silently beside it for a few seconds, to feel blessed to be there, alone, and witnessing the slow-moving water? To know that I am strong enough to easily walk those extra miles? To think that perhaps I will become stronger, even as I grow older.

I am always amazed at this time of year to see all the blooming flowers. Our spring here is amazing with the dogwoods and azaleas and I love the winter bloom of camellias but it's in the fall that plants which appear to be nothing but weeds all through the dry, hot summer months, suddenly burst into flower. We may not have the gorgeous turning of the leaves here, but we have the purples and yellows of blossoms and we have the oranges and yellows and blacks of the butterflies which float about the flowers, taking what they need and what they want.

It is something to see and appreciate- this late-year unexpected burst of glory, this unearned (by me, at least) flash of beauty.

And I remember once again why I walk where I walk, why I take my exercise out of doors instead of in a gym in front of a televison flashing nothing but the same old bad news, over and over again.

I would rather watch the water flowing, the flowers blooming, the sudden, always surprising show of life, whether animal or plant, so different from my own, but somehow tied to me, somehow part of who I am and what I think and how I feel as I go about my day or even when I sleep at night, the world dancing and drowsing around me as I walk through my dreams.

8 comments:

  1. Your walk sounds so peaceful and mind clearing....I could use one right now!
    And I love the frog. There's a bunny that stands on his hind legs on my patio staring at me when I'm at the sink doing dishes. He is the cutest thing, and acts like he owns the place. I worry when I don't see him.

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  2. I brought a gekko home with me from El Salvador. He hung out in my garage for most of the summer. We never saw him again once it got cold.
    I always thought he'd be a good subject for a kids book.
    Nice post Sister Moon.

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  3. I loved your description of the frog, seeming to fall asleep before he'd eaten. And, I am glad the lizard is OK. :)

    There's a squirrel that's in the process of eating an entire pumpkin on the back deck. And, it's messy, with pumpkin insides everywhere, but he's so funny and brave. I will have to catch him in the act and take a picture, like you have done with the frog.

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  4. Beautiful post...and I think we all tend to neglect the beauty of the world in this fast paced day and age. It's nice to be reminded of the simple things.

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  5. I guess I will chime in and mention my friend Sam. He is a squirrel who lives in the oak tree outside my office...or maybe I work in the building outside of His office... :)
    Be thankful you can walk most of the year. It will be in the 30's here in Ohio soon enough. ouch.

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  6. Isn't it funny how we humans can develop such affection for the wild creatures we see?
    I loved hearing about all of yours. I think of my lizards and frogs and squirrels and birds and even spiders as pets I am not required to care for. Although we do feed the birds. But that's easy.
    It's nice to be reminded we share the planet.

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  7. I love the pics of your home...it looks wonderful...and your walks sound amazing too

    peace to you

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  8. We get those tree frogs and lizards in the house too. I had to stop the ex-to-be from killing them! He killed a lizard about 2 days after we moved out of the burbs, and I almost beat him to death! We treat them like pets!

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