We have had a lot of rain recently.
Days and days of it.
So much rain that I have taken to leaving the rain boots on the front porch.
With so many days of rain, I have found it difficult to find much inspiration visually. I am waterlogged.
That is until last night.
As we were leaving the restaurant where we had just celebrated my mother’s 77th birthday, we dodged the last of the rain drops still clinging to the leaves of the live oak trees lining the parking lot. Then I heard it.
The throaty call of the bullfrogs. From under the umbrella I produced my iPhone and recorded the sounds.
Playing it over the speakers of my car, seconds later, we laughed at the symphony I had captured.
http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/amphibians/american-bullfrog/
Arriving home we were greeted by the summer’s night serenade filling the moist air growing louder as I neared their watery home behind our house.
Listen to the sounds of a bullfrog serenade
One brave soul starts the throaty call and is joined quickly by a chorus of his brothers each one competing to out-croak the other. Working themselves into a frenzy, the group suddenly tires. Now just a few. Now two. One. Now silence. The circular whistle-chirp of the crickets together fills in the background.
Froggie went a courtin’ and he did ride…
I am reminded of the folk song. The one my father strummed and my mother sang years ago on a summer night of my childhood.
Froggie went a courtin’ and he did ride…
Sounds bring memories.
Inspiration everywhere.
Often when one of our senses is dulled, another sharpens. Can you describe a time when this has happened to you?
Listen to an original recording of this song by Woody Gutherie.
Frog too close for comfort.
Making Lemonade 