It Rained!

Yeah, I get that for so many of you that's a hum-drum, perhaps even undesirable thing. But hey, we live in the desert, and rain is nectar from the Otherworld. Just ask these little green guys...



The toads we've had in our yard were Woodhouse's Toads but these are different critters. They are Spadefoot Toads, and even the kids can see the difference. They're a much brighter green, less "warty" looking and have distinctive toes (for digging).



It's been storming for a couple of days now but this morning, it had finally settled into a slow, steady and soaking rain. The kids and I were of like mind -- why stay in the house when we could be in the rain? So, we got dressed and set out. Not far into our walk, a little toad passed us on the road, hopping in the other direction. Again, I think we all were struck by the same idea at about the same time. We had to take him home with us. :) So I scooped him up and with toad cupped in one hand and Ainslie on my hip, we hurried back home. Sadly, on the way back, we saw things we hadn't noticed at the onset, poor smashed toad bodies in the street. The kids quickly decided that our walk in the rain was after all, a toad rescue mission. At home, we deposited the little guy in the backyard, dubbing him Spadey, and set back out, this time with a small bucket and piece of cardboard as a lid - we were on a toad hunt. We knew they were all around us. The raucous sound of toad love rang out, echoing between the houses in our neighborhood. But for awhile, all we saw were road-kill toads. When next we spotted one, his body hung immobile in a deep puddle, only his eyes above the water. The kids waded in gleefully but he eluded them. We'd spot him then he'd disappear. Eventually the muddy water clouded up too much, and even my die-hard toad-hunting kids decided to look for another. Ultimately, we caught three, of varying size, but all Spadefoots. By this time, we'd walked almost all the way to Daddy's new work, conveniently close to our house. We trooped into his office, dripping mightily after almost an hour in the rain, our bucket o'toads periodically leaping and the kids all talking at once, clamoring to tell their tale. Lenny helped us devise a sturdier bucket lid (our cardboard was very soggy by this point) and gave us a quick ride home. We were drenched through.

We released our toads in the backyard. They were calm and just sat, throats swelling rhythmically when we dumped them out. Furthermore, two of them were in a pretty provocative pose (I'm thinking polliwogs and maybe toad babies is in the future). It was a very fun morning. :)

"Creature" Encounters

Bats in my living room -- if I'd titled my blog with that statement, I'm sure you'd be expecting more drama. But, as it happens, these bats were fairly placid (except when consuming too much sugary treats). They descended upon my house after watching an episode of "The Magic School Bus" that prompted them to emit long, ear-splitting screeches and try to hang upside down everywhere and anywhere. Who knew multiple Batman costumes would be so invaluable, other than for the nightly crimefighting?


Fionna Bat


Grady Bat (If you're looking for Ainslie Bat, she was more than happy to confine herself to the shrieking portion of the act.)




On the topic of strange flying creatures, this was another encounter we count ourselves fortunate to have had. One evening at Community Dinner, we found ourselves picnicking next to this unlikely couple. They hung out in the park for at least a couple of days (we saw them there the next evening as well). Someone said they looked like Green Herons, perhaps. Either way, it was a special treat to be so near them. The same night we saw them, I also had the amazing pleasure of having a small owl first land on a tree branch right over me and then, shortly thereafter, flutter to the ground just 10 or 15 feet from me. I felt really lucky that night. :)


I'm sure it's by now evident, we're an animal loving family, and it's been a distinct pleasure of this summer to have so many creature encounters. Something we're loving is that our yard is once again inhabited by frogs (Woodhouse's Toads, to be specific). A few years ago, we seemed to have dozens of them but we hadn't seen any for the past couple of summers. Happily, they are back. Whether we have many or one, we're not precisely certain. To the kids, they are all "Mr. Toad." Mr. Toad likes to hang out under our house and emerge in the evening and early morn. The dogs' water bowl makes a fine swimmin' hole and he (she/they?) is/are definitely finding enough to eat.

Can't seem to get bloggy with it.

Alas, this looks like it will be another photo entry. My children don't seem crazy about the idea of letting me write today...


Family bed, a la Casa de Renee. (If you're wondering, Lenny didn't even try to fit into this, he slept in the kids' bunkbed that's in our room.)



Fionna and Ainslie as "pretty, pretty princesses." The dress that Ainslie is wearing was mine as a kid, except that we're missing the underdress. Fionna added panties to the outfit since "the dress was see-through."





Grady, with his latest love, firecrackers (these are the little poppers that you throw on ground). The ferocious experession is because I told him to smile more than once, and he wanted me to know he WAS smiling (until he got ferocious).



The kids made a Father's Day "statue" for Lenny. It was often higher but this is the best shot we got. (I say "often" because Ainslie was certain it was built specifically to be demolished, and Fionna rebuilt, a lot...)