Snowy Speculations

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If I could paint, I would have tried to replicate the landscape very early this morning. Illuminated by the faintest hints of light and hours before sunrise, the cold, stark landscape lay completely still in its snowy blanket. Naked trees stood proudly and quietly against this backdrop, this palate of pure white an unforgiving place for any creature, big or small, to attempt to cross without drawing attention to its existence at this time. Even our ancient tire swing looked sleepy and droopy, suspended precariously close to the ground, as if the effort of hanging from a tree limb was too much for it. To the east, the only rays of light visible were the ones coming from the across the river, and even those seem hushed and muffled, like a child tired and murmuring not to wake them up just yet.  The young families down the road have gone all out with Christmas lights this year. Bright colours adorn the night skies and my neighbours even have a Christmas Cat and a Christmas Dinosaur that i
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Potted Toads

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 Potted Toads


This time of year brings straw-like grass that crackles and crunches as you walk over it.  The shrill call of the cicadas in the trees, dying vegetation in the gardens and the hot afternoon sun, all indicate that summer is coming to a gradual end. Labour Day weekend is here and school, as strange and unchartered as it will be, is resuming in days.

I had just finished a walk around our property, something that soothes me, as I dead-headed a few plants, picked a few tomatoes that had ripened considerably throughout the day and watered anything that seems to be wilting. As I turned on the hose that extends from the pool area, I noted that there was a row of several flowerpots filled with dirt that I had never gotten around to filling with annuals. Something always seemed to get in the way of completing that simple task. 

So after I watered the garden and my pop-up pumpkin patch, I lugged each pot individually to the edge of the forest and emptied the dirt there so that I could put the unused pots away for the season. On my third trip, I had to carry a fairly heavy pot and as I was walking, I heard a loud thump, as if something heavy had fallen out of it. I looked around and saw a fairly large toad lying on the ground at my feet, staring up at me. I felt terrible and wondered if the toad had somehow been sitting on top of the pot that I had been carrying and how it was that I had not noticed it.

Moments later, I reached the forest's edge and dumped the remaining contents of this pot. Out tumbled another toad! At least it hadn't fallen as far as the first one had! As it scurried away from me, I went to check on the one that I had left on the grass and watched with relief as it hopped away once it saw me. 

These toads are an oddity. I noticed them the first spring that we moved here. They would be sitting in the flowerbeds, blending almost perfectly with the soil. I've watched them burrow themselves into the sandy, dry dirt in seconds, completely disappearing from sight, something I had never witnessed before. They seem almost rounder than the average frog, with a ballon-like, soft, brown body, covered with warts. Often found huddling by our front door, they have scared the life out of me when I've let the dogs out late at night. We've found them in window wells and put out planks so that they can get out on their own, which they do. They make eye-contact with you and there is a sense of intelligence there that just amazes me. 

A few springs ago, I even found one staring at me from the top of the deck stairs looking into the dining room. The question is, how did it hop up six stairs to get there? If there was an IronMan Triathlon for toads, this one would have been a top contender!

Needless to say, I am going to be very careful when prepping my flowerbeds, urns and arrangements this fall. Although I've never had to deal with "potted toads" before, one experience is enough for me. After looking into the eyes of these amphibians, it's no wonder the Brothers Grimm couldn't help but tell some crazy tales about them! 

Lolita Schimann Hale






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