A New Life! Retirement at its Best 91

A Baby Frog

This morning, before going to breakfast, I noticed a tiny frog in the corner of our bathroom floor behind the toilet. It must have come in through the back patio door, traversed the living room, the bedroom, ending up in the bathroom! Probably looking for a source of water. I got a cognac glass from the top shelf in the kitchen, the first glass I came across, (not that we ever drink cognac – we just have four glasses that can be used for that purpose). It had to be a glass I would catch him with, so I could see what he was doing. The next thing I grabbed en route was a Mother’s Day card from the antique wooden odds-and-ends bowl on the kitchen counter. Mother’s Day was pau (Hawaiian word for over, done), so I tore off the back of the card and had a sturdy bottom to slip underneath the glass. I believe in recycling things :-). When I returned to the bathroom, to my luck, the little frog had jumped out from behind the toilet and sat in front of the shower door. Hey, he got closer to a source of water, smart froggy! (By the way, did you know that feeling froggy means feeling amorous?) It was easier for me to get him. He did not move when I put the glass dome over him and then slipped the card underneath.

I lifted him up, showed him en passant to Mike in his chair in the living room and stepped out onto the patio. I wanted to put him down in the grass on the other side of the fence, but then noticed two robins nearby. Remembering the recent murder I witnessed from the car, I walked around and put him over the fence on the moist wood chips in the border. Oh, no! I thought then. Any birds can still get him here. He will not survive crossing the lawn to get to the little pond we have at the corner of our lot! 

I opened the gate and walked around: he was still sitting in the same spot I had put him in. Carefully I lowered the glass dome over him, moved the card underneath, and lifted him up in the air. I walked down the lawn to the little pond below, which was full after the recent rains. When I approached, two frogs dove into the water from underneath the overhanging branches of a tree. I could not see their size, but heard the sounds of two plunges. I let the baby frog crawl out of the glass and onto a little beach. A few seconds later he jumped into the water with an arch, quickly swam a few strokes with his little frog legs and then hopped onto a dry flat rock, looking at me as if to say, Thank you for taking me home!

When I was not even two years old, in Soerabaja before the war, Pappa put a frog on the tray of my high chair and made me touch him and hold him; feeling the tickling in my little hands, I giggled and let him go. That was my first encounter with frogs. The Chinese believe that carrying a little stone frog in your wallet will bring prosperity. I learned that when I was in college and had a little frog with me in my wallet forever, it seems, until one day I gave it away. And for a long time I have had a little frog sitting on a small rock (he is glued onto it) on display under a palm tree on a shelf in our bedroom. You see: there have been frogs in my life!

I also love turtles. I loved swimming behind gracious, large sea turtles back in Hawai’i. I just had to Google the meaning of frogs and turtles and this is what I learned:

Frogs have been a symbol of prosperity, wealth, friendship and abundance in many cultures and a symbol of fertility in others. For the Romans, the frog was a mascot believed to bring good luck to one’s home. A frog is strongly connected with the element of water, so the frog is also closely associated with cleansing and purifying … Having a frog tells you that you also are inclined to navigate between physical, emotional and spiritual planes, and find joy in life and nature.

Turtles are a symbol of fertility, vitality, and great patience for the Chinese. In Native American symbolism the turtle is a sacred figure as it represents Mother Earth. It signifies good health and long life. Because of their long lifespan, sea turtles often symbolize patience, wisdom, endurance, and good luck.

Wow! There you have it! All they stand for is so me!

It’s a Wonderful Life!

Until next time,

Ronny