Can you think ahead to spring? I remember those days around Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. I was an elementary school student. Looking out over the prairies, I would ride with friends down the back trails. The iron bridge was there to traverse – hoping no train was on the way. Of course, I never ventured across!!
Just a short ways out of town was a small pond. Nothing unusual. Nothing out of the ordinary. Just a skim of water over the newly unfrozen soil.
But what I really enjoyed was the music. The frogs were loudly voicing their presence. The harmonies were a precursor to opportunities in the future of singing and harmonizing.
And then you would spy a tadpole swimming towards a metamorphosis.
That’s the life of spring! Soon to appear!
Which has made me ask the question. Where lives the frog in the middle of January??
From the Royal Saksathcewan Museum teacher’s guide “Winter Whys”:
Frogs hibernate. Species such as Leopard Frogs will hibernate at the bottom of streams and ponds where the water does not freeze. Species of frog like the Wood Frog and Boreal Chorus Frog find shelter under leaf clutter and dirt and they freeze solid. In spring, they thaw and wake up. Scientists do not yet know how they can survive this annual freeze, but know that they produce anti-freeze-like chemicals
Soon ???
According to what we teach our kids in the primary grades- at the bottom of the ponds and lakes ,under the mud.
Seems like a cold and dark place to be.No wonder they jump around so much and sing their hearts out in the spring!!!! Come to think of it- that could be a word picture for a sermon!
Have a warm day!
Your Ontarian sister-in-law