Thursday, July 23, 2009

Ribbit

I'm frog sitting again this week.


He's a brown frog named Captain Kermit.


In the morning I go over and clean Captain's water bowl, all the time wondering what he does during the night to get it so dirty with moss and sticks. Then I spray his terrarium with water, turn on his light, and leave for the day.


In the evening, I return, turn off his light, spray the terrarium again, and unload a couple of crickets for him. He loves those crickets! He's also teaching me to do great frog imitations, especially at feeding time. It always guarantees a laugh at get-togethers.

Captain is pretty docile around me, but that is not the case for my 21 year old daughter, who sometimes has to do backup. She 'claims' that Captain always leaps at her when she approaches the terrarium, so she is somewhat timid about opening the top. While I can't say I've witnessed this event, I do know that reptiles and amphibians seem to enjoy tormenting her -- leaping lizards is an appropriate concept where she is concerned. Apparently, we can add flying frogs to that.



My dear neighbor and her family are on their annual trip to the Chicago area, so I help them out by feeding the frog and some strange tadpole-like creature. I also water the garden, and get to reap the rewards.



The other evening I harvested a cucumber and some ears of corn for a light, summery dinner. I cut up some chicken breasts and sauteed them until browned, then added them to a salad containing the cucumber and some fresh tomatoes. The yellow tomatoes came from a co-worker at the library, and they were fabulous, while the red tomatoes came from another friend's garden. Tossed with a balsamic dressing and served with the fresh corn, it was a satisfying light dinner on a hot summer day.


Now I'd best be off to check on the critters.


3 comments:

NKP said...

A good wage for frog sitting, I'd say!
We have had a frog move into our pond. We don't know where he came from, we are used to toads coming for a swim but this is our first frog. (Lucky for me they find their own food...)

MyKitchenInHalfCups said...

Those are delightful neighbors! We have a backyard full of frogs but they don't seem to need feeding. I love their calls which we've come to associate with the onset of the warm weather.

Megan said...

Captain Ribit - I love it.

And bonus for scoring produce! I wish I had neighbors like that.