Frogs and Toads

https://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/naamp/index.cfm?fuseaction=app.routeSpeciesDetectionMap

If you go to the website above you can select a map of Minnesota and select a frog you are interested in and see where they have been detected.  Our route is the Kroschel route if you want to look at that data.  It's interesting to see where the Green frogs are in Minnesota.  I see more in the east and less in the west.  I guess there are more green frogs in the big woods, big rivers biome and the north woods biome and hardly any in the prairie biome.  This year we heard pickerel frogs. They've never been heard before on the Kroschel route but they have been heard in Princeton and in the Crow Hassan Park in Hennepin County.  And the call of the spring peepers?  Not all Minnesotans get to hear the peep, peep, peep in the spring.  Some prairie areas don't have spring peepers.  I can't imagine a spring without hearing a peeper.  The most common frog I see is the northern leopard frog.  I don't often hear them calling but the map shows they're pretty common all through our state.  I like to hear the "keck a heck" song of the wood frog but the southern edge of the state doesn't hear them either.  I looked up the Canadian toad.  I have never heard one but they're pretty common even in my part of the state but not as common as the American toads.  The most common frog to be heard seems to be the boreal chorus frog.  That one sounds like a person rubbing the teeth on a comb.  I do hear them frequently in the spring but I can't say I've ever seen one.  I believe this volunteering for the frog and toad survey has changed me.  I can't help but listen for frogs anymore.  Frog listening has become a natural instinct for me. 

Please?

Eleanor and Park

I got this book at the library because I requested it.  When I opened it and started to read I had to ask myself why I wanted to read this book.  Obviously its not for adults.  Eleanor and Park is a book written by Rainbow Rowell for teenagers.  The book starts off on a school bus going to high school.  A new student, Eleanor, gets on the bus and no one lets her sit down.  The bus driver yells at her to sit down but all the other kids ignore her and won't make room for her.  Sounds like a terrible moment.  High school can be tough on students who don't have a social network established.  Why would I want to read a book like this?  Then I remembered.  Eleanor and Park was a controversial book in my school district.  We had this group called the Parent Action League and they wanted the book banned.  The Parent Action League is a very squeaky wheel and they even got a planned visit by the author cancelled at the local library!  And get this.  Her visit to our local library was cancelled during Banned Books Week.  Ironic much?  Luckily for all of us, the book was not banned.  It was reviewed by a committee the principal put together of students, parents and teachers and was deemed appropriate for high school students.  I wanted to read this book for myself because of all the controvery.  Eleanor and Park is a story about two high school students.  One is named Eleanor and the other is named Park.  Eleanor and Park are good kids who make good decisions.  They are kind to others, thoughtful, intelligent and doing their best in the circumstances they are in.  They don't use drugs.  They are not bullies.  They try to be kind to their parents.  Yes, the f word is used about 227 times in the story but the story is about two good kids.  I don't understand why an adult would want this book banned.

Final Frog Survey

Last night was our third and final frog and toad survey for this year.  I knew the mosquitoes would be bad so that is why I wore jeans, socks with shoes, and a light colored long sleeved shirt despite the hot and humid weather.  We started out with a festive dinner in Hinckley and then drove to our first stop.  The sun was red from the Canadian wild fires and the countryside stayed lit up long after the sun went down.  At our first stop 14 cars went by so it was hard to hear any frogs.  The veerys and common yellow throats were calling so beautifully and so loudly that I decided I would like to tape the sound for a "going to sleep" sound to hear in bed except I would edit the sound of the mosquitoes out.  By the third stop the mosquitoes came out in droves.  At each subsequent stop the mosquitoes got worse.  When we first drive up to a spot and get out of the car, we see no mosquitoes.  Within 30 seconds a couple blood suckers are buzzing in my ear.  I think they're calling to the other mosquitoes, "Fresh Meat Over Here!"  We have to stay out there for 5 minutes and by the fifth minute I end up putting my head inside my shirt just to get some relief from the ever present noise they make.  Looking at my belly with my head tucked in my shirt gets quite boring.  I think we missed the sound of some frogs because the mosquitoes were so loud.  We ended up hearing tree frogs and green frogs.  We know our five minutes are up when we hear a knocking at the window from inside the car.  We are so happy to hear that knocking and we rush back and get in quickly and shut the door immediately to keep the mosquitoes out.  Despite the pesky bugs we did enjoy ourselves.  The birds sang to us.  The fireflies lit themselves for us.  We heard some frogs but they were quieter than normal.  Maybe it was just too hot and too muggy to think about procreating.

I Can Dream

 

Beautiful weather was predicted for today so I rode my bike to work.  The problem was I had picked out a black pleated skirt to wear.  Wardrobe problem solved by wearing black yoga pants under the skirt.  The skirt flew up in the wind as I motored down Bunker Lake Boulevard.  In my mind I was in Rome instead of Coon Rapids.  In my mind I was riding a red Vespa.  In my mind I was Audrey Hepburn.  A girl can dream, right?  Because it takes a lot of dreaming to convert a skirted, yoga panted, helmeted old lady with a yellow safety vest into Audrey Hepburn.  Actually, I think I look closer to a Martian (from the planet Mars) than an Audrey.

Anne and Helen

This is a newsreel of the actual Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan.  Amazing!

Tell Me Everything

In this book, stories are told.  Another word for stories would be lies.  Lies are told and are so frequent and so convoluted that eventually I don't even care anymore what a story is and what the truth is.  There are some damaged characters in Tell Me Everything by Sarah Salway.  The main character is Molly and she doesn't tell the truth.  The stories Molly tells are what keeps this teenage girl off the streets.   She tells her stories to Mr. Roberts who lets her stay above his office supply shop and allows her to work in his store.  Molly finds a new life and makes friends with a hairdresser, a local librarian, and a mentally ill boy named Tim who thinks he is a spy.  In tantalizingly small amounts the author gives us clues to Molly's past and how she got to where she is today.  If it wasn't for my curiosity about Molly, I think I would have given up on this book before I finished it..