I finally saw evidence of something I've been looking for since before I started this blog. A few years ago at this time of the year while I was hiking along the trails at the first nature park I ever visited, I saw what looked like tiny bugs jumping around on the trail.There were thousands of these things, maybe even millions. They were covering the trails in this place for about a mile. When I say covering, I really mean it. Everywhere I stepped, swarms of these tiny creatures would hop out of the way of my feet. After awhile I got curious enough to look closer.
When I took a closer look I discovered that these weren't bugs at all. They were tiny little frogs! Maybe they were toads, but I can't really tell the difference anyway. I'll call them frogs for now. My curiosity about these frogs might have been what gave me the original thought about expanding my knowledge of nature, and then lead to the idea of creating this blog.
After I had the idea for the blog, those tiny frogs were one of the very first I looked for. Unfortunately last year, I must have been a few weeks too late. I never found the swarms of frogs like I did before. I did find a few bigger ones on these trails though. They were the same type of frog, but they had grown bigger. You can see a picture of one of them here.Well, this year I'm not going to be disappointed again. I looked in the pond at that park today, and I found millions of tadpoles. I'm absolutely sure these tadpoles are related to those frogs from long ago. It won't be long before I see more little frogs hopping all over the trails.
If you stop and think about it, it's amazing what kind of little thing really inspires us to enjoy something like nature, or makes us want to write. What kind of thing was your inspiration? Why do you like nature? Why do you write your blog, even if it's not about nature?
My blog might have started out because of this pond and those frogs, just like these tadpoles began there. Of course that's not the only reason for the blog, but it might have been the spark that lit the fire of my passion. What was your spark?
Ratty that brings back a few childhood memories, in my non-green days, we collected the tadpoles and took them home in a glass jam jar.
ReplyDeleteThe ones that made it to frogs simply disappeared in the garden!
Wow, I have not seen so many tadpoles in a pond before.
ReplyDeleteI have started my blog after my Vietnam trip. It was not because of the trip but mainly on the pictures I have taken. I was eagerly to share with someone.
I have not seen that many tadpoles in one place either.
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing what strikes our spark to write, and I started my blogs for the simple joy of sharing.
This is an interesting post. I flew to New York once just to go to a frog exhibit in a museum. My husband’s cousin kept nudging me to write my memoirs because he said many reminiscences would die with me and would be lost to my 2 small grandsons. I come from France (my mother was French and my father an immigrant from another country) and my grandchildren’s other grandparents come from the state of Kerala, in India. So I just started my blog instead of writing my memoirs and will include stories of my past, from time to time, as well as things that interest me like travels and photography.
ReplyDeleteRetirement was my "spark". I finally have time to wander around more in nature. Then getting my new camera and having a way to capture what I was seeing was the final determinator to blog. Plus, I have always loved writing.
ReplyDeleteI have only seen tadpoles once before while walking some trails in Lake Tahoe. They are pretty cute but I didn't know what they were at first. I'm too much a city gal.
ReplyDeleteI love frogs and tiny toads! When I was real young I'd bring home frogs and tadpoles all the time. I loved to wait and watch the tadpole turn into a frog. It was amazing. And those little toads have always had my interest but I hadn't seen one since I was ten years old till I moved here 12 years ago. I brought a few in to study them back then and last year I brought one in and took lots of photos of it. You can see those on my "Animal Stories" blog.
ReplyDeleteAwesome to have these guys in a pond on a hike. From you picture they look like toads. We have some that breed in our pond too. THey are great for the kids to follow along and always educational!
ReplyDeletewow, i haven't seen a lot of tadpoles lately, love the croaking always of the frogs though. i actually started writing after my first trip in the southwest desert, i guess, i have not seen desert in my entire life and had a wrong impression that desert is too dull, monotonous and boring, and when i was there, i was all giggly, it was then actually that i also looked more seriously into taking photos of scenery, coz i wanted to remind myself and erase the previous thoughts i had in mind about desert. especially i grew up near an ocean with nearby mountains with rainforest, what i was seeing was something different from what i thought it was, so i wrote about it, it was more for me, to wake me up from the reality of what i saw.
ReplyDeleteGreat inspiration thought. Somehow our writings are inspired by the admiration and appreciation of the things we see. I love nature.
ReplyDeleteI think nature and all the simple joys that it brings is what my blog is really about. I find joy in the little things and having a pond (with frogs) and the garden chock full of interesting bugs and flowers is what life is about. Too many of us fly through the day without stopping to look at the daily miracles that surround us. I think that is why I enjoy your blog so much--we are very much alike in that way!
ReplyDeleteHonestly, when I see tadpoles, the first thing that come to my mind is the illustration of sperm in text books. That started when I usnderstood what sperm was about.
ReplyDeleteI got curious about tadpoles when I was younger. I think even before going to grade school. I lived and grew in a tropical country and frogs are/were always around. As I read your article here, I could only imagine when you described that these tadpoles were "covering" the trails. I wonder how many or what percentage of them reaLLY reach "froghood".
Webbielady
My inspiration to blog was my country. I went out of it because of so many discontentments and I also wanted my fellow country men to see beyond their everyday lives... to live for the future and not take everything for granted to live for a day or even a single meal. :(
ReplyDeleteI was inspired by blogging itself and what I read around that blogging may let a blogger earn. Thus I started my own internet and online related blog and indeed it did cover my domain name's cost and give me extra earning just enough for the effort I give and at the same time, I love doing stuff with my blogs.
ReplyDeleteupon reading this post, i remember my childhood days when i and my friends used to look for frogs in the rice fields during rainy season and give it to our neighbors who like to eat those exotic foods..
ReplyDeleteI'm running a little late on everything since yesterday, but I'll be trying to catch up throughout the day. It might be slow going though.
ReplyDeleteMike - I actually had thoughts of collecting a few of these so I could watch them. I didn't because I didn't really have a place to keep them. It would be fun though. I used to do it when I was a kid too.
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Rainfield - A trip and the pictures I took was also one of my main inspirations for this blog. When I started, it wasn't going to be so much about nature, but the nature stuff became what I like the most.
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Icy BC - There are certainly a lot of tadpoles there. I haven't ever seen that many before either. Sharing your thoughts is also a good reason, and I had similar thoughts in my reason too.
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Vagabonde - I'm glad you used your husband's cousin's idea and then turned it into a blog. From what I have read already, you have had a very interesting life. I love reading your stories.
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The Retired one - As you've discovered, blogging is a great way to use your extra time. For someone who loves writing, you get to have a place where others can see what you create. A very good reason.
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Poetic Shutterbug - I'm mostly from the city too, but I have a country family background. Tadpoles are strange looking creatures, especially when you first see them.
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Ginnymo - I used to catch frogs when I was a kid for a few years. When I got a little older I lived in the city so there was no more of that. It's been a long time since I was able to see these things up close. I'll definitely check that out on your Animal Stories blog. All of your other stuff is always great.
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Julia - I will go with the thought that they are toads then. I wasn't quite sure before. I'm hoping to take a few of the kids I know out there to see them.
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Betchai - I grew up mostly near a lot of water too, so I understand. I sometimes feel like I can't breath when I'm too far away from it. Your stories and pictures of the desert have helped me a lot. It really does show a whole new interesting world.
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Yeo Kee Hui - Yes exactly, our experiences can inspire us greatly, sometimes in ways we don't understand. I forgot about some of my inspirations until I began reading these comments.
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Lin - You make a great point. And you're right, we are very alike in that way. My blog is about stopping and enjoying things that we would all usually ignore. A lot of my earlier writing talks quite a bit about this.
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WebbieLady - That's one of the main things I kept thinking about when I was watching these tadpoles,especially the pictures.
Well, I don't know how many of these become frogs, but there were fish swimming around them. I do know that there will be perhaps millions of frogs on these trails in the near future.
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I Love Philippinestoo - That's a very good reason. One of my inspirations was my home state of Michigan. I wanted to discover what kind of good things it had to offer. And I thought I would show other people as I learned.
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Webbiestuffs - I had similar ideas about earnings, but I have yet to earn a dime. Doing stuff with the blog is one of my favorite things too. I honestly never knew I would enjoy it so much.
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Jong - I used to like to look for frogs when I was a child too. Some people like to eat frogs here too, but probably not the kind you find around here. I don't think there are many good edible frogs near here.