Skip to main content

Frog Pty Ltd

By
 




In the evening 
I carry frogs out of the house.
I strive 
to put distance between them 
and the front door,
releasing them in the furthest flower beds.

The process is repeated 
every  night.
Or is it
every other night?
I lose track
of time,
doing it so regularly.

I often wonder
if it’s the same one
constantly returning.
You get to know
the expression 
on a face,
the look
in the eyes.
M has suggested
we mark it
with Tippex
to test the theory.

But I’ve heard
from friends and neighbours 
having similar experiences.
One even
dropped their frog
about 2 km away
from the house,
on his way
into town.

It got me thinking.
Are we all 
putting the same frog 
out every other night?
The roaming one,
circulating in the neighbourhood,
returning to 
carefully selected homes?

Recently, though,
in the space 
of 15 minutes,
I had to carry
two out,
with M following 
with a third.

An adjustment 
of my theory 
is therefore required.

I suspect
the  involvement 
of stunt doubles. 
Stand-ins.
Even for our 
special, highly mobile, picky frog,
this has become
too much 
to remain 
a one-frog enterprise.

Heroes tumble. 
Personal attention 
is becoming 
a rarity.

We each
have to find ways,
working through 
our disappointments,
don’t we?


*

The African common toad or guttural toad (Sclerophrys gutturalis) is found in Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Réunion, Somalia, South Africa, Ethiopia, Eswatini, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. (Wikipedia)

In Taita Hills, Wundanyi, Kenya, the community frequently come across the guttural toad and this explains it’s Kitaita name ‘Kiwandu’, which means ‘the people’s frog’. 

Afrikaans name: Gorrelskurwepadda

(https://www.sanbi.org/animal-of-the-week/guttural-toad/)



George 



Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Whistle while you work

By
Drawing by Ron Leishman When last did you whistle while working? When last did you hear someone else whistle while working? Somehow it bothers me that whistling has become an almost absent element in our work. The sound of a person whistling a tune while busy somewhere in the house or out in the workshop conveys something of an underlying happiness, satisfaction and contentment. An enjoyment of the work itself. The tune need not be flawless. Applying more air than sound won’t lead to disqualification, as long as the intention is there. Whistling can even be replaced by singing in all that I’ve said up to now. The same principles apply. The absence of any of these two activities bothers me because it says something about us doing the work and the type of work that we do. Can it be that our type of labour in this 21 st century is not conducive to either whistling or singing? What type of work is that then – draining, stressful, pressured? Or are our conclusions ...
8 comments
Read more

A likely Hero: Jara Cimrman

By
As Matilda has already indicated, one of the most difficult things to do after you’ve visited a country is to return and convey something of what you’ve experienced. How do you show a city’s many faces, introduce its inhabitants? How do you tell of the effects a history has on people and of a stance towards life that can actually not be translated into words? In the case of Prague, it is very helpful to have someone like Jara Cimrman. ~ ~ v ~ ~ Petrin Hill, on the left bank of the river Vltava running through Prague, is in many ways a site worth visiting. Climbing the 299 steps of the Petrin Tower, inspired by the Eiffel Tower, gives you one of the most beautiful views of the city. But by going down into its basement, you enter into the psyche of the Czech people. Here, quite unobtrusively, is the museum for the “ Genius, who has not become famous ”. Matilda and I almost stumbled onto it by chance and as we went through the exhibition, our amazement over this brilliant ...
Post a Comment
Read more

You never can tell

By
This morning I was out in the vegetable garden looking for signs of sprouting cabbage and spinach that we had sown a week ago. Among the weeds, I did find the tiny seedlings pushing through bravely, but I had a surprise coming. The young Zulu gardener drew my attention to an abundance of ready food growing in the ruins of the tiny stone cottage only meters away: Umbido, a type of wild spinach, and a staple food in the rural areas. I grew up with much the same in the northern parts of the country, but called Marogo in the Sotho language.  Enter my new helper and friend, Winnie Nkosi. She lives on the edge of the Zaaihoekdam in a traditional mud house with no electricity. Twice a week she walks the four odd kilometres to help me with all things domestic. She has also taken it upon herself to teach me the Zulu language and culture with optimistic determination. The planned lunch menu was immediately ditched in favour of a lesson in local cooking and Winnie showed me the differenc...
Post a Comment
Read more