Today I was driving from my home in Honoka'a to Waimea, about a fifteen minute drive. Waimea has the big grocery stores and I was doing some shopping. Along the way I saw a cowboy, on a horse, rounding cattle into a pen.
I saw goats eating grass along a hillside.
Lots more cows and horses in pastures. And I thought I should write about this. After all I'm a city girl who's now living in the country. But wat would I write about forst? And the answer was immediate: the singing frogs.
We have these small frogs who are apparently new to the island (they try and try to keep control but sometimes you can't plan... We have them everywhere here. I'll try to get a picture later but they're only about two inches long and just little frogs. But when the sun comes down they sing. And I don't mean they croak, I mean they sing. Their sound is almost birdsong, it's like a trilling whistle. And they're loud.
Our very first night here, we arrived at the house and I immediately asked, "What kind of bird is that?" Never heard of a bird singing in the dark. But it was my first hearing of the frogs.
Despite living in the "country", it's rarely quiet here. We have a lot of dogs always barking (and one that bays constantly). There's someone's radio down the street and occasional traffic. But later in the evening, there are times when everything goes still and I can lie in bed and listen to the frogs.
Sometimes I whistle back and if there's one by the window, my whistle will make it go silent for a moment. I've done it a few times, tried to answer it's song with my own.
It's really something. Singing frogs. I know they annoy a lot of people but I think they're wonderful. And I love the music they share.
I'd like to see your little frogs; hope you get some pictures.
ReplyDeleteWe have tree frogs here, who for some reason tend to bed down at night under my bedroom window, probably because there's a puddle there from the A/C. Then they warble their mating calls all night long. I've gotten used to it and now that it's winter (or thinks it is), I sorta miss the music. :-)
When I lived in Puerto Rico, I fell in love with their singing frogs--they locals call them coquí. It amazed me how loud they could be for their size (usually around the inch mark, never bigger than an inch and a half)
ReplyDeleteI envy you your singing froggies!