Frog Bane

We had an unwelcome guest on our slider this morning -- a Cuban tree frog, one of the larger ones I've seen around the house. It's an invasive species, will eat just about anything it can get its mouth around, including insects, indigenous tree frogs, small birds, and even its own kind. GB wanted to catch it for her science kids at school, but I put my foot down. So to speak. After giving it a once-in-a-lifetime photo opportunity, I gave it a choice of paper or plastic. The frog didn't seem to care, so I caught it in a plastic grocery bag, put it out of our misery, and dropped it in the trash can.

It's really not surprising that we have an abundance of frogs around here. We have been blessed with a greater than normal rainfall this past week. Huge thunder and lightning storm on Wednesday. The high water mark was Thursday evening -- 3.5 inches in about two hours. The retention pond behind the house, which was almost dry again ten days ago, now has ducks paddling around in about 4 feet of water. We're at 50 inches of rain for the year, which is 8 inches above normal.

We had our One Great Day of Service at TCS yesterday. The kids did very well. My 5th graders worked at the Salvation Army cleaning, serving lunches, washing windows, and weeding. GB's 3rd graders bundled thousands of pencils at A Gift For Teaching, a non-profit organization that collects school supplies so that teachers can get free supplies for their students. (Orange County Public Schools now has 60% of its students on free and reduced lunches.) The non-profit also provides resources so teachers can give birthday gifts and Christmas gifts to their students. They also provide music and art lessons for disadvantaged students. We had many parents who worked with their children as chaperones and steadying hands. We ended the day with an all-school chapel. Each grade level gave a brief recap of their day and we celebrated together God's blessings.

This coming Wednesday the elementary grades will go to the Bob Carr Auditorium for our annual youth symphony concert. The concert hall is just a few blocks away so we take the free bus service, Lymmo. Buses run every 5 minutes downtown, but with 225 students we tend to clog up the system. Every year it's a SRO operation; other folks who are waiting at bus stops en route step up to the open bus door, take in the wall to wall kids, and step away...Even if there is room, they don't want the buzz of elementary age kids talking and finding joy in the moment!