Frogfest in the Barrens /Iron City Salad Interlude

I don't know about you, but handling a major disaster always makes me pretty darn hungry. Fortunately, I had plans I'd made last week to meet dear old friends for lunch at Olde New York on Benner Pike on this day. We try to get together about once a month to catch up and eat something good. Both missions: accomplished!

With an extra-warm afternoon on tap, my husband and I had talked about several scenarios. All of them involved me being dropped off near my favorite vernal pond in the Scotia Barrens after lunch in town. One scenario involved me taking my bike over and leaving it there, and my husband picking me up and taking me to lunch, and then dropping me off in the Barrens after so I could ride home on my bike.

Well, I got into typing my very long update on the tree for Blip, and I didn't have time to do the bike thing. So we decided that we'd do what we needed to do in town, and then he'd drop me off in the Barrens. I'd see if there were any frogs, and then walk home from there. 

It's more fun coming home by bike, as it's downhill all the way; my husband says I like to zip. He calls me Zippy Longstocking when I come flying home, without using any brakes! She's coming in hot, folks!

We did our things in town (he ate out too, dropped off library books, and bought groceries) while I met my friends and had a good, long talk. I'm not sure we solved anything but I sure felt better after that. 

Several of our party ordered the Iron City (a reference to Pittsburgh, historically a major player in the iron and steel production industries) salad, which features crispy golden fries on top. You may see a photo of mine in the extras, and yes, I ate every single bite!

I met my husband at nearby Ocean State Job Lot, a favorite shopping spot, and then we headed for home. It was quite warm when I was dropped off in the Barrens, and by the time I hit the parking lot, I had some idea of the wonders in store. I could HEAR THE FROGS from there! It is springtime in the Barrens. Welcome to frogfest!

I laughed the other day at a Facebook posting by somebody I'd never met. They posted pictures of amphibians in a vernal pond, and made the remark that the spring peepers stop peeping the instant they hear a human heartbeat. That's about the size of it! There is a raucous noise from the parking lot; silence, when you get to the shore of the pond.

But I know my frogs. And I knew they'd be back at it shortly. So I put my monopod together, got out my camera, sat on my sitting pad in the shade of a tree, and began taking pictures and short videos of what is one of the very best parties of the year. Frog after frog after frog!

It was almost like watching a game of billiards: frogs ping-ponging off one another, so many of them, moving and shaking and singing their amphibian songs. I thought about checking out the other ponds - there are three I can visit pretty easily within a reasonable stroll from the parking lot - but I thought I'd save that for another day.

A guy with two dogs who walked into the Barrens as I was walking out told me the frogs have been at it for about four days. These warm March afternoons are some of the very BEST times of year for amphibian lovers, so GET THEE TO A VERNAL POOL! After a very nice lunch and a surprise frogfest, I walked home feeling sort of smug and very happy with myself; indeed, it felt quite nice to be happy again.

I arrived home to find my husband sitting on the front porch with the neighbor cat, looking thwarted. My car was still sitting in the driveway. He'd come home after dropping me off only to discover that the power was out at the house. The power company finally showed up to replace the pole that was leaning over our (closed) road; power was out for over two hours while they fixed it or replaced it.

He didn't have a house key; just the garage door opener, which doesn't work when the power is out. The neighbor cat also has a habit of walking behind the car and lying down and rolling to welcome us home. 

It's typically MY job to hop out of the car and go rescue the cat when we pull any car into the driveway. So with no way to open the garage, and with the cat rolling all around, my husband had been sort of trapped outside. Fortunately, the groceries were still in coolers with cold packs.

Anyway, all's well that ends well. I was home (with a key), and our power went back on in about 5 to 10 minutes after I got there. I'm sure glad that I spent that hour or so in the Barrens, absolutely delighted by what I found there, hanging out at the frog party, instead of sitting at home griping and grexing over the power outage. Fortuosity girl, that's me!!

I've got two pictures so here are two songs. For my frogfest, I've got Prince, with 1999. For my delightful lunch salad that was eaten with great gusto while my friends and I spent precious time together, I have Journey, with Be Good to Yourself.