allyson and bryan

Frogs, Why'd It Have to be Frogs!?! /



It is the morning of our fourth day in Fiji, and our third day at The Beach House. This reef-side resort came as a recommendation from fellow travelers, Han and Tevi, and so far it is living up to expectations.

At 6am, my now-normal wake-up time, I am sitting on the beach with a tiger-striped cat that I will now name Emily. She is quite friendly, not too skinny, and doesn't seem to be flea-infested. Did I mention her golden eyes? While Allyson sleeps, Emily and I will tell you about the frogs; the many, many frogs, both big and small.

The first encounter came at sunset on our first night. Learning our way to the shared bathroom (yes, we are growing more accustomed to that), we noticed that the rock-walk was moving ... not just a little, but a lot, even off the grassy sides of the path. Upon closer inspection, we determined that the movement was frogs ... frogs that only come out for the nightlife, the hip-hop'n nightlife!

Allyson and I both love frogs and we have sort of been collecting them since our purchase of a hand-painted clock back in Northhampton, MA in 1993. We were preparing for our first apartment together in Boston, and this amphibious clock seemed so very appropriate. Since '93, we have purchased a solid bronze frog in Sante Fe, gender-accurate frogs (yes, complete with male and female genitalia) in Taos, and a frog wine-stopper in Napa. We will see how many frogs (non-living, of course) will end up in our packs. These frogs seem to play a certain happiness in our life journeys thus far.

So, even knowing that frogs will be a part of our Fijian nightlife, we were still not fully prepared for what happened last night. Heading to the bathroom for the last "break" of the evening, we entered our respective stalls and were greeted by the grandaddys of all frogs, seemingly guarding the toilets against any evil spirits. Completely spooked, I could swear I heard my grandaddy say, "Have you ever seen a grown frog naked!?!"

The frogs are actually quite friendly (pictures to follow; darn dialup!) and do get out of the way when you approach ... I guess it is frog-nature not to get squished.

Well, Emily seems to be tired and has drifted off to sleep next to me. I am off for a swim until Allyson awakes, and then, well ... who knows ... we have no plans today. Life is really good right now!

stars, they're just like bryan @ 12:06 PM  

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