AnotherVoice

Waxahachie, Texas, March 29, 2005 -- Believing what I was raised to hold sacred, that every voice counts, I've bombarded my local paper for years with letters and op-eds (and been active in politics). Yet here in the heart of everyone's favorite "red state," where it's especially important that another voice be heard, no one seemed to be listening. This is my megaphone.

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Nightlife in Waxahachie

A few nights ago, when it was time to turn in and I was preparing for bed with NPR chatting away on the radio, I thought I heard the telephone ring. Couldn’t be sure, so I stopped and listened carefully.

Burrrrrrrrrrrr! Burrrrrrrrrrrr! Not exactly a ring-a-ding type of ring, but that kind of soft burring sound you mostly hear in offices. Burrrrrrrrrrrr! Burrrrrrrrrrrr! Maybe my phone ringer was having a problem.

I heard it again, and then again. I turned the radio down to make sure I wasn’t imagining things, and then could hear it clearly. I tried to figure out where it was coming from. From outside, through the open window? Didn’t make sense.

I walked around to see if it was really coming from somewhere in the house. Nope. Could be from my neighbor’s house, if they had a very loud phone, I guess.

It was puzzling, and kind of amusing, but it was time to sleep, so I shut the window, the sound went away, and I slept.

Most of us have a hard time ignoring a mystery, of course, so the matter was still on my mind at daybreak.

After awhile I called a Texas-born friend, who suggested that it was most likely an early cicada, explaining there’s always a loner or two who turn up first; it made sense and I was satisfied.

Until that night, when I heard my mystery phone again. This time I was downstairs and could tell that the sound was definitely coming from outside the house.

I had the back door open, and this was definitely down low; sounded like it was coming from the pool, in fact. But isn’t a cicada supposed to be up in a tree?

So it must be a frog of some kind. Since I’d never seen a singing frog up close, I wanted to get a look at him. Got the flashlight and embarked.

The pool is like a pond, surrounded by grasses, plants and underbrush, perfect for a froggy type to hide in, but I was determined to see him. He kept singing and I kept closing in on the sound.

Now, a person of a certain age does not typically have the balance of a tightrope walker, you know, so it was a little bit of an adventure sneaking along the dark border of the pool without falling in – but finally I found him. Singing his little heart out.

When these guys sing, their throats puff out like a little golf ball. This is serious stuff. He sang, someone across the pool answered, he sang again. And so on for as long as I stood there.

Back at my computer, thanks to trusty Google, I learned he is an American Toad (who knew toads could sing?). I found a photo that looks just like him. If you want to hear him for yourself, go to www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIhx5pIcK0A.

Sometimes the most exhilarating nightlife is right in your own backyard!

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home

Hit Counter
Web Counters