I found a new painting project last week, and I’m happy (and proud) to say that I got started on Monday and finished on Friday. Karl was a bit worried about this project, I think he had doubts about whether I had the patience and skills to do it well (that isn’t unfair, my track record for painting isn’t the best!), This time, I painted all the metal slats of our jalousie windows. We have sixteen windows with seven slats each – inside and out. Tedious. But now that they are done, they look so good, no more peeling paint or tiny rust spots. Pretty.
Now the Caribbean has a variety of creatures, and I’ve blogged about many of them in the past, but since the hurricanes, I’ve been seeing a new (to me) frog once in a while. They are grey and the perfect size to fit in the palm of my hand. I know that for sure because I had an encounter with one that began when I carried a dish that had been on the front patio inside and dumped it into my dish water. Unbeknownst to me, a frog was hiding in the bottom of that dish. When the warm, soapy water and the frog met, a short episode of chaos ensued. The frog, understandably, didn’t like it. He did what he needed to do, and made a mighty leap to get clear. He ended up on my chest. Oblivious to the frog’s existence until he landed close to my heart, a small amount of screaming resulted (mine, of course). It didn’t take the frog long to decide he still wasn’t in a good place, so he took a second mighty leap, ending up on the inside of one of my open cupboard doors. It took me a heartbeat (they were fast at this point), to realize that I wasn’t in mortal danger or under malevolent attack, but when I saw that the frog was eyeing a third leap into the interior of my cupboard, and not wanting frog slime on my dishes, I reacted by trying to capture him. He escaped briefly, but (I think there may have been a little more screaming) I finally captured him, cupped in my hands, and escorted him outside. I think Karl may have been more traumatized than either the frog or me, what with all the screaming and jumping around, but at the end of it all, we had a good laugh and (I hope) the frog went on to live happily ever after.
Anyway, back to my window painting project this week… I discovered something as I was painting. We have housemates that I never knew about. It seems that an entire colony of those small grey frogs has moved into the nooks and crannies around my windows. The first one I saw was in a tiny space above one of the living room windows. Just two little froggy eyes watching me as I cleaned and then painted the area. He wasn’t bothering me, and while I hope the fumes of the paint weren’t toxic, I don’t think I bothered him. As I worked through the rooms, I noticed a couple of other visitors. Again, they didn’t bother me, they were living in little spaces outside the window screen, and my rationale is that they eat bugs and stay to themselves, so I really don’t mind the knowledge of their presence.
It was a little different when I got to the upstairs window that is right above the bed where I sleep. I moved the bed and took down the curtain. I reached to take down the screen, and there, watching me was a frog. Out in the open on the window sill outside the screen. No problem. I told him to be gone, then unlatched the screen, confident that as soon as I did, he’d jump away. Not so. He watched me until the screen was out of sight, then slowly moved on his little suction cup toes, towards me. Again, I told him to go away, but he paid no attention, so I added a hand motion or two. He just watched. Well, I had to get a little more forceful, and eventually, I herded him back outside and to the edge of the windowsill. Since I really didn’t want him coming back in, specifically I didn’t want him tracking through my paint, I nudged him with my hand and made him jump off the windowsill. At this point, Karl got involved, because he was just outside that window on a ladder, working on the roof. He watched as the frog began climbing back toward the window. Using a glove, he enticed the little guy back down, and for the rest of the afternoon, the frog hunkered down about five feet below our bedroom window tucked into one of the valleys in our new corrugated aluminum roofing.
A few hours later, paint dry, screens and curtains reinstalled, I checked that window. Yes indeed, my friend was back. Clearly that window is his home, and he’s not willing to move. I’m okay with that.
It’s funny. Earlier this year, when the temperature got all the way down to 71 degrees a couple of nights, we had a mouse decide to come in from the cold. I wasn’t sad to see the little dead mousy in the trap, and set a couple more to make sure we got them all. I hate mice and I’m not willing to share any space with them. Here’s a ponderable: frogs are slimy and not as cute and furry as mice, but I don’t mind them. Huh. Go figure.
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