Keep calling, Little Froggy, Keep calling.

  During the late afternoon hike, I found a tiny frog sitting in the garden.  I would have never noticed the wee creature had it not started chirping (can't really call it croaking as it was too high pitched).  The tiny critter was calling for rain.  We need it.  The frogs need it.   I am not sure if the little squirt was actually calling for rain or was purely enjoying the dozen or so raindrops we received from a massively black cloud that hovered over the Bayou all afternoon.  Once again, the cloud refused to let go more than a slight drizzle that did not even wet the ground.  But the tiny froggy kept letting loose with its shrill call!  Boy, could that little fellow yell loudly!

  Back when I was just a kid, I can remember my grandmother saying that the tree frogs called for the rain to come.  She always told me that if I heard the frogs chirping by the backdoor, rain would fall by evening.  I believed her.  In my eyes, soft-spoken, sweet Grandmother would never tell me something that was not totally true.  More oft than not, her words rang true.  If the tree frogs chirped loudly enough and long enough, they surely were heard by the clouds.  Rain would fall and the world would be happy.  I was convinced!

  It was not until high school biology class that I found this idea of frogs calling the rain to come lies in fallacy.   Truth be know, frogs cannot command clouds...duh!  (Oh, how easy it is to convince a kid!)  They do, however, have the ability to feel the moisture in the air and it drives them a bit crazy as most frogs need water as a harbor for their eggs.  All of those chirps, croaks and burps are mating calls.  All of the noise we hear is usually male frogs trying to attract a lovely female.

  My demure grandmother was most likely "saving" me from being embarrassed.  Back in the day, folks did not talk about such things as mating frogs.  "Little white lies" were told to avoid the issue and the sure to follow questions.  It was deemed much nicer to say things like "The frogs are calling the clouds!" rather than "The frogs want to mate and make more frogs."
 
  Today, I looked at the little froggy in the garden and simply told him to get busy and call those clouds.  We need a good shower or two!  Works for me.