3.24.2014

the very first wood frog
...Thoreau's Journal: 24-Mar-1859

Can you ever be sure that you have heard the very first wood frog in the township croak? Ah! how weather-wise must he be! There is no guessing at the weather with him. He makes the weather in his degree; he encourages it to be mild. The weather, what is it but the temperament of the earth? and he is wholly of the earth, sensitive as its skin in which he lives and of which he is a part. His life relaxes with the thawing ground. He pitches and tunes his voice to chord with the rustling leaves which the March wind has dried. Long before the frost is quite out, he feels the influence of the spring rains and the warmer days. His is the very voice of the weather. He rises and falls like quicksilver in the thermometer.

2 comments:

mfb said...

Interesting idea for a blog - I like this post.

michael jameson said...

as one of many of the animals that are apart of nature, that in being is nature, the humble frog,thawing in the spring and quietly hibernating come winter, his life is one of warmth and his song is recognizable and familiar, the frog lives but three of the seasons and he sings or voices to each of them as a gauge to the warmth or the chill in the air. michael jameson oldantiqueguy@hotmail.com