Afternoons, I head down to the garage to see if the chorus has shown up. No firm confirmation regarding gender, Benny (reminds me of Benny Goodman; do not ask me for an explanation) is always there, his/her back end soaking in the pool, but Gladys (or Gladstone) and Flip (named after the way he/she hops which includes a little flip) are a little more cosmopolitan, generally get out more.

They just show up. In the geraniums, the pile of pots under the stairs, inside the drying inflatable kayak (“clean, drain, and dry”!). But this is the first time they have taken up residence on the sill of the garage window for which I am very grateful because the garage window is covered in bugs every summer, mostly flies. I have never seem this window sill so clean. Unlike other musicians I have known (“that’s not a joint you’re trying to smoke, dude, that’s your drumstick”), I want these choral masters to stick around, so I am tapping into my hospitality skills, setting up a little resort that includes a pool, my giant umbrella tree, and a few attractive sticks, after all, so far every day this summer, it’s been almost a 100 degrees or higher- something they are not familiar with in these brutal times of climate change. I’ll provide the 5-star accommodations and if they feel like it in their comings and goings (they’re not by any means locked in) they are welcome to keep the garage window clear of bugs. It’s been weeks now and it seems to be working out splendidly.

Benny, Gladys, and Flip are native Pacific tree frogs (Pseudacris regilla) but I think the other name, Pacific Chorus frog, is more apt because they are singers in nature’s chorus, performing their love songs at the start of every spring, sometimes so loud is their love, they can be heard for miles, a declaration that after decades of mass spraying of pesticides, drought, wetland destruction, invasive species, pollution, they are still here, one of the few California native frogs not under consideration for listing by the State and/or Federal government. Not yet anyway. This precious sound, this ancient sound! They assure us that where they are is somehow still an ecologically healthy place because we are all interconnected. A healthy place for native frogs is a healthy place for us. The past few summers (see prior frog post), they have shown up at my house, on my land, and each time, my despair lessens. These tiny innocent creatures clearing my garage window sill of bugs but offering me so much more, delight, gratitude, and hope.