Toads to Perdition

[to experience the full effect of this post, please scroll to the bottom and click the PLAY arrow on the soundtrack first!]

Oh, hello! Good morning! Are you awake?! I know that a great many subscribers are tuning into Live Clay at work, so let’s all take a moment to make sure the volume on our computers is ON, and turned way up high. Ahhhhh. Hear that?

I felt inspired today to share with you the sounds that for about four weeks in April-May define our nights and early mornings. No, it’s not a gaggle of screaming old ladies. It’s not your response to the Tax Man. It’s Woodhouse Toads in our backyard, emerging resplendent from their muddy winter sleeps feeling all sexy and ready to mate.

At this period, after his long fast, the toad has a very spiritual look, like a strict Anglo-Catholic towards the end of Lent. His movements are languid but purposeful, his body is shrunken, and by contrast his eyes look abnormally large. This allows one to notice, what one might not at another time, that a toad has about the most beautiful eye of any living creature…
–George Orwell, Some Thoughts on the Common Toad

The toads are uninvited guests who showed up shortly after I built our pond 10 years ago. Don’t get me wrong, they aren’t unwanted. They eat all kinds of bugs and spiders, and their hunting territory even extends to my neighbors’ yards; it’s just the mating shrieks from dusk ’till dawn that lend a rather morose aspect to our Spring soundtrack. Did you know that toads scream and chirp from some organ not in their mouths? There are a lot of surprising things about toads that people probably don’t know.

Remember those children’s books, The Adventures of Frog and Toad? I loved those books, but to my young mind, there was always a bit of a competition: who was the better man, Frog or Toad?

Both characters were well-drawn, handsome, and dressed in cool clothes (for boys). Their respective traits were highlighted in moral stories of friendship, empathy, and cookie-hiding. But if Mr. Loebel had been honest, really honest, and told the whole story about toads…

And after saying good-night to his best friend  lover, Frog, Toad went out into his backyard and started screaming like his head was on fire. Soon, his screams were answered by Girl Toad. As she drew near, Toad leapt onto her back and clung with all his three-fingered might like there was no tomorrow. Having been denied long arms by a cruel evolutionary twist, Girl Toad was unable to remove Toad. In fact, she lacked the wits to even contemplate such a choice, and was thus destined for the next many weeks to carry her burden until she spawned, or died of starvation because she was unable to hunt (whichever came first).

Now that would have made for a more balanced story and informed decision when it came to Frog vs. Toad. And come to think about it, may have even affected the outcome of my own future choices involving love and marriage. Yes, too much idealism can be a dangerous influence on the young, developing conscience. Beware, new parents, of the subliminal messages in picture books that only tell part of the story.

This could have been me. Oh wait, it was me…

Speaking of relationships, this week my mother and two of her high school friends (a couple she was recently reacquainted with after 85 years) are trying to set me up with their son. Like, romantically. We don’t live in the same state. We are supposed to email each other but neither of us has made a move. I’m thinking of just sending this soundtrack with no words. What do you think?

I hope this post will be received by my regular readers as an invitation to share in, if only for 2.57 minutes, my Springtime suffering–a selfless act that will surely strengthen our empathetic bond.  As for my new subscribers, I could think of no better way to say hello and thank you than by welcoming you with nature sounds. Greetings! I’m sure my friend Emily over at The Waiting thinks she has it hard with a newborn… well, think again, because guess why? Babies grow up. They learn to sleep and talk and repress their feelings. Toads just multiply. And Stacie of Gemini Girl in a Random World is getting ready to go visit her dad on a mysterious farm (she suspects it might involve ducks with extra legs) in the South. Guess what your dad needs, Stacie? Yeah, mysterious screams to go with his mysterious farm. Then there’s the clever Guapola, forever taking polls with funny answer choices. Know what the funniest answer of all would be, Guap? Just link up the toad soundtrack, my friend. No words necessary. Last but not least, Momma’s Money Matters, who receives more unwarranted, unintelligible hate mail than any blogger I know, and who writes THE funniest responses… What’s the one thing that will leave your hatemailers speechless, Red?  That’s right, Toads.

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From the Garden: Lilacs, Dogs & Potaotes

Working in my garden today, I just had to photograph the lilacs. Again. I do it every year, I can’t help it. I love looking at the flowers up close (click to enlarge). In addition to cutting my own lilacs and putting them in vases all around the house for Easter week, my ritual also includes late-night raids of my neighbors’ plants. I know. This is perhaps an obsession. But they are my very favorite Spring flower. Plus, I only cut from shrubs that have tons of flowers so I know they won’t be missed. Lilacs don’t last long once cut, but here’s my harvesting secret for maximum longevity:  cut them early in the a.m. (or late at night, depending) and put them in ice water.  Also, cut them when the stalk is half-bloomed, like those in the pictures. If the buds are all closed or the flowers all open, they die right away.

Velma kept me company while I worked. At least she had the courtesy to lay between the cabbages.  Bad dog.

And I finally got around to harvesting my potatoes from last year, too. Here’s the bounty.

Yes, this was the total yield from eight seed potatoes planted in an extra-fancy, 2′ dia. x 18″ potato-growing bag. There were green plants that grew big and flowered and I’m not sure what happened after that.  Maybe my neighbors snuck in for a few late-night harvests.

Happy Easter.

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April

The lilacs are so pretty this time of year.

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lilacs are here!

I thought I’d take a moment during this busy spring to post some pictures of lilacs, the best April flower. For most people, the word “lilac” conjures images of light pastel purple; but the flowers come in so many other colors! Albuquerque is a-flourish with them right now and so is my back yard. When I bought my house 9 years ago, the first thing I did (with the help of a friend) was plant 6 lilac bushes in a variety of colors and blooming times (early to late spring). I wish I could give all the variety names, but I’ve filed them away in a safe place which I now can’t find. (I ordered them online from Lilac Hill Nursery.)

I like to cut bunches of lilacs and bring them inside, even though they only last a few days. The blooms need to be pruned from the bush when they’ve faded, anyway, so why not! Here are a few things I’ve learned over the years about optimizing indoor lilac beauty: The first blooms on the bush last the longest, so cut early; cut them in the cool of the evening or morning, not in the middle of the day; blooms on thinner branches last longer; cut the blooms when the little flowers on the top half are still closed (as below).

It’s hard to pick a favorite, but I really love the pink variety at the top of the post. It has such a strong scent and the blooms start out dark copperish-pink, then open to a more pastel pink. I also really like the yellow — notice how the flowers are double.

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spring studio news

Another busy few weeks at Live Clay! With the Albuquerque weather finally warming into the 60s & 70s (for now), gardening is starting to compete with studio time, the usual summer conundrum. To resolve my inner turmoil about which should take precedence, I sometimes combine the two, as seen in this maple vase/jar recently listed in my Etsy shop. I imprinted the vase with leaves from my own Japanese maples, then painted the leaves, loaded them into the wood kiln, and was quite happy with these results (you never know with the wood kiln). One of my Spring rituals is to prune my apricot tree a few weeks before the blossoms open outside and bring the branches inside for my own private display. This year, I also raided my mom’s apple tree for these beautiful dark pink blossoms.
I was also busy on the potter’s wheel last week. I threw most of this for the wood firing which will begin next Sunday, April 11 when we cut and sort the wood. All five cords of it! We’ll load the kiln the following weekend, then fire the next weekend and unload on May 1. A few of the larger pieces here are for a new gallery in Indiana. I’ll post pictures when they’re finished.

Here are some of the now-painted blossom cups I made a few weeks ago, also destined for the wood firing. I’ve gone a little blossom-crazy with these, I’m realizing, painting at night to the point of near insanity. Oh, well. Now I remember why I only make these every three years or so!

Stay tuned for exciting day-by-day wood firing adventures beginning April 11!

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Spring!

Saw these crocus on my dog walk tonite. Finally, Spring is on the way! It’s now light at 6pm, it’s going to be in the high 50s later this week, and the trees are forming buds… YES! I love New Mexico.

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