Of frogs and running

When I was little, I was obsessed with frogs. Couldn’t get enough of them. I waded waist-deep in mucky ponds just to net one and bring it home for the day.

Since I moved away from my old house about eight years ago, I’ve barely done any frog-catching, due to the fact that most of the good ponds were near my old house--an hour or so away.

But little did I know that my next encounter with one of those green amphibians would be during a run. Around a college campus. In December.

I started off my run like any other, just jogging around to fill the fifty minutes, when I ran by something small and green on the side of the road. I thought to myself, “That looked a lot like a frog...”

So I turned around, and sure enough, it was a frog! It had rained the other day, so apparently it had hopped from wherever it used to live and ended up on the side of the road. Well away--from a frog’s perspective, there was a lake about a mile and a half away, though it would have had to cross a few busy streets to get to this point--from any large water source.

I scooped him up and continued jogging, trying not to bounce him too much, pondering where I could find water. Unfortunately the before mentioned lake was too far off--I had something to do just a few minutes after my run--for me to take him there.

But it just so happened that the college campus I was running on had something they called a “Leadership Garden.” A small path through a grouping of trees with benches and--a pond!

It was a small pond (only about 6 feet around), but it was filled with leaves and there wouldn’t be any chemicals in it that would harm the frog.

So I sprinted across the campus, hands in front of me cupping the frog so that it didn’t jump out while I was running. It also just so happened that there was a campus tour going on for a local high school, and I sprinted through the whole pack of them.

No, I’m not crazy. I’m just sprinting around with a frog that I’m going to put in the leadership garden! I’m normal...

In the end, I the frog got to the pond and finished my run in 52:24. After that, I proceeded in scrubbing my hands thoroughly in hot water. Three times.

Ah, frogs. Ah, running. How I love thee.

Peace!
~Darkness