Eastern Gray Treefrog or Cope’s Gray Treefrog – Photo: L. Weikel
Treefrog
As Spartacus and I were walking the other day, I noticed him run up to something at the edge of the road and immediately jump back. I figured it was a cicada, since they’re appearing in greater and greater numbers. But Spart tends to gobble them up – so his surprised jump back and subsequent retreat from whatever it was made me curious.
The little guy looked from afar like something that could easily be mistaken for a small chunk of blue-gray lichen. But as soon as I got close enough, I could see s/he was a beautiful amphibian. My guess was a treefrog.
While it wasn’t too keen on being sniffed by Spartacus, it was not at all reticent about having me photograph it from a variety of angles. The design and color of its back were particularly fascinating.
Fantastic Resource
Spartacus and I were traveling along a portion of a road that is flanked by a vast field that tends to retain a shallow wetness in the spring and is one of the first places Karl and I hear peepers and treefrogs. And this little guy was headed across the road right toward the ol’ watering hole. As it was obviously not a common bullfrog, nor a toad, I was leaning toward identifying it as a treefrog.
Lucky for us here in PA, we have a fantastic resource available to help us identify all things herpetological, Pennsylvania Herp Identification.
I’ve written about this resource before, as it’s been essential to helping me identify a variety of snakes (here and here) I’ve encountered.
Treefrog’s Back – Photo: L. Weikel
Eastern Gray Treefrog or Cope’s Gray Treefrog
If it were up to me, I would say the one we encountered was a Cope’s Gray Treefrog. lt looks identical to the one on the Herp ID website. However, apparently the physical characteristics of the two different kinds (Cope’s Gray and Eastern Gray) are nearly identical and the only way to tell the difference is by their call.
Listening to the two calls at the bottom of the page for each description, I definitely recognize that of the Eastern Gray. The Cope’s not so much.
For what it’s worth, I submitted my photos to the site for confirmation. I’ve not yet heard back from them, but I’ll bet they’ll identify it as an Eastern Gray.
Either way – s/he was a beauty, and I’m grateful we had a chance to encounter each other.
I spoke in my post yesterday about the awe-inspiring artistry that unfolded before my eyes yesterday as Spartacus and I walked off our adrenaline. It was as if Pachamama (the Creative Essence known as Mother Earth) was determined to reward me for maintaining my cool in the midst of a volatile situation. She wooed me with her ever-changing cloud formations, which was by the two Red-tailed Hawks that screeched at me along the way. The clouds, though…
It’s hard to convey how the clouds, mere pockets of water vapor shape-shifted and held aloft by unique atmospheric conditions could take my breath away. But they did.
Tonight I’m posting the photos of the last portion of yesterday’s walk because I need to share them with you. They are too beautiful for me to just shrug off and forget about.
Another factor, as you can see, is that they appear so drastically different than the earlier photos; it’s rather astonishing that they were all taken within minutes of each other.
Merging – Photo: L. Weikel
Glad I Waited
I’m glad I waited to post them. Today’s weather mostly sported a blanket of overcast very high above, so I have to admit, the joy factor just wasn’t emanating from the sky as it had yesterday. And it was tangible.
There’s so much rancor and division everywhere we look. I feel like we all need to grab the wonder of being alive right now wherever we can find it.
For instance, today I took a walk with a dear friend. I drove to her home and when I stepped out of my car, I literally became mesmerized by the sound of the cicadas filling the trees surrounding her home. She only lives three miles from my house, but the abundance of the surrounding forest has apparently encouraged an immense horde of the creatures to burrow up and out of their 17 year homes. The ‘guys’ are just singing their hearts out to woo their girls.
I wonder why the forest around High Rocks isn’t whirring in this manner. We’re so close – and yet the aural proof of their emergence is drastically different. Regardless of ‘why,’ the fact remains that I was transfixed when their other-worldly hum engulfed my senses.
I recorded them, but it the recording didn’t do them justice. Maybe I’ll try my hand at recalling how to post things on my YouTube account and at least post what I have. But it pales in comparison.
I’m going to need to return to that forest setting soon just to sit with them. Their unique artistry calls to me.
I had a shocking sense of déjà vu early this evening. I set out to take a walk and as I passed by our neighbor’s house, their newer dog, about a year old, nearly lost its mind barking at us. This is not uncommon, which is unfortunate, since we walk every day. (You’d think it would know us?)
The owner was outside and as we waved to each other I laughingly yelled (to be heard over the barking) how I sure hoped this dog wouldn’t find a hole in their fence. Of course, I was alluding to the incident I wrote about here, that occurred two years ago. This new dog is larger than the two that were involved in the prior incident, which makes its aggressive behavior a bit more worrisome – although those little dogs can be vicious!
No sooner had the words come out of my mouth than the dog rampaged along the perimeter and rammed its head against the fence, knocking a picket clean off the lateral supports. Luckily, Spartacus was on a short enough leash that I was able to scoop him into my arms before the larger dog got to us. Of course, the butterscotch colored pup (which piled on and added to the fracas last time) tried to join in again this time, but Spart was such a great boy – allowing me to hold him without struggling or taking his angst out on me.
I have to admit – it was a most unpleasant way to begin our walk.
Myriad of Shapes – Photo: L. Weikel
Nature’s Reward
It took us a good mile at least to settle down from the adrenaline rush we’d both experienced.
I rewarded Spartacus with an abundance of treats. He needed to know how much I appreciated what a good boy he’d been.
Meanwhile, I was treated to a spectacular display of artwork painted across the sky. And the artistry shifted and transformed before my eyes over and over. At one point, I stopped to take yet another photo – this time of the setting sun looking for the life of me like a fried egg, sunny side up – and was startled by a Red-tailed Hawk shrieking at me and taking off from a tree only about 15 feet from me. It flew high into a tree in the field beside the road, raucously crying out again and again. Then what I gathered was its mate (which I hadn’t seen up until that point) took off toward the cliffs. She (the first one I saw – I’m guessing at its gender) yelled at me a couple more times and then also headed toward the cliffs.
I’m sharing just a few of the photos from tonight’s walk. I heeded the message of the Hawks and allowed the sheer abundance of beauty and magic surrounding me to ease my mind, chill me out, and bring me back to myself.
“Confession is good for the soul,” they say. I don’t know if that’s true, but I do know I’m not big on blowing smoke up people’s behinds, especially when it comes to my own actions. So I’m determined to make sure the record, such as it is, is right.
I wrote yesterday about fulfilling the task before me, which at least in that instance was about cleaning out and getting rid of filing cabinets’ worth of piles, records, and paperwork.
I mentioned that it was hard work. And I admitted that a lot of time had gone by since I last attempted to clear this stuff out. But this time – this time – I was ready to tackle it.
Well, I bailed. I know I need to do it, and I really thought for sure I was going to accomplish my mission today, but I didn’t.
I was lulled into a delicious sense of gratitude for the day when I sat outside just after noon and felt the warmth of the sun on my face. My bones were initially still chilled from the rawness of the past two days until I went outside to fill the birdfeeders and took a peek at the blue sky trying to return to prominence.
Not Up For It
As much as I was psyched to accomplish my goal yesterday I was not-so-psyched to do it today. I took one look at the files pertaining to an accident Karl had that by all rights probably should’ve killed him in 2008 (but only broke a couple of bones) and I felt my resolve stall. I particularly bristled at the memory of the disgusting doctor at a local rehabilitation hospital who prescribed Oxycontin to him over my objections. I literally had to get in her face to get her to back down on the seemingly cavalier – if not deliberate – over-medication of my son.
But I digress. Or maybe I don’t.
Do I just destroy these records? Why would I want to keep them? What purpose would that serve? Who would ever be interested in them and why?
My eyes moved half an inch to rest upon the information documenting his acceptance to New York University and all of the drama associated with that. (Literally – as he ended up auditioning and being accepted into the Tisch School of the Arts as a Drama major.) Such seemingly pivotal choices and decisions, all documented in black and white. So much excitement. So much promise.
Snail’s Pace
Nope.
I didn’t have it in me today. While I’m sure no one will care about any of these things in the future, I didn’t have it in me to send them through the shredder today.
Maybe tomorrow.
I know it’s stuff I don’t need to hang on to. I know I need to walk my talk and let go of the past.
But today my resolve to move forward slowed to the pace of the snail (or was it a slug?) I encountered as I took a walk later in the day.
Today was a day. The chilly and wet weather outside made it exponentially harder to avoid dealing with the task that’s been whining at me for months. The boxes of papers and files I’ve accumulated – no, curated – over the years have quietly begun organizing themselves into a rowdy group of troublemakers.
Yes, it’s grown harder and harder to ignore the piles and stacks of boxes that basically document our lives. So Karl and I both threw ourselves into the task today. Forty years of marriage wizened us to intuitively retreat to opposite ends of the house to tackle our respective monsters. This exercise, not for the faint of heart, could easily devolve into chaos if we shared too much of our respective struggles.
Forewarned
It could be said that my Medicine Card* pick on the day warned me how to proceed. I chose Snake reversed/Lynx. Snake is transmutation, so there’s the metaphor of getting bitten by snakes but being able to transmute the poison so it doesn’t kill you. There’s also, of course, the shedding of a snake’s skin – shedding one’s outer identity and becoming someone or something new. But the key word today, for me, was shedding. Getting rid of the baggage. Perhaps sloughing off the old beliefs of who and what I am or need to be in order to fit into this world. However I wanted to interpret Snake showing up for me today, I still needed to remember that it was upside down: so it was likely I might try to avoid the shedding of my skin – but ultimately it would prove futile.
And with Lynx underneath? Perhaps I was to keep my mouth shut about my process of shedding my skin – or maybe, in shedding my skin, I would be introduced to a whole new brotherhood or sisterhood as a result.
Old Habits
I think becoming a lawyer indulged (or perhaps even worsened) my persnickety compulsion to keep very precise records. Early on in my career, I learned that having everything I might need stored in a well-marked place where I could easily put my hands on it made my life exponentially easier. Thus, I have a file folder for everything. And I have those file folders organized and neatly stored in boxes that hold hanging folders.
The problem started getting out of hand when we got rid of our filing cabinets. Admittedly, they were dinosaurs – bulky, outdated, rusting – but they kept it all ‘under one roof.’ That was helpful. So when we decided to clear them out, I was left with plastic filing boxes here, there, and everywhere.
Cue the Sadness and Discomfort
And then I started going through the boxes.
Yup. I know why I’ve been avoiding this task. And I’m also recognizing the sad synchrony of this being Memorial Day (weekend) and how I feel going through my myriad folders of paper today.
I may not be remembering and honoring the service of military people by wading through these folders, but I am engaging in honoring memories.
And wading is the appropriate term. Wow. This is hard. And it’s bringing up lots of feelings.
Perhaps I’ll have more to share tomorrow. In the meantime – I wish we could all feel more confident that the sacrifices made by those who served in the armed forces to protect democracy and our republic were being honored and respected by those in power today.
Things feel disturbingly precarious this Memorial Day.
‘Cosmic’ Crystal at Linwood Gardens – Photo: L. Weikel
Step Back and Reflect
I have to admit I actually relish the times when planets go retrograde. On some level, deep down, I feel a sense of permission being granted me. After all, when planets go retrograde, we’re told that all the ‘re’ words apply: rework, review, renew, restore, revamp, repair… You get the picture. So giving ourselves time and space to step back and reflect (there’s another one) is a gift. And if we’re paying attention, it’s a gift the Universe sort of builds into our lives: periodically encouraging us to accept some ‘re’ time (instead of resisting it). Ha ha – yet another ‘re’ word that happens a lot during retrogrades!
It’s occurred to me recently that there may be another reason why I generally welcome retrogrades. In looking at my natal chart (the position of the sun, moon, and planets on the date and exact time of my birth), I see that five planets were retrograde at the time I was born: Mercury, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. It seems to me that I might feel most at home or ‘settled in’ when those planets go back to the way they were traveling at the time of my birth. This is just a guess, but it makes sense to me intuitively.
It’s sort of like putting on a pair of comfortable shoes.
Hold True For You?
Is it possible that you, too, feel a kinship with the energy of retrogrades? Do you know whether any planets were retrograde at the time of your birth?
Once again, I encourage you to visit the Astrodienst site. It’s free and can give you access to an astonishing amount of information about yourself. All you need to know is your date, time, and place of birth.
Most people can find their exact time of birth listed on their birth certificate. Sometimes hospitals send parents home with an ‘unofficial’ birth announcement that contains this information. Others of us have baby books our parents kept for us, in which they tracked all sorts of personal facts and accomplishments.
It’s definitely worth doing some digging to find your exact time of birth, since that time is of particular significance in determining both your Ascendant (the sign that was on the horizon at the time you were born) and your moon sign. Both of these change significantly from minute to minute.
The rest of the planets, because they move more slowly, are less likely to shift from one sign or house to another within a 24 hour period. So getting a snapshot of the position of the planets in the sky at noon (as a default time) on the day of your birth will give you a reasonably good idea of your chart.
Amazing Complexity
The depth and complexity of astrology is remarkable (and not a little daunting). There’s no question in my mind that our lives here on Earth are reflected in the macrocosm. We’re not ‘fated’ by any means. But we’re all operating under influences that can be tracked and understood – and all of us are prone to having our buttons pushed harder at certain times more than others. It’s helpful to know when this might be happening to us and why.
Information is power. Understanding how unseen forces may be uniquely applying to us can be of enormous benefit in making choices, both big and small.
I do not have aspirations to become an astrologer in my own right. Goodness knows, this subject is far more complicated than the simple knowledge of our ‘sun sign’ (the sign the sun was in at the time of our birth) and the blanket attributes associated with that.
But I am keenly aware of how my understanding of the movements of the planets and luminaries can help my clients better understand themselves and their feelings. Understanding our charts can help us have compassion for ourselves and each other, too.
Furthermore, don’t be fooled: every planet is associated with a particular sign and house in the zodiac, and these all come together in varying interlocking and interconnected ways in each of our own unique charts. Where everything is situated, including the specific degrees of each planet in each sign and house, is significant.
We really did give ourselves a roadmap to the challenges and gifts we were bringing into this lifetime. Whether or not we decide to read and attempt to understand those maps is up to us.
Sweet Resource
Of course, it’s definitely worthwhile to have your chart read by a professional astrologer. Your best bet is to seek out a personal recommendation from someone you trust.
In addition to receiving readings periodically throughout my life, I’ve also read about this stuff for years and years. Mostly I’ve just glossed over the details and focused upon cursorily understanding the signs of my sun, moon, and ascendant. But recently I’ve been giving myself a chance to understand things on a deeper basis by, among other things, usingAstrology for Yourself – a Workbook for Personal Transformation* by Douglas Block & Demetra George.
If you want to get to know yourself better, I highly recommend using this tool to delve into understanding your own personal map for this lifetime. There are lots of courses you can take as well. But this workbook is quite thorough and, well, tangible. I like that.
Grandmother of Wands ~ Matriarch, Tarot of the Crone by Ellen Lorenzi-Prince
On the Horizon
It’s been a while since I chose a card for us to contemplate. The intense astrological aspects taking place in the cosmos right now are influencing all of us, whether we ‘believe’ in them or not. As a result, I thought it might be beneficial to see what my Tarot of the Crone might have to say in counsel to us as we navigate the wild unpredictability I sense on the horizon.
The total eclipse of the full blood moon on Wednesday sent powerful ripples of revelation out into the world. Truths are being uncovered. Relationships exposed. Treacheries revealed. We’re being asked to review, reflect, and readjust over the next few months.
Pluto (planet of transformation, death, and resurrection) and Saturn (planet of boundaries, limits, foundations, and conservatism) have both gone retrograde recently. A cursory look at what those two planets influence make it obvious that some big stuff in our lives is going to be demanding our scrutiny. And Mercury (planet of communication, electronics, and technology/mechanical things) goes retrograde tomorrow.
The effect of Mercury retrograde will probably be more personal and also more fleeting. Nevertheless, it can be a pain. It would be a good idea for all of us to back up our computers. And try not to have a meltdown when your tv acts like it has a mind of its own or your appliances conk out.
Long Weekend
It seems to me that the coming long weekend will give us an ideal opportunity to hunker down and engage in some juicy personal reflection so we can navigate these turbulent influences with grace. Not only do we have a holiday weekend encouraging this inner work but many of us will also have rainy and chilly weather pressing the issue.
I do want to mention again one other planetary aspect that’s influencing all of us this entire year, but especially now and heading into the next two weeks (culminating on the 14th of June): the Saturn square Uranus transit. It’s essentially the old vs. the new. Tradition and the way things have always been done vs. new, radical ideas and approaches that turn things inside out, upside down, or just utterly transform.
It’s no surprise that we’re being asked to remember the insurrection of January 6th and deal with not only its aftermath but also – crucially – its planning and purpose. There’s a lot going on right now. Responsibility and accountability are two big words that have yet to be meaningfully invoked. And the tensions are only going to grow. Thus, we must prepare ourselves.
Request for Guidance
I asked what we maybe should keep in mind over the coming long weekend – and beyond. I chose the Grandmother of Wands: Matriarch (again, from the Tarot of the Crone by Ellen Lorenzi-Prince). The wisdom that’s shared with us when we only ask never ceases to amaze me:
Grandmother of Wands ~ Matriarch
“It is time to have a talk
And time to have a listen
Time to recognize our common bonds
With honest standing
With Goddess guiding
We create our culture
By how we treat one another”
“In a cave of light under a cover of dark, many figures gather closely around a fire. One figure looms larger than the rest; this is the matriarch. One of the group, she is also its heart and its strength. She speaks, she leads, she ensures all are heard and considered. She weaves individual strands into a tapestry, creating common ground and common cause. With warmth, rectitude and respect, she creates space for group magic to happen. She is tradition and invention in one. She is the fullest integration of your spirit. Embrace it; her power is yours.”
Ugh oh. It’s always a bad sign when I write three or four paragraphs and then go back and delete them all. Every single word.
But that’s what I’m doing tonight. Nothing’s sticking. Nothing’s gaining traction in my head and leading me somewhere even remotely interesting.
Oh sure. As soon as I wrote the above, the ‘poison ivy dot’ that appeared on the inside of my thigh last night started itching with a vengeance. I guess the Universe is giving me a counter-irritant?
I’m complaining about having nothing to write about this evening and so my body manufactures a poison ivy dot. See, I know this is a trap. If I scratch the itch that’s emanating from this single raised dot of irritated skin – and really, emanating doesn’t do it justice; It’s pulsing, taunting me. It practically has a life all its own – I know with preternatural certainty that the dot will spread its cursed tentacles across the back of my leg and thus will begin a summer of chasing the poison across the wasteland of my skin. From thigh to wrist to finger to foot – and everywhere in between.
Being Dramatic
Oh sure, you think I’m being dramatic. If you’re judging and dismissing my dismayed lament as exaggeration, it’s obvious you’re one of the lucky ones. One of those people who states with abandon (and yes, a taunting hint of glee in your voice), “I could roll around naked in poison ivy and never feel a thing!”
And as I type this – literally as I sit here – other dots are popping up on my body. Now there’s one on my pinky finger. And another on my back.
Aaargh. Obviously Spartacus must’ve gotten some urushiol (poison ivy oil) on his coat and then burrowed under the covers last night.
Honestly, I think I’m at least partially talking myself into this spreading across my body as I sit here. Either that or perhaps I’m having an allergic reaction to something else.
I think I’m going to call it a night and see if I can find a Benedryl tablet in the medicine cabinet. Sometimes it’s best to throw in the towel and raise the white flag.
I don’t especially remember Brood X and its emergence 17 years ago. Since 2004, which I truly do not recall being a dramatic experience, the best I can recollect seeing a few more cicadas than usual was the brood that emerged in 2013 (Brood II). To be honest, that was not a particularly noteworthy experience either. (In other words, I was disappointed.)
I’ve been a little confused by Brood X and the maps I’ve seen as to where they’re to be expected to ‘arrive.’ But in finding the link to the map of the different broods for this post, I realize that in our portion of eastern Pennsylvania, there’s actually a crosshatch over us – indicating ‘multiple broods.’ That makes a little more sense to me, as I do recall hearing about (and experiencing somewhat) Brood II in 2013, as I mentioned.
They’re Emerging Now
I have a friend who lives only about 15 minutes north of me and she’s remarked and posted on FB for at least a week or ten days about the emergence of her cicadas. I was starting to think we’d missed the boat entirely and that the cicadas around here just weren’t going to live up to the hype. That’s how I felt in 2004 for sure. But I’m delighted to say that they are emerging now.
I saw a couple on Monday, the first tip-off being the discarded exoskeletons lying crushed on the flagstones underneath one of our Maples. Of course, that made me go on the hunt for those that had shed their shells, and I was rewarded with discovering two.
While I was sitting outside today, though, I started seeing them flying across the yard. I called Karl outside to show him, and we had to laugh because it wasn’t entirely clear whether we were seeing a couple different ones buzzing from tree to tree or whether it was the same one just going back and forth.
Of course, I later figured out there must be more hatching because I marveled when I saw a Downy Woodpecker snatch one of the clumsy flyers right out of the air and start munching on it. The mid-air capture was impressive. Then Spartacus pounced on something and I realized he, too, had discovered one. Poor guy – I made him give it up.
I’ve only heard a couple males singing so far. While I realize their calls can become deafening, I have to admit I’ve never experienced that many around me at one time to feel overwhelmed by them. I’m hoping this year yields more cicadas than either 2004 or 2013.
Cicada 2 -Photo: L. Weikel
Tracking the Broods
Of course, being the Nature Nerd that I am, I downloaded the app Cicada Safari, which is used to track the emergence of the cicadas and note the differences between broods, as well as a variety of other variables. I’ve submitted two of the photos in this post to them for their records and have yet to hear back whether they will be accepted and noted on the app’s map.
It’s interesting to note that, predictably, scientists are tracking the disappearance of some broods. I’m hoping that perhaps the members of Brood II (2013) and Brood X (2004 and 2021) will be making a strong comeback this year.
And as I prepare to do my Perelandra Biodiversity Program protocol on June 1st, I am pondering whether purposely working to bring balance to our land and bolster the resilience of the biodiversity here will have any discernible impact on the cicadas. Obviously, I’m hoping every little bit any of us can do to promote the long term excellent health of our ecosystems is helping.
OK, so we all know the next several days are going to be messy. Not unlike many planetary configurations we endured in 2020, there are going to be a number of intense aspects occurring this week that, if they occurred all by themselves, would portend a challenge. But piling up on, triggering, and otherwise instigating each other this week, the squares, eclipses, retrogrades, and T-Squares (to name a few) taking place could very easily make the days ahead especially stressful.
Hence I thought we could use a little humor as we greet this morning of a blood moon.
Of course, it’s not exactly light and airy humor. What do you expect? I take my laughs where I can find them. And I found this one last week, outside of the courthouse in Doylestown, the county seat of Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
Messages Everywhere
Last week I was ordered to serve as an arbitrator on a three-attorney panel to hear cases in matters in which disputes are for amounts of $50,000 or less. While this is a service I bear as a member of the bar, I’ve always enjoyed the responsibility and taken it seriously.
My colleagues and I broke for lunch and I took that time to bask in the wispy-clouded, breezy spring weather and strolled into the center of town for a coffee. Walking along the sidewalk, I noticed a white piece of paper amongst some scattered tree detritus. Me being me, I thought, “I wonder what the message is?” The paper looked even from afar as though it might have something hand written upon it that could, indeed, harbor a message I could interpret for shits and giggles.
Yes, well…
Ask and you shall receive, I guess.
Scattered in the Wind – Photo: L. Weikel
Probably Not Arbitration
Something tells me this was not a note passed across the table in a routine arbitration determining the value of injuries in a car accident. No, from my experience, this definitely smacked of a domestic relations case. Probably a support case.
Ah yes. This message took me right back to the good old days of my law practice. It made me laugh when I approached it as a message from Spirit. But the actual tone and intention, and the likelihood it was between two people who used to love each other…
A reminder: things may get messy this week. Let’s try to be kind to ourselves and each other – and keep a sense of humor!
