When Steven Sondheim composed the score and drafted the lyrics (without the help of Artificial Intelligence) for “A Little Night Music” he had romance in mind.
As I recall the story, though — except for Send In The Clowns, my recollections of this song and dance story are sketchy — the romance was about and between couples. Matched and mis-matched.
Here, our nightly serenade is provided by thousands — what the heck, let’s say tens of thousands — of frogs in search of the amphibian version of romance.
As soon as the muck thaws, the frogs worm their way out of their winter hidey-holes and commence a full-throated serenade which, if their numbers are evidence, results in matches siccessfully made.
In Texas, summer heat brings a cicada concert. In this part of the world, it’s frogs in all their reproductive exuberance.
(As you would expect, there are those frogs whose desperate but careless pursuit of romance is terminally interrupted. Remember the video game ‘Frogger’? Yep; it was surely based on observational Appalachian experience.)
Note: Only male frogs croak. Interested female frogs will fight to see which goes to dinner with the best croaker.
I used to love to listen to the evening cricket serenades while sitting on the front porch on Old Mehama Rd
Learned the value of hookups this morning and the limitations of my 12 volt system. I have been dry camping for the past 3 days. The two days I travelled the short distance in to Bend to watch the girls play LaCrosse, my 12 volt system had a chance to charge. Sitting here for about 48 hours my 12 system is about done. I have been using the heater a lot.
Make that 4 nights
One of my favorite parts of day is the evening when, what I refer to it as, day sounds (birds chirping) transition to night sounds (crickets & cicadas).
-Jeff
I have a chorus of male frogs – if ETx
frogs are like PA frogs coming from the water’s edge every evening. It’s a nice sound of nature but can get really loud. He who sings loudest must win the lady!!
Thanks for sharing…. Listening to the night sounds of frogs while outdoors is down right magical. I had no idea it is only the males who sing.