Space Toads
It’s Thursday at 6:26 pm. This article—hopefully—will be live Friday at 6:00 am. Here’s the thing, I have no idea what this will be about. So, buckle up. We are going to figure this out together.
I had a few ideas earlier in the week. They were ideas involving faith and some of my hot takes on the American church. I don’t want this to turn into a weekly rant about how I feel about theology and nor do I want to alienate those of you that could care less how I think about matters of religion. Plus, who am I anyway? I haven’t been to church since 2015 and technically they were paying me to be there so my opinion may not matter. Take that for what it’s worth.
Recently I wrote a few articles about military service. I don’t want to write about the military, war, or conflict every week. I’m no expert on foreign affairs. I’m just a dude who did six years in the Army National Guard and had one stint in the middle where I deployed to sand land. My experience in that realm is so minuscule compared to many others I know. I know every voice matters and everyone’s stories and experiences are worth telling. Sometimes it feels like I’m beating a dead horse or using a gimmick to get new eyes on these weekly posts.
I thought about writing an article about the futility of American politics. My mailbox, phone, and television spew that sort of garbage daily. I could care less about politics. Both sides bum me out. This is our best and brightest? Ugh! God help us. I want people to start being nice again. When did we become so divided anyway? How can we fix it?
While lamenting my lack of inspiration or ideas for this week’s article, my wife gave me two prompts. The first one—she’s repeated multiple times—was to write about space. She didn’t elaborate. She just said, “I think you should write about space.” Cool, cool. Not sure what to do with that. When I was a kid, I desperately wanted to be an Astronaut. What kid didn’t? This was in an era long before the internet with limited television options.
I’d go to our school’s library and check out books on the Apollo missions. I read books like “Ender’s Game” and learned about Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong. I wanted to take “one small step” on some alien landscape. There was one small problem. I am prone to motion sickness. Get me in the backseat of a car on a curvy road or in a small boat in choppy surf and I’m throwing up my guts. So, when I saw those whirly twirly machines they put Astronauts in I said, “Maybe this ain’t for me.” That, and I suck at math. I decided to stay grounded.
The other prompt my wife, Jess, gave me was to write about fire-bellied toads. Frogs are one of the things that I truly love. You’re probably asking yourself “Why did you shift from toads to frogs?” The answer is easy. All toads ARE frogs but not all frogs are toads. So, saying that I love frogs encompasses both. She likely gave me this prompt because I’ve been focused on those toads lately. I have a breeding colony of fire-bellies in our basement and a few weeks ago I tried to get them to breed. They laid eggs but they were all infertile. Bummer! They are a relatively easy toad to breed but I’ve had bad luck at every phase of the process. If I get them to lay good eggs, the tadpoles die. If the tadpoles morph out, they’ll have deformities. There have been a few times I’ve produced viable toadlets. But they mysteriously died a few months later. It’s been a real head-scratcher. It keeps me up at night.
I’ll figure it out. I always do. Currently, I’ve been finding fail points and fixing them. For the past few weeks, I’ve been breaking down old terrariums and upgrading infrastructure items in the room. My internet search history consists of reverse osmosis water filtration systems, push fittings for my water lines, misting nozzles, terrarium filters, and adult male fire-bellied toads since I have around a six-to-one ratio of females to males which is not a good ratio for breeding.
Like I told my wife, people probably don’t care as much about my frog stories. I can nerd out on those amazing amphibians at a level most people can’t understand. I still listened to her prompts and advice to “just start writing and see what comes out.” Well, this is it. I hope you enjoyed this brief foray into the weirdness that is my mind. It’s now 7:14 pm and I’ve got an article now. Holla.
I appreciate that man. Yea I’m looking at these like reps I’ve got to get in. Every week isn’t a home run but every week is a victory if I keep at it. I’ll hopefully keep growing as a writer each time I stretch that muscle.
I love the passion you have for the animals you write about! Thank you Jess for this week’s prompt.
I look forward to your writing every week. Thank you!