This is now our second summer
with the pond in a Bath Tub, a small enclosed ecosystem that began quite
accidently last year (which I wrote about in the Adventures with Frogs articles). But this year’s is a very different summer, with dreich days
alternating with almost summery days that try to be sunny but just can’t quite
manage it. On the plus side the world around is rich with a myriad of greens splashed
with the purples, creams, yellows and reds of clover and buttercups and all
manner of flowers. Every tree is bursting full of leafy life, all puffed up and proud like the
chest of a guardsman receiving a medal for gallantry.
The Bath Tub pond is in fine
fettle too; teeming with snails, water boatman beetles, mayfly nymphs, water
flees and the tadpoles. What is particularly striking at this time of year is
the transformation of the tadpoles into frogs. Over the weeks and months the
little creatures get fatter and bigger, then little nubs appear beneath their
tales that turn into thin crooked legs. As the back legs grow and the front
legs appear, the tadpole still remains round and fat and wiggly. Then, overnight
it seems, suddenly the round fat form of the tadpole collapses in on itself; shrink-wraps in an
instant into a little dented box shape no bigger than the nail on my pinkie.
Apart from the remaining tail the creature now is a perfect minature frog. Soon
the tail will vanish and off it will hop, out the pond and begin the journey to
the damp fields near us.
But it’s not only frogs and
weather systems that shift and change. Everything changes. It has to - there
would be no fun or surprises if everything stayed the same. So it is with this
blog. I originally began writing it on a voluntary basis to help promote health
and wellbeing on the campus of NUI Galway. Then for two years I was in the very
fortunate position of being paid to write the articles. But now that there is no
Health Promotion officer on campus, my blog is back being unpaid and
independent.
A lot of my previous articles
have taken a quirky look at how to remain creative and positive when dealing
with stress (the stress of bad weather or low income or study, research,
meeting deadlines, etc.). I intend to keep on writing the articles, as it
would be a shame to stop over such a minor thing as lack of money. So please
stayed tuned for my continuing Bath Tub adventures…
* * *
Related summer article:
Related rainy weather article
For more about my work as a blogger, author, tutor and
performer see rabfultonstories
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