All of you who've been visiting my stream for a while know about my little friend, Lucky, and his pond, which is actually a kiddy pool which we've kept full since last July, and it's a permanent fixture now, filled in around the sides with dirt and ramps that make it easy for critters to get out.

About a month ago, frogs began singing down at the seasonal pond, and I wondered...you see, when a tadpole turns into a frog and hops away from its pond, it will return to that pond to breed the next season. I know that there were at least 100 froglets that grew up and left Lucky's pond over the summer and fall, and I wondered...what would happen in the springtime? So, you can imagine the overjoyed smile on my face when I heard the first frog begin to sing at Lucky's Pond a month ago!!! Since then, there have been about half a dozen frogs singing for mates. By the way, did you know that only males croak? At night I would lay in bed, smiling up to the ceiling and thinking about the fact that I was most likely responsible for those frogs singing down there! Would there be any females? I was very excited to find out as the weeks passed by.

I'd been looking every few days without finding any evidence of froggy procreation. That is, until yesterday!!! As usual, I looked very carefully, but this time I saw one!!! A little, tiny pollywog, only about 1/8" long, snuggling up to the side of the pool! Then I saw ANOTHER! AND ANOTHER!! GREAT SCOTT!! WE HAVE BABY FROGGIES AT LUCKY'S POND AGAIN!!!! HOORAY!!!! I could hardly contain my excitement as I raced upstairs to tell Steve what I found!! He was as delighted as I was, and we beamed at each other of this happy news. I got my camera and took some practice shots but realized I really needed my flash to get a reasonable image, and decided to wait before trying again.

So, today I went out with my camera and macro flash. While I was taking pictures, I was amazed at all the life in the pond! The water was teeming with countless tiny critters, some of them nearly as large as the tadpoles! I spent a long time slowly making my way around the entire pool, looking closely at the little guys moving around. I also found what I hoped to find: masses upon masses of frog eggs that will be hatching in the next few weeks...I AM SO EXCITED!!!!!! Isn't it wonderful news!!! Lucky's back, with lots and lots of brothers and sisters, and zillions more to come!!! WELCOME HOME, LUCKY!!! HOORAY!!! IT'S PARTY TIME AGAIN AT LUCKY'S POND!!!