A Great Leap Forward

There are two ways to go through life: Kicking and screaming at the things that obstruct you, or, this way.

Twelve years ago, a woman in Penticton, B.C. found that Pacific chorus frogs were making the freshwater in her backyard pool their pad. Rather than call animal control, Alexis Friesen, a wildlife biologist, decided to convert the pool into a wetland habitat for local, at-risk critters. Over many years Friesen nixed the drainage system, levelled the pool with river rock, sculpted the sides with sand bags, filled in the gaps with natural soils and added pond water. Now, everything from long-toed salamanders and garter snakes to bats and great blue herons are flocking to the natural habitat.

When your heart is big enough for at-risk frogs, your chance for happiness takes a big leap (see what I did there?).

©2015 Jim Hagarty

Author: Jim Hagarty

I am a 72-year-old retired journalist, busy recovering from a lifelong career as an unretired journalist. This year marks a half century of my scratching out little fables about life. My interests include genealogy, humour and music. I live in a little blue shack in Canada and spend most of my time trying to stay out of trouble. I am not that good at it. I also spent years teaching journalism. Poor state of journalism today: My fault. I have a family I don't deserve, a dog that adores me, and two cars the junk yard refuses to accept. My prized possessions include my old guitar and a razor my Dad gave me when I was 14 and which I still use when I bother to shave. Oh, and my great-great-grandfather's blackthorn stick he brought from Ireland in the 1850s. I have only one opinion but it is a good one: People take too many showers.