Logan at the Pond

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Neighbor Logan (10) stayed with us for a few hours, and I know he was pleased that, for once, David was not working. While grandson David and I finished our late breakfast, John did something with Logan having to do with a puzzle of the US. They may have reviewed capitols, but whatever they did, it was mildly educational.

We brain-stormed about what to do next, and Logan said, “Let’s go to my pond and look for frogs.”

That’s certainly the kind of activity everyone would approve. We were outside in the fresh air, interacting with nature, and having fun together. John stayed home to trim shrubs in the garden as David and I walked down the steep hill with Logan. I loved watching Logan search for frogs with a stick to stir the grass and a cup to catch them. It’s too bad the frogs had other ideas and made themselves scarce. Logan had remarkable patience, which was fine with me, since I found a small boulder to sit on.

I waved at neighbor Jeff when he rode his mower within view, and David and I watched iridescent blue dragonflies dart about. Logan gave up on frogging. He called out, “Look! I found a praying mantis!”

He was holding the creature very gently and let it loose to climb up his arm.

I was scrambling to get these shots and did not pick up on the fact that he was very uncomfortable when the mantis got to his neck. David came to the rescue! As I focused on the creature on Logan’s hair, David scooped up the cup meant for frogs and held it for the praying mantis to walk into. Can you see David’s hand with the cup on the left side of the photo?

They set the mantis free, and Logan ran up the steep hill as David hung back to make sure I was safe on the uneven ground. I felt privileged to have been in a boy’s world for a little while.

Published by Anne Mehrling

I'm a retiree who loves to write about life in the mountains of North Carolina.

Published

38 thoughts on “Logan at the Pond”

  2. Logan would love the 100s of tadpoles that were in our backyard and are now turning into frogs. I joked with my husband asking where Pharoah was and if this was another plague of the frogs😄. Your afternoon with Logan looked like a perfect summer day.

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  3. I was cringing thinking of the mantis making a slow crawl, but could deal with it better than a spider or centipede because they move slow and are unique looking. I’ve never seen a praying mantis “in person” but I used to catch tadpoles as a youngster in empty pickle or jam jars with my friends at the Creek at the end of our street. The days of Summer are perfect for catching frogs and enjoying the pond. Does Logan catch fireflies?

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      1. I figured Logan might as he likes nature. I used to have a mason jar with holes poked in the lid and would put the jar on the porch while I sat outside with my parents back in Canada. We’d watch them light up the porch Bigger porch than I have now, but not a veranda like you others have – this was in Canada.

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  8. Great images! One of our greatest frog-hunting memories was on a vacation. We had gotten the boys a battery-run toy boat. They used it to distract frogs then sneaked up on them. The frogs were HUGE! It was a lot of fun.

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