I like all the hustle bustle. I like all the activities. And this is what it was like for the past several weeks, months. Something or the other was always on cards. Therefore, when I woke up last Saturday to the lazy morning, I just realized that it was exactly what I was wishing for quite a while. A lazy Saturday.
I think when I finally checked the time it was 9:30, or maybe 10. I do not remember. I was awake for quite some time, but did not at all bother to check the time. And when I did, it was just to enjoy the pleasure of the clock testifying that I was actually late. My hand searched for the magazine. I did not even trouble myself with lifting my head from the pillow. Inside the cozy warm wrap of the blanket, I started reading a short story. Some casual story in some casual magazine. My toes moved in the rhythm as it always does when I am in a relaxed mood not thinking about anything.
I was still in the bed long after finishing the story, just closing eyes and listening to the sounds of activities outside. “Okay, maybe now I can get up, and brush, and take a shower”. All refreshed, I slowly went down to see what was up there. It was the same lazy picture also there downstairs. As I looked out, it was soaked in the vibrant summer sun. Flowers were smiling bright. Bees were busy collecting honey. It was too late for breakfast and I was not hungry in particular. I fiddled with a few roasted peanuts. Peeked inside the fridge. I walked around the house. The pumpkin in the garden was getting bigger each day. However, I think, for the moment the pumpkin flowers were alluring me more. I wished to have them crispy fried. I decided to sit for a while outside.
Soon however, I decided to go upstairs. “Maybe I will call my grandma”. Instead, I got busy with emails, youtube videos etc as soon as I switched on the computer. There were good reviews of a recently released Bengali movie. Surprisingly it was already available online. I put it for downloading. “Oh no, it is so slow!!”. I was just feeling like having some chips. Blaž came in the room. Before, he was busy cleaning the car. Now, he would like to put the bed linens for washing. After a long time he got a free weekend and just wished to do what all had to be done. Good boy! On the other hand, I wandered around in the virtual world. I did not feel like doing anything. Not even what was required to be done. “Tomorrow”. Then again, I got absorbed in the supplementary pages of the Bengali newspaper online.
It was late afternoon in India. I wondered what dida was doing, and called my grandma. As age has made all her days like my lazy Saturday, my calls always bring a smile to her face. The story about one of her silly childhood prank made me smile.
After the lunch, I was sitting on the couch with a bowl of ice cream. What can be a better image of a lazy noon? Then we decided to go and visit our urhek-s (yellow-bellied toad) in some nearby water. “Are they there this year too”? It is always the ‘right time’ for me when it comes to frog watching. Spending the noon idly sounds good. Spending the noon spotting and gazing at frogs sounds even better!
There is a small abandoned quarry nearby. During its functional days, there used to be a small decorative pool, which has now turned almost into ruins. During one of our walks, we noticed yellow-bellied toads (urh in Slovene), great newts, and other water creatures in the little water of the pool. Last year we saw the tiniest possible baby urhs in it. Hence was our trip to the pool. The pool this time had much more water from the past days of rain. Thick algae and weeds covered it. “Will we be able to spot any”? We carefully began scrutinizing the pool.
There, there is one. Just floating in the water. And another one, floating grabbing a weed. The third one had only its eyes peeking. The fourth one was a small one by the edge. I spotted one between some submerged rocks. Then another one. Six we saw in total! Sometimes they felt our presence as we approached close and hid in the water, the hind legs propelling away the water quickly. Sometimes they were oblivious of our advance. We touched the webbed foot of one gently. It simply ignored the touch. Blaž even touched one’s nose, and quickly it hid. The yellow-bellied toads are the silliest ones possible. And we played on them our silly trick. We grabbed a grass weed and put it very close to one of the toad’s mouth. Then gently I swayed the weed. For a second it waited in attention. The next instant, it tried to grab it in mouth. Opening its mouth in quick succession, the toad even tried to use its front leg to grab the ‘insect’. After a while, we found three of them resting in a line!
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| An urh (yellow-bellied toad) floating |
The amount of water made it impossible to see other amphibians and insects. I hoped to see a newt. We were however too afraid to overturn the rocks in the pool. After all, we did not wish to accidentally harm one or intrude their natural abode. There was also some strange insect, which we had not seen before. And the only other creature was the European wall lizard making circles on the warm rocks. I rather wished they were not there. Blaž just wished to grab one and even tried!
There are many wild blackberry bushes around. The red berries were ripening into plump black ones. I collected a handful. They were sweet with a hint of tart. Delicious!
Our next stop was a ditch where we mostly see green marsh frogs during our bicycle rides. The marsh weeds and plants were growing lush green. The purple weed flowers created a nice picture on the border of yellow crop and green field. The sky was preparing for an afternoon shower. And far there, it was already raining. Blaž stopped to take a picture. A black kitty was sitting in the field. Two crows. There was an unknown bird on the electric wire making a shrill sound. Two grandmas passed by. They wished me one all smiley and most friendly ‘dober dan’. Unfortunately, there was no frog in the ditch. I am sure they were just hiding a bit.
Soon after we reached home, the rain caught up with us. It was a few minutes of heavy downpour. The sun was then again smiling. I transferred our frog pictures in the computer. The movie was still downloading! After dinner, Blaž’s mama asked if I would join her for a short walk. I was talking all the while like always. As the sky turned dusk colors and we headed homewards, we saw a deer. Ears pointed, it looked at us a few times, and then vanished inside the thicket of corns.
The rest of the evening just went by. Sitting on the couch chatting. Maybe I was watching a bit of TV. The rest I do not remember. Maybe I just drifted away in the world of slumber. Or did I?
