Pierre

a story needing told

Some of you have heard about Pierre. He's green, loves dirt and occasionally likes to "catch out" (hobo for hitching a ride). This i found out two months later. And not by sound, nor smell. After noticing dirt on the kitchen table near a house plant (French Sorrel)day after day and attributing it to Ahdin the cat, i felt the need to take a closer look. As i leaned in towards the sorrel, taking one of the leaves for tasting pleasure, two golden eyes appeared just below the surface of the potting soil. These eyes grew into a head, the head extended into a body and I began to see my source much clearer. The source of the dirt mess that is. Pierre the toad.

The story goes: After returning from Minnesota I potted a few plants and set them on the cement stoop in the front of our house. Soon enough it began to get cold and in came the plants. Two months later, i realized that Pierre had come in as well. He housed himself in the French Sorrel for the first two months. Then the day after a rather stressful time of attention (from little ones) he "disappeared". We looked all over the house, or as much of it as we could. We even cleaned areas that haven't been seen by human eyes for years, but no Pierre. A week or two later, we decided to do another search. As i was circling through the living room, Mark was down on hands and knees by the piano. I came running to the proclamation that Pierre had been found. A new home he had made - two room lengths away from his first home. (What would be at least a mile hike in my world. ) One hard day that must have been, from my perspective, but he was content burrowing down in this new dark place.

The decision was made. We didn't want to lose him again, nor harm him in any way. So, to isolate him we decided to move this plant, though tropical, into the pottery studio as the first step to the outdoors. We wanted to acclimate him to the colder temperatures. Winter is here you know. He burrowed down deeper, contentedly. Yesterday, two weeks since the day we re-found Pierre, I moved him outside, and said my goodbye's.

In his small way, Pierre brought humor and lightheartedness into our lives. Now i picture him sitting at the local toad hang out drinking his version of beer with his toad buddies, telling them of his adventure and hunkering down good for the winter.

- Pierre in the French Sorrel.


- Pierre's second home - a bit more tropical.


- Saying 'good-bye'

- Back in the Great Outdoors under the pile of leaves in our raspberry patch.