Toads & Frogs

In Dave Foreman's book: Confessions of an Eco-Warrior, he talked about having the "wilderness gene" as the way he could explain his love for all things wild. It caused me to ponder this about myself. I grew up in the suburbs of Los Angeles in a track home that was built in an old orange grove (we even had an orange tree in our front yard - a remnant of the grove that preceded us). One of my earliest memories is of being fascinated by the toads that lived in our backyard. I was so enthralled with them that when my parents would have guests for dinner I would ask them if they wanted to look for toads after dinner (the toad's eyes visible in the reflection of a flashlight). I spent my entire childhood in that house and never lost my fascination with nature. We spent many weekends in the deserts of southern California were I would chase lizards and explore nature. Sadly the toads vanished, probably the result of the elimination of a breeding place since the grove's irrigation canals were eliminated when the houses were built. While in college I started an organic garden, I remember to my great satisfaction one day when I walked out into the garden and found a tree frog lounging on one of my sunflower leaves. I was growing a garden for the both of us.