My friend Pam lives in the town (hamlet? community?) of Hanford in Central California.
She and her husband, Gene, go for walks in the evening and this is what they see:
It's a toad. A TOAD, people.
Can you say, "Gross me out in twelve different ways???" Eeeww!
Eric and I go on a nightly walk and this is what we see here in Mission Viejo:
(Okay, so it's a little blurry. Disclaimer: Eric had the camera and took the picture and besides, unlike TOADS, bunnies move pretty quickly, but that's not important right now.)
See the sweet furry cuteness that is this little cottontail bunny? We have tons of them around here. Aaaw, sooo cute….
We live in South Orange County, I'm pretty sure it's against the law for TOADS (eeeww!!) to live here. Double Eeeww!
When the bunny popped out, my mind went first to Pam's picture and I thought, "what if it had been a TOAD?? Eeeww!!"
And then, my Cuban synapses started firing randomly as they tend to do in moments like this…
Me: "Sapo* is 22."
Eric (who has lived with me and my Cubanisms for all of these 16 years): "We're going to Vegas in a few weeks."
And then we just kept on walking as if that was the most normal conversation in the world.
Ay, Dios mio!
(*Sapo means TOAD in Spanish, which corresponds to the number 22 in the Charada China. - See this post for explanation.) Or refer to the chart below and leave your questions in the comment section. =D
ADDENDUM: 11/7/08 : Since it seems the toad vs bunny question is digressing into "who's our favorite frog" I'd like to nominate the following classic Warner Brothers cartoon – where Michigan J. Frog sings "Hello My Baby."
Rabbit is #39. Play that one too!!!!!
Ody,You are SO CUBAN! =D
What would have been gross is if I told you if you pick-up a toad it pees all over you! And. BTW if there are no toads/frogs on the world then the Eco system is in big trouble! Posting from my iPhone while I am waiting to fix a nail. Kisses!
Pam,They pee on you??? Eewww!
I’m not saying that there shouldn’t be any TOADS in the world… just that they shouldn’t be allowed to live in MY area code. =D
So the other day my mother in law calls all anxious because her dog ate a toad!!! The dog had this green foam coming out of it’s mouth, Eeeww….. Anyway, she called the vet and he asked her, is the toad big and fat or is it long and skinny legged. My mother in law said that she took the frog out of it’s mouth…Eeeww…and told him it was long and skinny legged. He then told her not to worry, that it was a frog and not a toad. Guess, toads are deadly if eaten by dogs. Eeeww….Marti, do you remember when you were young, or maybe this was just in my family, but if you saw a toad outside, my parents would tell us to put salt on it?!! Is this something they did in Cuba?!!! The poor toad, it would start to foam up. Eeeww….okay, no more toad stories. Sorry Pam. 😉
First, I didn’t pick the toad up. I saw someone else do it. Secondly, toads are amazing! People have toad houses in their garden because they eat bugs. Whereas rabbits eat the garden. Where would we be without toads? I mean has anyone heard of “frog and toad”, or who can forget Mr. Toad and his wild ride! There is a great quote about toads in “Oh Brother Where Art Thou”. Toads don’t hurt anyone (unless you eat them), 😉 rabbits however can carry rabies. I’m for toads!!! You have to admit, it was a great picture! There are (hopefully) toads everywhere, even in OC! Anyway, thanks for the post and laugh! Love you MORE! Don’t forget toads are our friends! I predict you see one soon!
Ody,The foaming/salty TOAD (Eeeww!) falls into the Gross Me Out In Twelve Different Ways Category. =D
Pam,
You must forgive me for not sharing in your enthusiasm for TOADS. (Eewww!)
I’m probably suffering from some latent Tropical Childhood Bad TOAD Experience and should therefore be excused for my Great TOAD Repulsion. (Eeeww!)
(I love you MORE.)
Frogs and toads are cute! C’mon, Kermit?
mario,FELT frogs are ok by me. It’s not easy being green. =D
Ok everyone! We have a rabbit! Check out my post http://pampensiero.blogspot.com/2008/11/my-rabbit-is-cuter-than-yours.html