Arnold Zwicky's Blog

I awoke exceptionally early today, sneezing, eyes and nose running from the smoke still in the air in these parts — this inside my house with the doors and windows closed, and with both an air filter and an air conditioner running. (Fortunately, my neighborhood has not yet suffered one of the power outages occasioned by the high temperatures and fires.)

But I woke to the music of Mozart at his most charming, in his variation pieces for the piano, played by Daniel Barenboim (with great warmth and delicacy). Sweet.

I then went to my computer, to find a tweet yesterday from marine biologist Gina Zwicky (in New Orleans) at her most charming:

I am partial to Gulf Coast toads because I feel that they are respectful and also good listeners. I will be providing no evidence for this claim.

Her photos of thoughtful, attentive toads:

(#1) Toad in one direction

(#2) Toad in the other direction

I’m still coughing from the bad air, but my soul is soothed.

Notes on the toad species, from Wikipedia:

The Gulf Coast toad (Incilius valliceps) is a species of toad native to eastern and southeastern Mexico and Central America as far south as Costa Rica.

The Gulf Coast toad is a medium-sized toad species, ranging from 5.1 to 10.2 cm (2 to 4 in) in length

… Like most toads, the Gulf Coast toad is an opportunistic carnivore. It will eat almost any small arthropod it is able to overpower and swallow.

This entry was posted on August 21, 2020 at 1:58 am and is filed under Language and animals, Music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.