green pools and tadpoles

yesterday the concrete was poured. during all the prep work, we have not paid attention to the water in the pool.
EVERY. SINGLE. PERSON. that has come to our house has commented on the color of the water.

"looks real clean."
"like the green water."
"wow. your pool looks great."
"can't wait to swim in that!"

today chris' job was to de-algae the water. this morning ceily and eddie and a friend took time to skim the water to remove the thousands of tiny tadpoles that had hatched. really. thousands. tiny black things with a little tail swimming in the water. ceily was making sure they were set free. that they would survive. and not be killed. at one point, after the morning had come and gone and it was early evening, chris was heard saying: "if you take anymore tadpoles out i DO NOT want to find them dead on the cement!" i guess the setting free and releasing them to their natural habitat didn't really happen. unless the large amount that made it into the bucket survived the 90 degree weather for 6 hours before they were actually released.

as i was slaving in the kitchen preparing dinner, chris hurried inside. he turned to me, out of breath and a bit excited, and started to tell a story. he then stopped and called eddie over.
chris: "i guess i should tell everyone. hey kids. listen to this. ok, so i was outside, skimming out tadpoles and getting ready to vacuum the green stuff from the pool. you know how you have to put the hose in? well, i was getting the hose ready to put in the pool and then in the drain. you know how i have to put it in the drain? well, i put my hand down there and i felt something move and it was slimy! it freaked me out! i looked again and it is a HUGE frog! you have to come see it!"

everyone runs out the door and down the steps and over the hill to the side of the pool. every head is peering down into the drain. all we see is a black spot, hiding, trying to escape. the exit is blocked and chris proceeds to try to poke it out of hiding. finally, he reaches his hand down, grabs hold, and pulls up a huge, huge toad! i mean big enough to make frog legs for an appetizer!








eddie took it to the creek and hopefully it will survive its natural habitat. poor thing was living in luxury. her very own pond, with her very own private room. actually, her very own birthing tub. apparently she's been doing lots of sex!