Jeremiah's Song

Contrary to popular belief Jeremiah is not a bullfrog. He is an American toad (Bufo Americanus). Now normally I am  big believer in leaving wild animals in their natural habitats. I mean generally speaking you would not enjoy it if some giant came and scooped you up then made you live in a small recreation of your original home inside of his giant house, would you? Of course not. However, Mollie and I did not really have the option to leave Jeremiah Roosevelt, a.k.a J.R. a.k.a. Bubbie, in his natural environment.

Jeremiah reading the sports page.

You see it all started on a Sunday in November. As happens sometimes, Mollie and I went to her family's homestead after mass for food and family fun. As I recall it was a beautiful day with temperatures in the 60s. However, as we settled in to watch the Steelers on NBC's Sunday Night Football the temperature plummeted and snow began to fall. Some time in the third quarter Mollie went down to the basement and noticed Jeremiah snow covered and pressed against the window in a window-well. For those that do not know toads in colder climates typically dig themselves a little whole a few inches down in the dirt to insulate themselves from the cold and then hibernate. Unfortunately for J. R. the sudden change in the weather caught him off guard and he was on the verge of becoming a toad-sicle. Mollie acted quickly by bringing him inside and warming him up and Bubbie has been a part of the family ever since.

Carl, Jr looking out the window.

These days Jeremiah spends much of his time in a 10 gallon terrarium, but he also spends some of his time hopping about our living room under our careful supervision so he can get exercise and whatnot (right now he is chilling under the couch). Through his own certainty Jeremiah has convinced me that he and his invisible friend Carl Chameleon, Jr. (I totally thought Carl, Jr was imaginary at first yet apparently he is just really good at camouflage) do not just hang out in their terrarium all day but are able to come and go as they please so that when the nation is in trouble they can hop off to save the day or whatever it is that amphibians and reptiles do when they are unsupervised.

Jeremiah has just asked that I document some of his adventures for him because his nuptial pads make it difficult to type so look for those in the future. They'll be tagged Jeremiah.