I woke up at 4 a.m. this morning in order to have enough time to do all the offerings before leaving at 5 for a dolphin boat trip. Since I had done this a few times in the past, I knew that it is best to take a flashlight as I do the rounds in the dark, since there are sometimes frogs on the pathways and I didn't want to "bump into" one of them by mistake. One of the guests had mentioned that he may have ended the lives of two of them one night when he walked along the path without a flashlight. But I was not prepared for what I discovered.
On each 80x80 square of sidewalk path, a stoic frog stood guard! All along the path from my room until I reached the open air kitchen some 20 meters away, frogs….frogs….and more frogs….all standing perfectly still, staring, non -pulsed by me walking past them or the flashlight blaring in their eyes. They just stood there. After I prepared all the little triangles of bread with a slice of fruit on them on each banana leaf in order to place in appropriate places of gratitude, I returned on the paths as I headed towards the temple inside the resort. The frogs were still standing, as if guarding us until the dawn.
As I entered the small courtyard of the temple I thought that here I would be safe from bumping into frogs, since I assumed they were near the pathway because of two ponds that are on the grounds. Just for safety purposes I decided to point the flashlight to the altar just to prove to myself that there aren't any frogs here. To my surprise I found another sweet frog, standing still, in the dark, right in front of the altar also…as if guarding it too.
This continued as I made my way along the dirt path outside the resort compound and also inside the neighboring temple grounds…frogs galore, but now some of them jumped out of my way as I approached. I wondered how I had never noticed frogs being used as symbols of stillness or as guardians. They were quite impressive in their upright meditative stance. I decided to speak with Made about the frogs.
When I asked him he said that they stay very very still and just watch how insects come and go around them, and only when one is very close, they take a snap at it. I had seen this also as I sat near one of the spotlights in the evening and observed how out of nowhere a group of frogs of varied size had gathered nearby and were standing in place watching all the insects flying around the spot and only after careful observation did they take a shot at one…it was hit or miss….they seemed pretty non pulsed by it all, in their quiet stance. Every now and then one would take a leap over the one in front of him, and thus I realized where the phrase "leap frog" came from.
What was surprising for me was discovering that the frogs only began to croak and make their presence known as the evening began. Seven o'clock seemed to be their favorite time to start their "cantor/congregation" singing. It had gotten so loud that the owners decided that the gardener had to do a "frog hunt" and transport some of them outside the resort grounds, so people could sleep in a quieter atmosphere than the loud multi voiced croaking that was going on all night long with short intervals of unknown rhyme and reason. I, personally, was happy that he only managed to find two during the daylight hours, since I felt sorry for them that they had been separated from possible family members! Who were we to know their status?! What if it was the leader that had been caught and cast on the shore? Or their newly married husband?!
When returning from gamelon practice on the long dark winding path through the village the other night, I was surprised to hear a new kind of croaking of frogs coming from an orchard of rambutan trees to my right. It was so loud that all I could think of was how the children living in the thatch huts could sleep and how their childhood memories would be these loud repetitive frog sounds for hours every night
i even wondered if, like the dogs and cats and chicks and chickens that peacefully roam around here without chasing each other, maybe these frogs are influenced by some "vibrations" here. There seems to be a whole world of cricket sounds of very high notes all day and night, that hint of some larger harmony going on that we aren't even aware of, that gives life here this quiet and still nature. It is also evident in the way the fishermen are in their fishing boats at sea, silhouetted against the sea and sky, how all of their movements are slow, measured, unhurried, minimal. Even the way they walk, perfectly balanced, without falling or holding on to any railing as they walk along the 2 inch width ridge of the boat to get from one end to the other end of it, as it rocks on the waves. What brought that to my attention yesterday was watching just the opposite scenario; two fishermen quickly paddling and pointing with their hands in several directions as if they might lose something, or miss a chance at a catch. It was only by watching this out of the ordinary scene that I realized that it was some tourists that had gone out with the fishermen to try and catch some fish. It was so incongruous to the usual peaceful smooth movements of the Balinese no matter what they are doing. And their perfect faith that everything is exactly the way it is supposed to be at this moment, and no one can "miss out" on catching a fish, since if they were meant to catch it, they would have! And the last frog query for me was; who decided to use the same word "croak" for the sound of a frog, and also for the old man that "croaked" (died). For the meanwhile it is nice to know that these sweet little creatures are on guard in the dark of the night.
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