pieces and ponderings

I went down to our pool very early this morning.  The gray between dark night and bright day surrounded me.  It was still and quiet…peaceful.  I’m not usually at the pool at five a.m.  I don’t swim laps at daybreak. But, this morning when I awoke I suddenly remembered that I had forgotten to turn off the water that I had turned on the night before…good feelings never accompany this realization.

I made my way in my pajamas and robe to the outdoor faucet and twisted the knob counter-clockwise until there was no more water pouring into the pool.  Then I just stood for a little while, listening to the quiet…quiet is nice.  The quiet was interrupted by a “Plop!” sound of something entering the water.  I turned and saw a very happy little frog diving down to the depths of our pool.  He was doing one of the things that he was made to do.  He swam down and then up and down and up.  He swam up to the side of the pool and I almost thought he might hop out and wrap a towel around his froggy waist, but he stopped on the side of the pool…he couldn’t get out.  So he began swimming again.  I think he was enjoying himself.

I watched that frog swimming…it looked very graceful…very natural…and I thought, “You are swimming in some dangerous waters.”  Now the water in our pool isn’t dangerous to the people that swim in it in the hot summer sun, but to little amphibians it is deadly after a while.  The chlorine in the pool will kill the frogs.  They don’t seem to realize that because we find frogs there often…some are rescued…some…well, it’s too late.

The pool looked wonderful to me this morning…and I guess to the frog also.  It looked peaceful, serene, refreshing.  But for the little frog a danger lurked that he just didn’t know.  It was a warning to me…that I need to watch where I go…watch what I do…watch what I see, what I listen to, what I read.  What may seem harmless in appearance may carry with it a hidden danger.