52 Weeks #36

Number 36 of the 52 Weeks Project was fun and as it's been a rainy weekend, which is perfect for painting, I was reminded of the Wood Frogs I grew up with in northern Manitoba.  For many field trips in school we would walk through the bush to the pond near Mikanik Bay (Algonqkian for 'turtle') and learn about the amphibians growing there...one being the wood frog.  It was fun to go at different times to see the tadpoles and then watch them full grown.

I've never forgotten that they absorb pollutants through their skin...growing up in the north, surrounded by nature and wildlife, was the catalyst for my belief in being careful with everything around us.  Sometimes I find it difficult to live in a place that is growing by leaps and bounds, where the highway that intersects my community is one of the busiest in my country.  But I am also grateful to live so near to Canada's oldest National Park.

As a totem animal, frogs represent renewal and refreshment.  Because of their high sensitivity to their environment, frogs are a great indicator of what's happening ecologically.  They are also highly adaptive with a propensity to live in community which is a great example for us all.  As agents of change and healing, they remind us that transformation, renewal and evolution is always positive.