the frogs are back

The weather here is turning warm once again. It was over 30 degC several days last week. This has brought the frogs out of hiding. I can only assume that they live underground (as opposed to in the sky) during the winter since they are never seen during the colder months. The pool here is a like an over-sized frog trap since while they can jump in, the slab-sided walls prevent them from getting out. The facilities people are also in the midst of draining the pool to clean it for summer use. Interestingly enough, the pool was not drained during the winter, though I suppose it was not necessary to do so. Instead, while it froze over several times, the bulk of the water was always liquid and that perhaps helped insulate the lines which were underneath from freezing. Also, it's safer to have a full pool then an empty one in case someone falls in by accident. Regardless, they are finally draining it now since it has accumulated a winter's worth of dust storm debris that needs to be cleaned form the bottom. A couple days ago, when the shallow end only had a few inches left, I counted 14 frogs swimming about. Yesterday, there were only two. I want to believe someone fished the frogs out and put them in the plant areas, but it's possible that the birds find them delicious. They might also be dead in the deeper end, but I've yet to actually see a dead frog in the pool so I feel pretty good about them not drowning. This morning, the count is back up to seven so they seem to be really drawn to the increasingly empty pool. It should be empty by tomorrow so perhaps we'll know once and for all what secrets can be found in the deep end.