Salamanders

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Last Saturday, Ben and I went to the library for a Frog program.  Yes, live frogs at the library!  Who could ask for anything more?  Well, when arrived, the program had begun and Ben had trouble seeing the salamanders which were laid out on a water proof tablecloth. After a few minutes, the Frog instructor, we'll call him Mr. Frog, suggested that each child could hold a salamander for a few minutes with both hands and then pass it on to the next child.  Well, when the little girl sitting next to Ben had a turn, I asked Ben if he wanted to hold a salamander.  Surprisingly, he did NOT want to hold a salamander.  Even more surprisingly, I discovered, that I in fact, DID want to hold a salamander.  I mean I had always considered myself an anti-salamander/frog/toad holding type of person.  I thought to myself, today is the day to break through that particular definition of myself.  I wanted to be the type of person who jumped right in and held it.  It probably helped that we only had 5 seconds a piece to hold the little critter.  It felt rubbery, not slimy as I had expected.  And now I can cross holding a salamander off my list of things to accomplish...Thom thinks a toad should be next on my agenda.  I'll have to think about that.

(Photos taken by Ben, click to enlarge.)