Today had an amphibious flavor to it. First, during my ritual morning slug and snail slaughter, I spotted a little tree frog. Not really a big deal, I see them all the time. Next I spotted this salamder, whose brown and orange markings almost got him fatally mistaken for a slug. I hadn’t ever seen a salamander in our yard, and had to inspect further. That’s when I noticed this was a pretty special salamander, and now I’m scared. They say that amphibions are good indicators of the health of the environment. Well this amphibion had four and a half legs. I knew I shouldn’t have dumped all that toxic waste in the creek!

Since I didn’t have a camera at home to document this oddity, I quickly drove to the studio to retrieve one. Halfway down Rose Ave, a frog jumped off the hood, across the windshield, and then on up to the roof of the Del Sol. I guess he heard about the salamander, and figured he’d get the hell out while he could still hop.

After breakfast, I went back to Rio Dell to photograph the car show, and then I went down to Fort Bragg for a secret mission that if I tell you about it, I’m sure I will jinx it. Maybe more on this later.